Remote sensing and map quantitative data in an armed conflict zone. Case study: Quantitative monitoring and mapping of the damage in Syria archeological site Afamia (Apamea)

The destruction of cultural and natural heritage resulting from armed conflicts threats the whole of humanity. Despite that, their conservation in conflict areas is deficient, one of the causes of this is the difficulties in accessing information. 

Today, evolve strategies and tools for monitoring and actively protecting world heritage is very important, which requires the collection and analysis of large amounts of data obtained from various sources. In this context, the objective of this study is to present data of a spatio-chronological analysis using semi-automatic classification methods for the quantitative monitoring of the damage caused by the looting of archaeological sites in conflict zones. The results of the spatio-chronological analysis obtained using archives Pleiades and SPOT5 imagery allowed the detection of clandestine excavations extending over 95% of the site between 2011 and 2019.