FROM THE AERIAL PHOTO TO HIGH RESOLUTION SATELLITE IMAGE. 
TOOLS FOR THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH 
1 + 2 . . 3 TT s ; 
O. Georgoula, ^D. Kaimaris, "M. Fsakiri, ^P. Patias 
l : Ey + . 3 : S 
Assistant Prof.," PhD Candidate, "Assistant Prof., * Professor 
Department of Cadastre, Photogrammetry and Cartography, Aristotles University of Thessaloniki, Greece 
olge(@topo.auth.er , martsak(@eng.topo.auth.gr 
ThS20 
KEY WORDS: Remote Sensing, Quickbird, Archaeology, Ortho, Fusion, Interpretation 
ABSTRACT: 
The aim of this project is to evaluate the possibilities that the high resolution satellite image offers in the field of archaeological 
research. More specific, the present study concerns the identification of buried archaeological remains with the aid of the Pan- 
sharpened (fused) image Quickbird-2. For this purpose, the fuse 
d image (spatial resolution 0.70m and spectral resolution 4 bands), 
that covers an extended area of the archaeological site of Philippoi in N. Greece, has been used. The new image has been produced 
from the fusion of two ortho images. The latest have been derived from the panchromatic image and the multispectral image as well. 
The generation of the above two ortho images has been based on a DTM of the area, photogrammetrically produced, and on the 
Quickbird sensor model. The fusion has been established with tl 
ne PCA technique. The fused image has been evaluated with 
statistical criterions. Enhancement technique, as PCA was applied to facilitate the optical interpretation for the detection of the 
revealing traces. Comparing the interpretation results with the results coming out from previous research, based on photogrammetric 
data, has been found out that both of them converge. The advantage of the use of the fused image is that it offers additional valuable 
information to the archaeologists and/or to other technology oriented experts, as for example information about the land use etc. 
Additionally, the high spatial resolution of it offers the possibility for an accurate surveying of the detected traces. 
I. INTRODUCTION 
The use of the aerial photos for surveying and documentation of 
Archaeological sites is well known. The application of digital 
photogrammetric methods of processing, often of a large 
number of aerial photos, gives the necessary outputs as maps, 
DEMS, orthos, 3D models etc., for the monitoring of historical 
sites. Of special interest is the case, where the aerial photo is 
used for the detection of buried archaeological remains, which 
under the proper conditions, when viewed from the air are best 
identified. In this case the ortho, which combines the 
quantitative information of a map and the thematic information 
of a photo, plays a significant role in archaeological research. 
At the archaeological site of Phillipoi in Northern Greece 
excavations take place for the last 90 years. During the 
excavations, a small part of the famous Via Egnatia of the 
Roman period has been uncovered. In 2003, a project has been 
carried out in the Department of Cadastre, Photogrammetry and 
Cartography in Aristotles University of Thessaloniki. 
(Georgoula et al, 2003). It concerned the processing of a block 
of 11 vertical acrial photos of the major area of the 
archaeological site of Philippoi. The photos was at 1:15,000 
scale and they was captured in September 1994. The initial 
visual interpretation, via stereoscopic vision, led in the location 
of a lot of traces. The second stage was the digital 
photogrammetric process of the aerial photos and the 
production of a DTM and an orthomosaic at scale 1:5000. For 
this, the aerial photos were scanned at 1200dpi, that means the 
resolution of the digital images was approximately 0.3m. The 
visual interpretation of the orthomosaic of the entire area of 
interest, was of great help. Fifteen (15) traces were correlated 
between them. The initial information, provided by the 
interpretation, was cross-evaluated with additional information 
coming from other sources, like cartographic data, historical 
sources and information from the archaeological excavations. 
Specially, the particular processing of old cadastral maps (1928, 
1938, 1940, 1957, 1960) gave information about the old 
geomorphology (old streams, old ownership boundaries, etc), 
and thus, for many traces our initial estimations have been 
confirmed. They were traces of the old geomorphology of the 
region. This information, in principle of non archaeological 
interest, it has been very useful in two directions: firstly, in 
restricting our attention in a smaller number of traces and 
secondly, for the reconstruction of the ancient landscape. Thus, 
finally our attention was focused on 6 features. The final 
conclusion is that four (4) of these traces concern parts of Via 
Egnatia and the fifth feature is a part of a fortification wall. The 
last one is located on the top of a small hill and it concerns a 
buried construction approximately 53x47m, till now unknown, 
even for the archaeologists. 
As the results of this research were very encouraging, it was 
decided to continue the efforts in the same direction with the 
aid of satellite images. In the past, there have been many studies 
using satellite imagery. These projects have been restricted 
mainly to geomorphological analyses using Landsat SPOT 
images or other data (Boehler, 1999, Comfort, 2001, 
http:/www.irex.org/programs/completed/blacksea/trelogan.pdf, 
http://Www.geoinformatie.nl/cgi/projeets/bers/multisensor/repor 
t1/10.htm, http://Www.caa2002.er/abstracts papers/83.html, 
http://www.culturalsite.com/petra/petrakaplan97.html, 
http://wwwghec.msfc.nasa.gov/archeology/arenal.html, 
http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/-sgswitke/rescarch.htm). 
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