837 
r applications, 
on, natural 
y and agricul- 
. urbanization) , 
ion of other 
reservoir and 
lundering and 
ffects. 
of methodolo- 
area of remote 
variously 
t (1984), Nor- 
d are beyond 
sents a sample 
e cultural 
t necessary 
past . On a world-wide basis, economic development 
and social progress invariably impacts on the cul 
tural resource base as already indicated, and in the 
developing nations these pressures are extreme to 
the point where many potentially rich resources are 
destroyed. Looting and wanton destruction are also 
common in these countries, and they are problems that 
still require some attention in the developed nations. 
Against this background, a range of examples has 
been selected pointing to various dimensions of 
cultural resource remote sensing applications repre 
senting a historic to prehistoric time span (Figs. 
1-3). 
4 THE CHALLENGES AHEAD 
hown which is 
vey. It becomes 
ble scales for 
and meso-scales, 
al photography 
re specialized 
s not diminish 
ta for use in 
As with any developing sub-discipline in its youthful 
stage, there are few established rules, and insuffi 
cient time has elapsed for the "trickling down" of 
advanced methods and techniques. Emerging from this 
attempt to investigate some of the significant ele 
ments in cultural resources remote sensing, we iden 
tify the following challenges for the remote sensing 
community: 
ready exists at 
lly every area 
cance covered, 
mbracing a time 
archives at 
ith data, but 
n both quantity 
most applicable 
eveloping world, 
atellite cove- 
ough there are 
e disparities 
methodological 
t to more costly 
ty to acquire 
st resort to 
her purpose. 
, semi-recent 
ges in the 
nd the world 
and deserve 
stigators should 
natives to con- 
cently been 
literature, 
rs, 1985), 
n, 1985, Holm 
1. The first and foremost challenge involves the 
training and education of personnel, not only in the 
area strictly concerned with cultural resources, but 
in cognate areas in the geo-sciences and bio-sciences. 
Just recently, the American Anthropological Associa 
tion provided a special session on remote sensing 
applications at its annual meeting, and at the Uni 
versity of Vermont, a course on "Remote Sensing of 
Past Landscapes", was offered for the first time with 
considerable interest on the part of graduate students 
from geography, archaeology, history and historical 
preservation. Workshops, seminars, and courses at the 
University level need to be developed. A mechanism to 
promote education in this field may be possible 
through international means, as for example through 
the United Nations University. If any progress is to 
be made in this area, it must start with increasing 
the number of enlightened scientists, resource mana 
gers and educators. Developing and incorporating 
teaching units that could fit into existing courses 
in geography, history, archaeology, ecology, civil 
engineering and geo and bio-sciences would go a Ion 
way toward increasing awareness and could serve to 
feed in-depth courses. Cleere (1984) also stresses 
the importance of the educational process ranging 
down to the elementary school level and the incor 
poration of such topics within the context of the 
traditional school subjects of geography and history. 
1 basis for 
r s: 'all cultural 
es, that have 
y cultural 
value or use 
implies that a 
ed survey and 
e (1984), sum- 
:ource manage- 
in twelve coun 
ground survey 
■ations. Another 
>y scholars is 
;-standing and 
m sites, 
more diffuse 
idscape at large 
itent of the 
_s site-oriented 
■gely through the 
md the emergence 
> studying the 
2. A second challenge focuses on facilitating survey 
work at all appropriate scales through providing 
easier access to the imagery inventory. The major 
detective work required to locate imagery often dis 
courages application attempts. Many archaeological 
and historic preservation agencies do not use imagery 
of any kind, and where used, it may only be applied 
as a field tool after which it is forgotten. Large 
scale orthophoto maps, which are increasingly being 
produced make excellent bases for inventorizing cul 
tural resources and for comparative work with other 
remote sensing imagery, including findings from high 
altitude or satellite. In all countries there is a 
need to find a way of declassifying the storehouses 
of obsolete, now unused imagery acquired by various 
military establishments. A system of reporting new 
image acquisition in the civil realm, such as the 
international effort used to report radiocarbon 
dating, would be extremely useful and might be possi 
ble under the auspices of an organization such as 
ISPRS. 
3. A third challenge focuses on the area of increasing 
interdisciplinary and interagency cooperation and the 
removal of barriers between the several disciplines 
that overlap in this field to circumvent duplication 
and conflict. Remote sensing can serve as the tie 
that binds. It would seem appropriate that remote 
sensing experts should take every opportunity to 
communicate findings that have potential value in 
the cultural resources field whatever their 
discipline. Multi-disciplinary resource inventory 
and management projects offer the benefits of a more 
comprehensive view and should be encouraged. 
4. Increasing public awareness and support has been 
identified by Cleere (1984) and Riechstein (1984) as 
a critical element in the management process. This 
is no less true regarding remote sensing applica 
tions. The treatment in the American magazine News 
week cited at the outset is indeed an extremely rare 
event. Media attention is critical and is much more 
prevalent in Europe than in the United States. 
Items worthy of public notice found during remote 
sensing data analysis can be called to the attention 
of the mass media with the cooperation of appropriate 
management authorities. Making contacts with local 
authorities and historical and archaeological clubs 
is another fruitful approach. 
5. The involvement of remote sensing in the manage 
ment of cultural resources offers a fifth challenge. 
The numerous aspects of managing such resources has 
been outlined by Riechstein (1984) and at least two- 
thirds of the 46 listed threats to cultural resources 
can be monitored by remote sensing means. Staff and 
funding limitations are a problem so the solution is 
not simple. Again education plays a role, perhaps 
involving government officials. In the land-use 
planning, process inclusion of cultural resources 
cannot be too strongly emphasized (Cleere, 1984) . 
Countries such as Denmark and Sweden and several 
other countries of Northern Europe have advanced 
significantly in this area, while in the developing 
countries, the landscape is likely to be sacrificed 
for the immediate economic result with considerable 
loss of cultural resources. 
6. The sixth challenge rests with the rapidly deve 
loping geographic information system (GIS) approach 
to resource management and planning in which remote 
sensing inputs play an increasingly significant role. 
Its application offers a valuable aid in delimiting 
cultural landscapes. GIS, with the inclusion of 
remote sensing data provides a means of assessing 
land-use change which is one of the major factors 
affecting cultural resources. The application of the 
GIS approach, although gaining in use, lacks wide 
spread implementation in which cultural resources 
are an element. Denmark, along with other Northern 
European countries have made important strides in 
this direction by digitizing various levels of land 
scape information including their register of monu 
ments and sites. Aerial imagery is employed in many 
aspects of their work. An interesting example involves 
route planning for a major pipeline system in Denmark 
involving some 2000 km. of right-of-way (Kristiansen, 
1984). Using a GIS approach it was possible to plan 
a route of least destruction. 
7. The research challenge cannot be stressed too 
strongly. Although multi-spectral studies regarding 
the detectability of certain cultural resources are 
developing in the United States, Canada, a few Euro 
pean countries and in scattered locales elsewhere, 
as for example in the Costa Rican case under 
American auspices mentioned at the outset, there is 
a critical need for research that would point to some 
predictable results. Links between university research