@article{5b6e03912dfa481f86d156fefd6f4822,
title = "Airborne lidar survey of irrigated agricultural landscapes: An application of the slope contrast method",
abstract = "Irrigated agriculture was central to the economies of many of the world's best known complex societies. New high-resolution digital elevation models (DEM) derived from remotely sensed lidar data give archaeologists the opportunity to study field systems at a scale not previously possible. Here we describe a method called slope contrast mapping that takes advantage of the dissimilarity between artificial and natural slopes to identify and map discrete features. We use this relatively simple method in our own research to identify complexes of agricultural terraces in the North Kohala district, Hawai'i Island. It has also proved useful for mapping the natural landscape, specifically the extent of flat land between valleys suited for irrigated agriculture.",
keywords = "GIS, Hawai'i, Irrigation, Landscape archaeology, Lidar, Remote sensing",
author = "McCoy, {Mark D.} and Asner, {Gregory P.} and Graves, {Michael W.}",
note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by two grants from the National Science Foundation (Award SES-0552977 and BCS-0624238 ) and we would like to recognize and thank our colleagues on these projects: Oliver Chadwick, Julie Field, Pat Kirch, Thegn Ladefoged, and Peter Vitousek. Special thanks to the staff of the CAO for all their help, especially Ty Kennedy-Bowdoin. Surety Kohala Corporation, Kamehameha Schools, Vipassana Hawai{\textquoteright}i, New Moon Foundation and George and Alexa Russell graciously granted us permission to conduct archaeological research on their property. This paper was originally presented at the 2010 Society for American Archaeology meetings and we would like to again thank the session{\textquoteright}s organizer, Jennifer Campbell, and all those who attended and offered helpful comments. Thanks also to Thegn Ladefoged, Peter Vitousek, and anonymous reviewers who helped improve this paper with their comments. ",
year = "2011",
month = sep,
doi = "10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.033",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "38",
pages = "2141--2154",
journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science",
issn = "0305-4403",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",
number = "9",
}