Integrated geophysical prospection by high-resolution optical satellite images, Synthetic Aperture Radar and magnetometry at the example of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Palmyra (Syria)

Abstract

Palmyra, the famous ancient caravan city in the Syrian dessert, offers unique and ideal conditions for the application of geophysical prospection methods because the archaeological remains are buried only by a thin layer of sand and the limestone walls offer a good physical contrast to the surrounding material. We performed integrated geophysical surveys by magnetometry, resistivity prospection, satellite radar and optical satellite images to get a detailed high-resolution plan of this important UNESCO World Heritage site. Today Palmyra mainly is known by its famous Roman ruins that are preserved still upstanding in wide parts, however in 1997/98 we were able to detect the hitherto unknown Hellenistic part of the city by magnetometry and prove the long time assumption of its location in the southern part of the town. A detailed map of its layout could be drawn after our results. Since 2011 we are surveying the whole city with the most high-resolution spaceborne sensors available at the moment: the optical satellites QuickBird and WorldView-2 and the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X. The recent analysis of these images provided further so far unknown buried archaeological structures.