RR Standard Grant: Remote Sensing and the Rise of Conflict Archaeology

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will investigate the robustness and reliability of data generated through the collaboration between archaeological science and counterterrorism studies. The research will focus on two teams of scientists that have developed new techniques to study archaeological site looting in Syria and Iraq?an endeavor given particular urgency because of evidence linking insurgent groups with illicit artifact trafficking. Data generated by satellites have been central to this work. Satellite remote sensing works by capturing thousands of digital images and processing them on a computer through a series of mathematical functions. Despite the heavy reliance on machines and algorithms, the process of hybridizing and interpreting data relies on a series of judgment calls and individual interpretations, all of which is shaped by participants? training, disciplinary traditions, and institutional settings. Intellectual merit: Studying the judgment calls and negotiations inherent to this work presents an important opportunity to understand how technicians and analysts grapple with problems of data reliability and replication. We know little about how internal pressures of interdisciplinary collaboration and external pressures for actionable information shape researchers? judgment calls on standards of evidence and methods. As a broader impact, the research will inform public conversations among citizens, policymakers, and ethicists concerned with how new forms of sensitive data are being used to make strategic decisions about armed conflict abroad. Three research questions structure the study, each of them concerned with the robustness and reliability of remote sensing data. Primary fieldwork will take place in two sites: one research team that reports directly to a federal agency and draws research support from that agency, and one research team that operates in a private university and does not rely on federal funding to do its research. At each site, the investigator will observe three sets of actors: Detectors (technicians, satellite engineers, machines); Analysts (archaeologists, NGO and think-tank personnel, and other interpreters of the satellite images); and Decision makers (agency officials and policymakers). Interviews and observations will focus on collaborative ties, gaps and overlaps in the image-generation process, and the production of policy recommendations. Comparing these two study sites will support analysis of site location impact on research outcomes. The project will contribute to our understanding of how big data decision-making informs counterterrorism efforts at the federal level. It has potential to transform the application of satellite remote sensing data to macrosocial issues by isolating the factors that lead to error or breakthrough in data processing and interpretation. Finally, the work will contribute to ongoing debates in the social sciences regarding the co-constitution of credible science and research endeavors that involve opaque, proprietary data collection and analysis. Findings about satellite remote sensing data management and processing, and its integration with archaeological data, will extend to supporting future collaborative work on counterterrorism studies, cultural resources management, and remote sensing hybridization in satellite teams and beyond. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.