Assessing the Perspectives of Ground Penetrating Radar for Precision Farming

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlighted the importance of adopting sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate the threat posed by climate change to food systems around the world, to provide wise water management and to restore degraded lands. At the same time, it suggested the benefits and advantages brought by the use of near-surface geophysical measurements to assist precision farming, in particular providing information on soil variability at both vertical and horizontal scales. Among such survey methodologies, Ground Penetrating Radar has demonstrated its effectiveness in soil characterisation as a consequence of its sensitivity to variations in soil electrical properties and of its additional capability of investigating subsurface stratification. The aim of this contribution is to provide a comprehensive review of the current use of the GPR technique within the domain of precision irrigation, and specifically of its capacity to provide detailed information on the within-field spatial variability of the textural, structural and hydrological soil properties, which are needed to optimize irrigation management, adopting a variable-rate approach to preserve water resources while maintaining or improving crop yields and their quality. For each soil property, the review analyses the commonly adopted operational and data processing approaches, highlighting advantages and limitations

(Re)constructing Homescapes: “Archaeological remote sensing” and ground-truthing of the Walker Place homestead at Spirit Hill Farm, Tate County, Mississippi

This thesis focuses on an early nineteenth-century homestead known as the Walker Place homestead at Spirit Hill Farm in northern Mississippi. The goal of this thesis is to conduct a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and shovel test survey to explore how changing landscapes simultaneously (re)create and destroy senses of place or Homescapes. Homescapes have received little attention in the field of archaeology and have not been applied to Euro-American Homescapes. I apply this theoretical construct in a novel way as a venture to further develop an avenue in archaeology to be collaborative and understand the past in a way that accurately reflects the realities of the past. I utilize historical records, oral histories, archaeological materials, and GPR to deepen our understanding of this site and to demonstrate the value of holistic archaeology and collaborating with the descendant community

Life on Jackson Creek, Smith County, Texas: Archeological Investigations of a 14th Century Caddo Domicile at the Leaning Rock Site (41SM325)

The 14th century Caddo Leaning Rock site was initially discovered in the Fall of 2004. It was located during reconnaissance to search out a location for the survey portion of the Texas Archeologica! Society\u27s Academy IO I held in Tyler in February 2005. This was not a formal survey with transect lines. nor one using regularly spaced shovel tests. but was rather more of a windshield \u27 type survey, consisting of driving across pasture lands looking at gopher mounds and checking fore, evidence of archeological deposits on likely looking landforms. !n this area. landform and soil type seem to be the major determining factors in locating Caddo sites. The sandy soils in the scattered gopher mounds appeared almost white. especially in droughty conditions that prevailed at the time. causing an area with darker mounds of soil to catch my attention. Pocket gophers (G. breviceps) can play havoc with buried archeological deposits but can also be useful in bringing buried soils along with archeological materials to the surface from their underground tunnel system. While this dark area could have been the result of past historic land clearing and burning activities. a closer inspection revealed burned bone. mussel she!L and Caddo sherds mixed in the dark brown soils in the scattered gopher mounds. The next step was to record the site with the State of Texas, obtaining the trinomial 41SM325. It is common practice to also gin: sites informal names and after recording several hundred sites, selecting a name becomes a challenge. One large sandstone slab, pan of the R-horizon that is exposed around the margins of Leaning Rock. was unearthed during prior landclearing activities and pushed up against a lonely pine tree on the northern margins of the site: consequently the nom de plume Leaning Rock

Geomatics aplications to archaelogy and related sciences

Esta tesis doctoral se ha desarrollado por la necesidad de involucrar las disciplinas que engloba la Geomática con las recientes técnicas fotogramétricas. Inicialmente la investigación comenzó como una comparativa de la fotogrametría con láser escáner (HDS), pero no siempre ha sido asequible la utilización de HDS en las distintas zonas de trabajo. La mayor parte de los estudios se producen en el ámbito de la Arqueología, utilizando métodosfotogramétricos y en algún caso de láser escáner, pero sin olvidar implementar las técnicas de georreferenciación que proporciona la Geomática. Este documento se estructura en una serie de capítulos que son: El Capítulo 1, donde se detallan los objetivos a cubrir por la tesis y para tener una visión general de la fotogrametría y la arqueología se realiza un estudio bibliométrico. El Capítulo 2, donde se realiza un estudio fotogramétrico empleando tomas de fotografía aérea de la ciudad antigua de Útica. El objetivo es obtener un modelo de la zona donde se realizan excavaciones y zonas aledañas por si surgen en un futuro nuevos descubrimientos. El Capítulo 3, en él se realiza un estudio fotogramétrico, pero en esta ocasión empleando técnicas de fotogrametría terrestre, de los distintos cortes descubiertos en la ciudad de Útica. El Capítulo 4, en él se realiza una comparativa entre resultados obtenidos con fotogrametría y HDS de un mosaico romano encontrado en la ciudad Sevillana de Cantillana. El Capítulo 5, donde se realizan tomas de datos para decidir qué metodología resulta más eficaz para obtener el volumen de copa de árboles, en concreto de naranjos. Se ponen en práctica distintos métodos como, medición tradicional con cinta métrica, fotogrametría aérea (UAV), HDS y por último se utilizan imágenes de Google Map. El Capítulo 6, recoge el cómputo total de todas las conclusiones obtenidas en cada uno de los capítulos de esta tesis. El Capítulo 7, es el resumen de cada una de las referencias bibliográficas que han ayudado a documentar este trabajo. El Capítulo 8, se centra en citar las posibles líneas de investigación que puedan surgir de toda la investigación generada en esta tesis. Se establecen posibles publicaciones que puedan derivarse de la tesis presentada. Abstract: This doctoral thesis has been developed because of the need to involve the disciplines that comprise Geomatics with recent photogrammetric techniques. Initially the research started as a comparison of laser scanning photogrammetry (LPS), but the use of LPS in different work areas has not always been affordable. Most of the studies are produced in the field of Archaeology, using photogrammetric methods and in some cases laser scanning, but without forgetting to implement the georeferencing techniques provided by Geomatics. This document is structured in a series of chapters that are Chapter 1, which details the objectives to be covered by the thesis and to have an overview of photogrammetry and archaeology, a bibliometric study is carried out. Chapter 2, where a photogrammetric study is carried out using aerial photography of the ancient city of Utica. The aim is to obtain a model of the area where excavations are being carried out and surrounding areas in case new discoveries arise in the future. In Chapter 3, a photogrammetric study is carried out, but this time using terrestrial photogrammetry techniques, of the different cuts discovered in the city of Utica. Chapter 4 compares the results obtained with photogrammetry and MSDS from a Roman mosaic found in the Sevillian city of Cantillana. Chapter 5, where data are taken to decide which methodology is more efficient to obtain the volume of tree tops, specifically of orange trees. Different methods are put into practice, such as, traditional measurement with a tape measure, aerial photogrammetry (UAV), HDS and finally images from Google Map are used. Chapter 6 shows the total calculation of all the conclusions obtained in each of the chapters of this thesis. Chapter 7, is the summary of each of the bibliographic references that have helped to document this work. Chapter 8, focuses on citing the possible lines of research that may emerge from all the research generated in this thesis. It establishes possible publications that could be derived from the thesis presented

WAVELET METHOD APPROACH OF ARCHAEOGEOPHYSICS STUDIES

In recent years, geophysical approaches are being commonly used in modeling and pre-processing of excavation of buried archeological structures. The methods to be applied for the archeological structures are decided due to the comments of the archeologists. Thus more information about the place and the type of the structure of the archaeological ruins can be obtained Thus only the area that archaeological structures with the estimated depth and borders are excavated without distorting original historical ruin. In this study, first the wavelet method has been tested with synthetic data Then wavelet approach is applied to the total magnetic anomaly map of the Hittite Empire, established in Sivas-Altinyayla, Turkey and residual anomalies are found The walls of the historical city and the borders and the characteristics of these walls are well evaluated by these residual anomaly outputs