Project Title: Integrating GPS-GPR-GIS

Motivation: Mapping the Minoan living surface buried under volcanic material from an eruption in 1500 BC on the island of Thera (Santorini), Greece.

Platform: Trimble GPS Pathfinder® Pro XRS Receiver, ArcView 3.x, and ArcGIS 3D Analyst

Summary: In May of 1999, a multidisciplinary group of experts in the fields of Volcanology, Geology, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) conducted experiments with the goal of mapping the Minoan living surface buried under volcanic material from an eruption in 1500 BC on the island of Thera (Santorini), Greece.

All of the data managed by GIS and GPS technology are being used to facilitate the process of determining the Minoan living surface. Previous work in this field has made limited use of the combination of GIS and GPS. However, a unique component to this project was the use of the Trimble GPS Pathfinder® Pro XRS Receiver. The GPS unit was used to map island infrastructure, aid in the production of island digital elevation models, and establish the location and elevation of GPR surveys. This control was critical in the establishment of the paleotopography.