"Remote Sensing"

Definition: Remote sensing refers to sensing or imaging of distant phenomena. In archaeology, it generally refers to the use of aerial or satellite imagery to study cultural patterning on the ground. Aerial photography has long been used by archaeologists, but the recent development of new sensing and data processing technologies has led to new possibilities for archaeological studies.

This has been spectacularly demonstrated by the rediscovery of the lost city of Ubar in Oman, but more prosaic uses such as studying ancient land use and settlement patterns are more typical. The term is sometimes used to refer to ground-based or marine geophysical surveys, but these are considered separate disciplines.