Satellite imaging data analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of land-use zoning for the protection of built heritage at Bagan, Myanmar

Benjamin Edwards; Tilman Frasch; Julia Jeyacheya

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2019.104701

Satellite imaging data analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of land-use zoning for the protection of built heritage at Bagan, Myanmar

Data Brief. 2019 Oct 21:27:104701. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2019.104701. eCollection 2019 Dec.

Authors

Benjamin Edwards¹, Tilman Frasch¹, Julia Jeyacheya¹

Affiliation

¹ Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom.

Abstract

This data in brief article describes the data collection and analysis process undertaken to assess the effectiveness of land-use zoning for heritage protection at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bagan Myanmar [1]. In order to measure the expansion of urban areas within the Archaeological Zone of Bagan from 1987 to 2018, and thus assess whether development controls functioned effectively, imaging data was acquired from the archives of the US Landsat 5, and the European Space Agency's Sentinel 2 platforms. Shapefiles were generated in QGIS for each settlement within the zone for each of the eight sample years. The changing area, in square kilometres, of these settlements was then analysed over time, with further reference to two 'control' settlements that exist outside of the Archaeological Zone.

Keywords: Archaeology; Buddhism; Land-use; Myanmar; Satellite remote-sensing; World heritage; Zoning.