New Frontiers in Archaeology. From Aerial Photography to Satellite Remote Sensing SAR

This work is part of an ongoing PhD project held at the Area di Geodesia e Geomatica -University of Rome 'La Sapienza'. The work involves the study of archaeological sites through the analysis of polarimetric L-band data from the PALSAR sensor (on the Japanese ALOS satellite, launched in May 2006) with the aim of understanding the spectral signature of archaeological remains (above and below ground). The Italian sites of Vulci (VT) and Arpi (FG), analyzed through polarimetric imagery, were chosen according to the availability of polarimetric SAR data at the time of the study and to the different geomorphologic characteristics of the terrain, with the purpose of observing the scattering mechanisms associated to the features present in the scene.