UAV-Based Remote Sensing for Managing Alaskan Native Heritage Landscapes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

Remote Sensing

卷:14

Meta Williams¹  Daniel Marsden²  Sean Gleason²  Warren Jones³  Jonathan S. Lim⁴  Gonzalo J. Linares Matás⁴ 

[1] Alaska Christian College, 35109 Royal Pl, Soldotna, AK 99669, USA;

[2] Department of Rhetoric, Hampden-Sydney College, 172 Via Sacra, Hampden Sydney, VA 23901, USA;

[3] Qanirtuuq Inc., 100 Qanirtuuq Dr., Quinhagak, AK 99655, USA;

[4] School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 1 South Parks Rd., Oxford OX1 3TG, UK;

关键词: UAV remote sensing;    Alaska;    archaeology;    ethnobotany;    multispectral imagery;    vegetation indices;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs14030728

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta is home to the Alaskan Native Yup’ik people who have inhabited this remote, subarctic tundra for over 1500 years. Today, their ancestral lifeways and cultural landscapes are at risk from severe climate change-related threats. In turn, we propose that remote sensing technologies, particularly with sensors mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms, are uniquely suited for protecting Yup’ik landscape heritage. Based on collaborative, community-based fieldwork in Quinhagak, AK, we present evidence that cultural sites—ranging from historic fishing camps to pre-contact winter villages—exhibit predictably atypical vegetation patterns based on the local ecological biome. Furthermore, these vegetation patterns can be recorded and statistically quantified through the analysis of multispectral imagery obtained from UAV-mounted sensors with three different false color composite rasters and vegetation indices depending on biome type. Finally, we suggest how the Yupiit can combine these methodologies/workflows with local knowledge to monitor the broader heritage landscape in the face of climate change.

【 授权许可】

Unknown