SUB-PIXEL DETECTION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS USING NASA SATELLITE AND AIRCRAFT DATAMOST PREVIOUS APPLICATIONS OF DIRECT DETECTION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES USING REMOTE SENSING REQUIRED THAT THE TARGET SITE BE 1)SPECTRALLY DISTINCT FROM THE SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE AND 2)PHYSICALLY LARGER THAN THE SPATIAL RESOLUTION OF THE IMAGING SYSTEM BEING USED. WE PROPOSE FOR PERHAPS THE FIRST TIME TO EXAMINE WHETHER SUB-PIXEL ARTIFACTS(I.E. SITE MIDDEN AND CONCENTRATIONS OF OBSIDIAN ARTIFACTS AND POTTERY SHERDS ) CAN BE DIRECTLY DETECTED/IDENTIFIED USING AIRBORNE AND SPACEBORNE IMAGE DATA. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ARE TO: 1)USE NASA IMAGE DATA IN CONJUNCTION WITH ACTUAL FIELD/LABORATORY MEASURED SPECTRA OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS TO TEST THEDETECTION LIMITS OF SELECTED ARTIFACT CLASSES (OBSIDIAN CERAMICS AND MIDDEN)AT THE SUB-PIXEL SCALE BY APPLYING PREVIOUSLY DEMONSTRATED THEORETICAL DETECTION LIMIT MODELING (AUTHOR 1992 AUTHOR ET AL 2003) 2)EXAMINE THE INFLUENCE THAT BACKGROUND SEASONAL VEGETATION CHANGEAND OTHER ON-SITE CHANGES HAVE FOR THE DETECTABILITY OF THESE OBJECTS IN IMAGE DATA 3)ESTABLISH THE INSTRUMENTATION SPATIAL SCALE AND SPECTRAL BANDS NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE DETECTABILITY OF THESE OBJECTS AND 4)TO TEST PREDICTIONS OF NEW LOCATIONS FOR ARTIFACTS AT SPECIFIC(SPATIAL) DENSITIES IN OTHER IMAGE SCENES AND GROUND TRUTH THESE PREDICTIONS. PRIOR RESEARCH BY THE PROPOSERS HAS SHOWN THAT OBSIDIAN AND POTTERY ARE THEORETICALLY DETECTABLE AT REALISTIC CONCENTRATIONS AT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES. CERTAIN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS SUCH AS POTTERY SHERDS AND OBSIDIAN HAVE CHARACTERISTIC SPECTRAL SIGNATURES INVISIBLE AND THERMAL INFRARED WAVELENGTHS. SITE MIDDEN MAY AS WELL. THE GROUND SURFACE AT ANY GIVEN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IS COMPOSED OF A NUMBER OF ARTIFACTS AND/OR NATURAL MATERIALS INCLUDING THE TARGET ARTIFACTS AND BACKGROUNDS COMPOSED OF SOIL ROCK AND VEGETATION.A SPECTRUM COLLECTED BY AN AIRBORNE/SPACEBORNE SENSOR IS A COMBINATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL SPECTRA OF THESE MATERIALS; AS THE PERCENT COMPOSITION OF A MATERIAL ON THE SURFACE INCREASES ITS SPECTRAL REPRESENTATION IN THE MIXED SPECTRUM INCREASES. WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE TWO LOCATIONS IN WESTERN NORTH AMERICA WITH COMMON CONCENTRATIONS OF OBSIDIAN (GLASS MOUNTAIN CA) AND POTTERY/MIDDEN (LOWER SAN PEDRO RIVER VALLEY AZ). NASA DATA IN VISIBLE AND TIR ARE THE PRIMARY IMAGE DATA TO BE USED AND ARE AVAILABLE FROM AIRCRAFT AND SATELLITE AT VARYING SCALES OVER THESE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES. SPECTRAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TARGETS AND BACKGROUNDS WILL BE MEASURED IN THE FIELD AND LABORATORY AND A MIXTURE MODEL CONSTRUCTED LINKING THESE SPECTRA TO IMAGE DATA. THE SUCCESS WILL BE EVALUATED BY MAPPING PREDICTED CONCENTRATIONS NEARBY AND CONDUCTING GROUND TRUTHING TO DETERMINE ACCURACY. USE OF THIS APPROACH HAS SOME CLEAR THEORETICAL ADVANTAGES OVER INDUCTIVE PREDICTIVE MODELING APPROACHES COMMON IN ARCHAEOLOGY.THE LINKAGE BETWEEN ATTRIBUTES OF ARTIFACTS AND IMAGES IS CLEARLY SPECIFIED AND DIRECT. OBJECTS OF INTEREST ARE DIRECTLY DETECTED RATHER THAN INFERRED THROUGH STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION WITH VEGETATION TYPES OR SOIL WHOSE SPECTRAL SIGNATURES THEMSELVES MAY BE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. IT MAY ALSO PROVIDE SOME MEASURE OF COST-EFFECTIVENESS FOR RAPIDLY INSPECTING LARGE AREAS IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL "HOT SPOTS"FOR MORE CONCENTRATED SURVEY. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES TWO ELEMENTS SOLICITED BY THE NASA SAP PROGRAM:1)IDENTIFICATION AND EXPLORATION OF THE EXTENT AND NATURE OF PAST HUMAN SETTLEMENT PATTERNS; 2) PLANNING FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL RESOURCES THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW METHOD TO IDENTIFY CULTURAL RESOURCES. THE PROPOSAL MAKES INTENSIVE USE OF NASA DATA ESPECIALLY THAT COLLECTED FROM MASTER ASTER AND AVARIS INSTRUMENTS. THIS RESEARCH WILL GIVE ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND PREHISTORIANS A NEW WAY OF USING NASA DATA TO EXAMINE THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD AND MAY PROVIDE LAND MANAGERS IN THE US WITH NEW TOOLS FOR IDENTIFYING AND PROTECTING