22nd September 2012, 12:11 AM
(This post was last modified: 23rd September 2012, 03:43 AM by John Wells.)
Jack - The thermal work is still in its early days. The important thing is that (unlike in the visible spectrum) thermal crop marks may occur at any time with differential water loss in the crop producing a temperature variation. So, you are not waiting for the crop/flora to mature.
Unfortunately, Jim, Rosie and I are working mainly in West Lothian and, for differential water loss, it helps if it stops raining for more than a few days ;o)
It may be helpful to go through the techniques on our page: http://www.armadale.org.uk/phototech.htm
I would go for visible, near IR and thermal imaging before topsoil is removed but, under general conditions, near IR may be the most useful. For thermal crop marks and thermal variations in the ground, timing is likely to be crucial.
So far, our comparison of techniques is limited eg
http://www.armadale.org.uk/blackness.htm
http://www.armadale.org.uk/archaeology3.htm
http://www.armadale.org.uk/gormyre.htm
There is no doubt that KAP can useful when geophysical techniques are limited by excess moisture, magnetic rocks etc....and vice versa!
Given the chance, we will use all techniques at our disposal. However, we have the advantage of not being a commercial group.
Unfortunately, Jim, Rosie and I are working mainly in West Lothian and, for differential water loss, it helps if it stops raining for more than a few days ;o)
It may be helpful to go through the techniques on our page: http://www.armadale.org.uk/phototech.htm
I would go for visible, near IR and thermal imaging before topsoil is removed but, under general conditions, near IR may be the most useful. For thermal crop marks and thermal variations in the ground, timing is likely to be crucial.
So far, our comparison of techniques is limited eg
http://www.armadale.org.uk/blackness.htm
http://www.armadale.org.uk/archaeology3.htm
http://www.armadale.org.uk/gormyre.htm
There is no doubt that KAP can useful when geophysical techniques are limited by excess moisture, magnetic rocks etc....and vice versa!
Given the chance, we will use all techniques at our disposal. However, we have the advantage of not being a commercial group.