Climatic & Anthropogenic Hazards to the Nasca World Heritage: Application of Remote Sensing, AI, and Flood Modelling

A pressing threat to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Nasca, Peru, has been identified through advanced remote sensing and AI-driven flood modeling. The study reveals that increasing weather extremes, particularly flash floods, are accelerating erosion of the iconic geoglyphs, including the 'lizard,' 'tree,' and 'hand' figures, some of which are already intersected by the Pan-American Highway. By analyzing sub-meter scale LiDAR-derived digital elevation data, researchers have pinpointed vulnerable areas at risk of further damage. The findings underscore the urgent need for mitigation strategies to protect these ancient artifacts from both climatic and anthropogenic hazards.

Sakai, M., Freitag, M., Sakurai, A., Albrecht, C. M., & Hamann, H. F. (2024). Climatic & Anthropogenic Hazards to the Nasca World Heritage: Application of Remote Sensing, AI, and Flood Modelling. IGARSS 2024 - 2024 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2212–2215. https://doi.org/10.1109/igarss53475.2024.10642513