Aerial laser discovers ancient Roman gold mines.
Researchers in Spain have used an airborne laser technology called "Light Detection and Ranging(LiDAR) "to conform the Existence of ancient gold mine which was built 2,000 years ago.
ScienceDaily reports that the gold mining complex in the Eria river valley includes sophisticated hydraulic works diverting river water to the mines. The Las Médulas region in León is considered to be the largest opencast mine in the Roman Empire but the researchers discovered that mining extended many miles to the south east to the Eria valley.
LiDAR, which employs pulsed laser light to measure distances to earth, is used for a host of applications, including shoreline mapping and hydrographic surveys.
LiDAR is an extremely useful tool for archaeologists. Last year, for example, researchers used the technology to discover lost temples, roads and hydraulic systems at Cambodia's ancient Angkor Wat site.
NASA, which developed LiDAR in the sixties, plans to use the technology to map the earth’s forests in 3D. The technology is used in a new laser instrument called Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), which has been developed for the International Space Station.
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