Archaeological prospection using WorldView-3 short-wave infrared (SWIR) satellite imagery: Case studies from the Fertile Crescent

Geologists have long valued satellite imagery in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) part of the electromagnetic spectrum (1100–2500 nm) because it can reveal subtle differences in minerology and soil moisture that are otherwise invisible, but the low spatial resolution (20-30 m) of publicly available SWIR imagery has limited its utility for archaeological investigations. As part of a NASA-funded research project, this paper presents results of an effort to evaluate the potential of higher resolution (3.7 m), 8-band SWIR imagery from the WorldView-3 satellite programme to aid in the identification and mapping of archaeological sites and landscape features in the Fertile Crescent. With case studies in the Amuq Plain of southern Turkey, the Khabur Plain of eastern Syria, and the Diyala Plain of southern Iraq, we utilize several methods including experiments with numerous band combinations, production of band ratios designed for crop cover analysis and support vector machine (SVM) classification techniques to enhance site visibility in multispectral SWIR imagery. Results reveal some of the seasonal, land use/cover and other factors that can impact the visibility of archaeological sites and features, demonstrating the potential and pitfalls of this emerging remote sensing resource.