SENTINEL-1 TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY PRE-COLUMBIAN MODIFIED ENVIRONMENTS

There has been increasing amount of evidences showing large pre-Columbian settlements and extensive domesticated landscapes across Amazonia. However, one of the challenges to understand the extent to which pre-Columbian societies transformed Amazonian landscapes is the fact that many settlements are covered by dense vegetation. Thus, the analysis of the forest structure though time can point out locations witch has better conditions to develop a more stabilized environment, caused by pre-Columbian management and cultivation practices. The identification of pre-Columbian sites within forested areas can enlighten uncertainties about the resistance and resilience of Amazonia ecosystems. Here, we compare SAR’s vegetation indexes anomalies within pre-Columbian modified environments to other forested areas in their surroundings using a time-series (TS) from Sentinel-1A RADAR data (C-band). The results show that non-pre-Columbian areas have more anomaly events, and up to two time’s higher recurrence. This approach can enable the search for new pre-Columbian archaeological sites hidden under the Amazonian forest canopy.