Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Laser scanning from aircraft mapped ruins that ground surveys had walked past. The figure is taken from National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a history fact?

Yes. It sits on the History shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Lidar revealed whole cities under jungle canopy

Laser scanning from aircraft mapped ruins that ground surveys had walked past Lidar fires rapid laser pulses at the ground and records the reflections, and software can strip away the tree cover. Surveys in Mesoamerica and Southeast Asia have since mapped causeways, terraces and reservoirs at scales no excavation could reach. The results suggest some tropical cities were larger and more densely engineered than previously thought. It sits in Mondo's history collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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More facts like this

Lidar measures distance by timing a light pulseA short laser flash bounces off a surface, and the return delay gives range to within a few centimetres Aerial photography exposed fields nobody had noticedCrop marks and shadows in low sunlight revealed ditches under farmland The Great Pyramid of Giza was built for Pharaoh KhufuOver two million limestone blocks were assembled to form the tallest structure for millennia Qin Shi Huang unified China and began the Great WallThe first emperor standardized currency and built the Terracotta Army for his tomb Harappan cities featured advanced brick drainage networksIndus Valley settlements built grid-pattern streets and covered urban sewers by 2600 BCE Howard Carter discovered the intact tomb of TutankhamunBritish archaeologist uncovered thousands of golden artifacts in Egypt in 1922

Tags: lidar, archaeology, remote-sensing

Lidar revealed whole cities under jungle canopy: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Laser scanning from aircraft mapped ruins that ground surveys had walked past. The figure is taken from National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a history fact?: Yes. It sits on the History shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.