SPACE TECHNOLOGIES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH & CRM OF SEMI-ARID & DESERTIFICATION AFFECTED REGIONS. EXAMPLES FROM CHINA & GREECE Apostolos Sarris (1) , Sofia Topouzi (1) , Eleni Chatziiordanou (2) , Jianguo Liu (3) , Lianggao Xu (3) (1) Laboratory of Geophysical-Satellite Remote Sensing & Archaeo-environment, Institute for Mediterranean Studies, Foundation for Research & Technology, Nik. Foka 130, Rethymno 74100, Crete, Greece, asaris@ret.forthnet.gr (2) Dep. of Mineral Resources Engineering, Techn. Univ. of Crete, Chania 73100, Greece, lena_hatziord@hotmail.com (3) Institute of Archaeology, Center for Archaeological Science & Technology, CASS, 27 Wangfujing Street, Beijing 100710, China, gaolb@history.cass.net.cn ABSTRACT/RESUME Geographical Information Systems and Satellite Remote Sensing techniques were used as detection and monitoring means in the archaeological research and cultural resources management in semi-dry and desertification affected regions. Two pilot study areas were chosen, Lasithi district in Greece and Zhouyuan in China, in order to take in account the diverse nature of monuments and sites (with respect to the area coverage, building materials, conservation status, etc), and the environmental setting of the surrounding regions. Satellite and aerial imagery was mainly used to identify hidden cultural features. Archaeological and environmental data were merged together in a GIS to define the archaeological areas in risk due to natural and anthropogenic causes [1]. 1. THE CULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE LASITHI DISTRICT, CRETE, GREECE The recent mapping of the archaeological sites of Lasithi district (almost 1000 sites dated mainly to the Neolithic-Roman period) through digitization and high-accuracy GPS (differential static mapping with 2 sub-cm Ashtech Z-12 double frequency receivers) and the design of a digital Web-GIS archaeological map (http://www1.ims.forth.gr/maps/website/imslasithi2001 ) [5] [6], introduced a new input for the management of cultural resources in the region. The need for the development of a CRM model is of critical value, since Lasithi is one of the less-developed and remote districts of the E.U. and at the same time one of the most archaeologically investigated areas in Greece. One of the directions of the current research is devoted in the risk assessment of the archaeological sites, taking in account natural and environmental hazards, such as earthquake activity, fires, soil erosion, landuse practices, geological characteristics, climatic conditions, population and tourist pressure, etc. SPOT and Landsat TM images were used for extracting the spectral signatures of the archaeological sites. GIS processing was carried out based on the geomorphological, geological and cultural characteristics of the sites in order to define archaeologically sensitive locations having a variable index of conservation due to the environmental variables. 2. LASITHI: CULTURE & ENVIRONMENT The archaeological database contains 972 records, the largest percentage of which (67.59%) is sites dated to the Minoan period, followed by those of the Roman period. 182 out of 972 sites have resulted from excavation research, while 667 sites have been located by surface survey techniques. The abovementioned sites were divided in 9 typological categories: habitation sites (29.63%), sites of unknown typology (26.13% - derived mainly from survey publications, where there is no detailed description of the typology), burial sites (20.16%), isolated buildings (11.21%), religious sites (10.80%), fortifications (7.20%), caves (7%), other categories (5.45% - containing sherds’ concentrations, cisterns, roads, etc.) and production sites (4.73%). The main purpose of the above classification scheme was to specify a different conservation factor (or risk factor) for each type of site. Although 320 out of the 972 archaeological sites were visited during fieldwork activities, site verification was achieved in just 209 of them. Thirty of these sites are fenced, 89 are well preserved, 96 are poorly preserved and 46 have been found destroyed. The spatial correlation between the archaeological sites and geological/landuse maps indicated that the largest quantity of sites (37.24%) is located on tertiary deposits, followed by a percentage of 34.30% of sites located on hard limestone. About 61.51% of the sites are located on rounded summits, followed by 28.59% located on middle or lower slopes. A high percentage (34.73%) of sites were found to be in risk due to intensive agricultural activities. Fire incidences recorded for the period of 1923- 1997 by the Department of Forestry of the Ministry of Agriculture indicated a rising trend of forest/agricultural fires (an increase of more than 200% with respect to the early 1900s). Due to the lack of detailed data concerning the outline of the area of disaster, circular buffers representing the total area affected were created around the location of the corresponding villages, close to the epicenter of the fire location. Thus, a number of thematic maps were