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The tuntian system was a state-promoted system of military–agriculture, which originated in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–9 AD). All the imperial dynasties in Chinese history adopted the practice of tuntian to cultivate and guard frontier areas as an important state policy for developing border areas and consolidating frontier defense. This paper describes the use of satellite remote sensing data to uncover an ancient canal-based tuntian system located in an oasis agricultural landscape adjacent to the ancient Kingdom of Loulan at the southern margin of the Tarim Basin. The remote sensing data examined include Chinese Gaofen-1 (GF-1) VHR imagery, Landsat-8 (LS-8) OLI data and ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model Version 2 (ASTER GDEMV2) products. The effective irrigated tuntian area was estimated to be 2800 ha and the maximum irrigated tuntian area was found to be more than 8000 ha during the area's most prosperous period. The overall spatial structure of Milan's tuntian agricultural landscape was explored using the patch–corridor–matrix model. By detailed analysis of satellite remote sensing data, this study reconstructed a 3D view of Milan's tuntian agricultural landscape in a GIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to historic records, the wasteland northeast of modern Dunhuang oasis contains remarkable, undiscovered monuments of medieval courier stations. In this study, statistical analysis of historic records and census data, image processing and interpretation of satellite remote sensing images, GIS analysis, and field surveys were carried out to contribute to the discovery of courier stations and the reconstruction of the medieval royal road system from Guazhou to Shazhou. Firstly, in order to obtain the existence regions of courier stations, historic records and census data were abstracted and digitized, for generating preliminary regions of interest by using GIS tools. Secondly, dried river channels and traces of the Great Wall were extracted from the remote sensing images, and GIS buffer and overlay analyses were applied to the creation of prospective sub-areas. Thirdly, prospective sub-areas were mapped from very high resolution WorldView-2 images, and suspected sites were found based on the human-computer interactive interpretation. Fourthly, suspected sites were investigated on the GPS-based archaeological survey, and were confirmed as two courier stations based on the remains of Han-Tang period observed at sites' surface. Lastly, the royal road to ancient Dunhuang, one of the most important sections of the royal road system in the Hexi Corridor, was discussed and reconstructed with the combined application of remote sensing imagery and ground-truthing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In recent years, very high-resolution satellite remote-sensing tools have been progressively used in archaeological prospecting to acquire information and improve documentation. Satellite remote sensing has also benefited from technical improvements, including better spectral and spatial resolution of sensors, which have facilitated the detection and discovery of unknown archaeological areas. This paper focuses on investigations conducted using multi-spectral satellite remote-sensing data of the ancient canal systems of the Wadi el Melah Valley (WMV) in southern Tunisia. The area used to be part of a huge military defense system along the desert border. This paper describes the use of GeoEye-1 and Ziyuan-3 satellite remote-sensing data to reveal ancient Roman canals, which were part of an advanced hydraulic system devised to capture runoff water and cope with the lack of water in the area. In general, this research provides new information on some essential sections of the Roman walled defense system Limes (Fossatum) in the southern part of the empire, where we study previously undetected sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]