Archaeological Application of Airborne LiDAR with Object-Based Vegetation Classification and Visualization Techniques at the Lowland Maya Site of Ceibal, Guatemala
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Author
Inomata, TakeshiPinzón, Flory
Ranchos, José Luis
Haraguchi, Tsuyoshi
Nasu, Hiroo
Fernandez-Diaz, Juan Carlos

Aoyama, Kazuo
Yonenobu, Hitoshi
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Sch AnthropolIssue Date
2017-06-05Keywords
LiDARarchaeology
Maya
tropical lowlands
object-based image analysis (OBIA)
vegetation classification
visualization techniques
Red Relief Image Map (RRIM)
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Archaeological Application of Airborne LiDAR with Object-Based Vegetation Classification and Visualization Techniques at the Lowland Maya Site of Ceibal, Guatemala 2017, 9 (6):563 Remote SensingJournal
Remote SensingRights
© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
The successful analysis of LiDAR data for archaeological research requires an evaluation of effects of different vegetation types and the use of adequate visualization techniques for the identification of archaeological features. The Ceibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project conducted a LiDAR survey of an area of 20 x 20 km around the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala, which comprises diverse vegetation classes, including rainforest, secondary vegetation, agricultural fields, and pastures. We developed a classification of vegetation through object-based image analysis (OBIA), primarily using LiDAR-derived datasets, and evaluated various visualization techniques of LiDAR data. We then compared probable archaeological features identified in the LiDAR data with the archaeological map produced by Harvard University in the 1960s and conducted ground-truthing in sample areas. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the OBIA approach to vegetation classification in archaeological applications, and suggests that the Red Relief Image Map (RRIM) aids the efficient identification of subtle archaeological features. LiDAR functioned reasonably well for the thick rainforest in this high precipitation region, but the densest parts of foliage appear to create patches with no or few ground points, which make the identification of small structures problematic.ISSN
2072-4292Version
Final published versionSponsors
JSPS KAKENHI [26101002, 26101003]; Alphawood Foundation; Dumbarton Oaks fellowship; University of Arizona Agnese Nelms Haury programAdditional Links
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/9/6/563ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.3390/rs9060563
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.