{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T09:01:48Z","timestamp":1778662908589,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,25]],"date-time":"2018-09-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1537833600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["XDA19030502"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDA19030502"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["41771489"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41771489"]}]},{"name":"the CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence on Space Technology for Disaster Mitigation \u201cJoint Program on Space Technology for Disaster Mitigation for Belt and Road Initiative\u201d","award":["null"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["null"]}]},{"name":"Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["Y5YR0300QM"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Y5YR0300QM"]}]},{"name":"Academic Leader Funding Key Laboratory of Earth Observation and Geospatial Information Science of NASG","award":["null"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["null"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Supported by a shallow groundwater wetland ecosystem, the Nanhu oasis, which is the location of the Yangguan frontier pass, represents an important supply and defence station for the ancient Silk Road. The reconstruction of the evolution of the water cultivation environment is helpful for archaeological surveys and the protection of this well-known heritage site. This study proposes a workflow for reconstructing the water cultivation paleoenvironment-based primarily on X- and L-band spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. First, TerraSAR-X\/TanDEM-X (TSX\/TDX)-generated Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data were used for microrelief analyses, including a watershed analysis and drainage network extraction. Several dried-up paleochannels and the range of the Daze (a wetland dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618\u2013907 A.D.)) were identified. Second, based on the hydrological sensitivity analysis of the multi-temporal L-band SAR data, arid land vegetation accompanying the emergence of groundwater was extracted to locate ancient arable areas using backscattering and coherence characteristics. Finally, reconstruction of the water cultivation paleoenvironment surrounding the Nanhu oasis dating back to the Han and Tang dynasties (202 B.C.\u2013907 A.D.) was performed, referring to historical documents. New discoveries were validated by field campaigns, and the results of the SAR archaeological investigations conducted in this study indicated that the ancient arable area in the Nanhu oasis was nearly double the current dimensions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs10101536","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,25]],"date-time":"2018-09-25T11:12:26Z","timestamp":1537873946000},"page":"1536","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Reconstruction of the Water Cultivation Paleoenvironment Dating Back to the Han and Tang Dynasties Surrounding the Yangguan Frontier Pass Using X- and L-Band SAR Data"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Xiaokun","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"},{"name":"Beijing Institute of Surveying and Mapping, Beijing 100038, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fulong","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China"},{"name":"International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the Auspice of UNESCO, Beijing 100094, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huadong","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China"},{"name":"International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the Auspice of UNESCO, Beijing 100094, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Li, Z. 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