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NASA, University Scientists Uncover Lost Maya Ruins -- From Space(Forwarded)



 
 
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Old February 24th 06, 05:19 AM posted to sci.space.news
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Default NASA, University Scientists Uncover Lost Maya Ruins -- From Space(Forwarded)

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. February 15, 2006
(Phone: 256.544.0034)

Erika Mantz
University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.
(Phone: 603.862.1567)

News release: 06-018

NASA, University Scientists Uncover Lost Maya Ruins -- From Space

Remains of the ancient Maya culture, mysteriously destroyed at the height
of its reign in the ninth century, have been hidden in the rainforests of
Central America for more than 1,000 years. Now, NASA and university
scientists are using space- and aircraft-based "remote-sensing" technology
to uncover those ruins, using the chemical signature of the civilization's
ancient building materials.

NASA archaeologist Tom Sever and scientist Dan Irwin, both from NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are teaming with William
Saturno, an archaeologist at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, to
locate the ruins of the ancient culture.

"From the air, everything but the tops of very few surviving pyramids are
hidden by the tree canopy," said Sever, widely recognized for two decades
as a pioneer in the use of aerospace remote-sensing for archaeology. "On
the ground, the 60- to 100-foot trees and dense undergrowth can obscure
objects as close as 10 feet away. Explorers can stumble right through an
ancient city that once housed thousands -- and never even realize it."

Sever has explored the capacity of remote sensing technology and the
science of collecting information about the Earth's surface using aerial
or space-based photography to serve archeology. He and Irwin provided
Saturno with high-resolution commercial satellite images of the
rainforest, and collected data from NASA's Airborne Synthetic Aperture
Radar, an instrument capable of penetrating clouds, snow and forest
canopies and flown aboard a converted McDonnel Douglas DC-8 serving as a
flying science laboratory. NASA's DC-8 was operated by Dryden Flight
Research Center, Edwards, Calif.

These resulting Earth observations have helped the team survey an
uncharted region around San Bartolo, Guatemala. They discovered a
correlation between the color and reflectivity of the vegetation seen in
the images -- their "signature," which is captured by instruments
measuring light in the visible and near-infrared spectrums -- and the
location of known archaeological sites.

In 2004, the team ground-tested the data. Hiking deep into the jungle to
locations guided by the satellite images, they uncovered a series of Maya
settlements exactly where the technology had predicted they would be
found. Integrating cutting-edge remote sensing technology as a vital
research tool enabled the scientists to expand their study of the jungle.

The cause of the floral discoloration discerned in the imagery quickly
became clear to the team. The Maya built their cities and towns with
excavated limestone and lime plasters. As these structures crumbled, the
lack of moisture and nutritional elements inside the ruins kept some plant
species at bay, while others were discolored or killed off altogether as
disintegrating plaster changed the chemical content of the soil around
each structure.

"Over the centuries, the changes became dramatic," Saturno said. "This
pattern of small details, impossible to see from the forest floor or
low-altitude planes, turned out to be a virtual roadmap to ancient Maya
sites when seen from space."

Under a NASA Space Act Agreement with the University of New Hampshire, the
science team will visit Guatemala annually through 2009, with the support
of the Guatemalan Institute of Anthropology and History and the Department
of Pre-Hispanic Monuments. The team will verify their research and
continue refining their remote sensing tools to more easily lead explorers
to other ancient ruins and conduct Earth science research in the region.

"Studies such as these do more than fulfill our curiosity about the past,"
Sever said. "They help us prepare for our own future."

Scientists believe the Maya fell prey to a number of cataclysmic
environmental problems, including deforestation and drought, that led to
their downfall, Irwin said. "The world continues to battle the devastating
effects of drought today, from the arid plains of Africa to the southern
United States," he said. "The more we know about the plight of the Maya,
the better our chances of avoiding something similar."

Another aspect of the research involved using climate models to determine
the effects of Maya-driven deforestation on ancient Mesoamerican climate.
The goal of this effort was to determine whether deforestation can lead to
droughts and if the activities of the ancient Maya drove the environmental
changes that undermined their civilization.

Extending benefits of remote-sensing technologies is part of NASA's
Earth-Sun System Division. NASA is conducting a long-term research effort
to learn how natural and human-induced changes affect the global
environment, and to provide critical benefits to society today.

Sever and Irwin conduct research at National Space Science and Technology
Center in Huntsville, a joint science venture between NASA's Marshall
Center, Alabama universities, industry and federal agencies. For more
information about its work, visit:
http://www.nsstc.org/

[NOTE: Images supporting this release are available at
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall...os06-018.html]


 




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