Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Large-scale, Multi-temporal Remote Sensing of Palaeo-river Networks: A Case Study from Northwest India and its Implications for the Indus Civilisation

Version 1 : Received: 26 June 2017 / Approved: 27 June 2017 / Online: 27 June 2017 (04:41:04 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Orengo, H.A.; Petrie, C.A. Large-Scale, Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing of Palaeo-River Networks: A Case Study from Northwest India and its Implications for the Indus Civilisation. Remote Sens. 2017, 9, 735. Orengo, H.A.; Petrie, C.A. Large-Scale, Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing of Palaeo-River Networks: A Case Study from Northwest India and its Implications for the Indus Civilisation. Remote Sens. 2017, 9, 735.

Abstract

Remote sensing has considerable potential to contribute to the identification and reconstruction of lost hydrological systems and networks. Remote sensing-based reconstructions of palaeo-river networks have commonly employed single or limited time-span imagery, which limits their capacity to identify features in complex and varied landscape contexts. This paper presents a seasonal multi-temporal approach to the detection of palaeo-rivers over large areas based on long-term vegetation dynamics and spectral decomposition techniques. The use of multi-temporal data has allowed the overcoming of seasonal cultivation patterns and long-term visibility issues related to crop selection, large-scale irrigation and land use patterns. The application of this approach on the Sutlej-Yamuna interfluve (northwest India), a core area for the Bronze Age Indus Civilisation, has enabled the reconstruction of an unsuspectedly complex palaeo-river network comprising more than 8000 kms of palaeo-channels. It has also enabled the definition of the morphology of these relict courses, which provides insights into the environmental conditions in which they operated. These new data will contribute to a better understanding of the settlement distribution and environmental settings in which this, often considered riverine, civilisation operated.

Keywords

multi-temporal; seasonal; vegetation; palaeo-river; Indus civilisation; archaeology

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Remote Sensing

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