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Cartography, GIS, GPS, and various remote sensing (overhead imagery) techniques are some of my primary research tools in archaeology.
We are, at present, trying to arrange a LIDAR overflight over a heavily forested area where we know a complex of 30 large Caddo dwelling mounds surrounding one "big (temple?) mound" are located.
LIDAR is claimed to produce elevation images with as good as 2" (two inch!) vertical resolution. It produces an "elevation point cloud" -- with points returned off of the tops of the trees, and a lower set where the laser light penetrates through the vegetation to the ground surface. By subtracting out the canopy-top point set, an amazingly detailed elevation dataset can be produced.
Then, by applying pseudo-shadowing convolutions (spatial filters), a strikingly realistic and detailed "3-D" ground surface image can be generated.
We are already applying LIDAR to the mapping of long-unused historic roads, trails, and "traces" -- including the famous 1813 "Trammel's Trace" on which I am doing research...
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Gods |
Thanks Blam and TXnMA. |
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