Rediscovering Ancient Stories
Through Remote Sensing Technology
Rediscovering Ancient Stories Through Remote Sensing Technology By Chuong Tran
Picture this: an ancient drawing, barely a whisper of its former self, etched onto a rock wall. Time has faded it, leaving only the faintest outlines. A standard photograph captures little more than a washed-out blur.
Now, imagine a tool, a kind of color sorcerer, born from the vast landscapes of JPL's remote sensing expertise (Ronald E. Alley). This tool, Principal Component-Based Color Enhancement, is now being turned towards the delicate art of the past to coax out the hidden hues, revealing what was once lost.
Suddenly, the rock wall transforms. You begin to see:
The Painter's Palette: Distinct paints emerge, their subtle differences now clear, even those that seemed identical to the naked eye.
The Story of Layers: The drawing's history unfolds, revealing layers of creation, as if time itself is being peeled back.
The Unseen Details: Faint lines and shapes, once ghostly apparitions, now stand defined, revealing the artist's intent.
The Scars of Time: Damage and wear, the marks of centuries, are clearly visible, telling the story of the drawing's journey through time."
My implementation of the JPL algorithm for remote sensing analysis in Python since MATLAB is not a free product. The Python output has been successfully cross-referenced with my MATLAB implementation.
Cave painting images you can use for testing the pca_stretch.py
(Photo credits: internet search)