James' World 2

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On the northern edge of the Rub al-Khali, there are secrets buried in the sand.

The vast 250,000 square miles (650,000 square kilometer) desert on the Arabian Peninsula is known as “The Empty Quarter.” And to most, aside from waves of ocher dunes, it does look empty.

But not to artificial intelligence.

Researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi have developed a high-tech solution to searching huge, arid areas for potential archaeological sites.

Traditionally, archaeologists use ground surveys to detect potential sites of interest, but that can be time-consuming and difficult in harsh terrains like the desert. In recent years, remote sensing using optical satellite images from places like Google Earth has gained popularity in searching large areas for unusual features — but in the desert, sand and dust storms often obscure the ground in these images, while dune patterns can make it difficult to detect potential sites.“We needed something to guide us and focus our research,” says Diana Francis, an atmospheric scientist and one of the lead researchers on the project.

The team created a machine learning algorithm to analyze images collected by synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a satellite imagery technique that uses radio waves to detect objects hidden beneath surfaces including vegetation, sand, soil, and ice.

Neither technology is new: SAR imagery has been in use since the 1980s, and machine learning has been gaining traction in archaeology. But the use of the two together is a novel application, says Francis, and to her knowledge, is a first in archaeology.

She trained the algorithm using data from a site already known to archaeologists: Saruq Al-Hadid, a settlement with evidence of 5,000 years of activity that is still being uncovered in the desert outside of Dubai.N

She trained the algorithm using data from a site already known to archaeologists: Saruq Al-Hadid, a settlement with evidence of 5,000 years of activity that is still being uncovered in the desert outside of Dubai.“Once it was trained, it gave us an indication of other potential areas (nearby) that are still not excavated,” says Francis.

She adds that the technology is precise to within 50 centimeters and can create 3D models of the expected structure that will give archaeologists a better idea of what’s buried below.

In collaboration with Dubai Culture, the government organization that manages the site, Francis and her team conducted a ground survey using a ground-penetrating radar, which “replicated what the satellite measured from space,” she says.

Now, Dubai Culture plans to excavate the newly identified areas — and Francis hopes the technique can uncover more buried archaeological treasures in the future.

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A satellite view of the Saruq al-Hadid site, showing the western zone that was under excavation (right) and the eastern zone which is not excavated yet. – Khalifa University/Ben Romdhane et al., 2023

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