Space Technology Facilitates the Preventive Monitoring and Preservation of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty: A Comparative Study of the Qingtongxia and Zhangjiakou Sections in China

A comparative analysis of two sections of the Great Wall—Qingtongxia and Zhangjiakou—reveals distinct degradation patterns driven by environmental factors. Using synthetic aperture radar interferometry, researchers found that surface deformation rates decreased from 2015 to 2018 along the observed corridor. In Qingtongxia, high winds and surface runoff significantly correlated with wall degradation (correlation coefficients: 0.582 for wind speed and 0.524 for elevation), while in Zhangjiakou, natural processes had negligible effects (coefficients near 0). This study underscores the potential of space technologies to enhance preventive monitoring and risk assessment for large-scale heritage sites like the Great Wall.

Chen, F., Zhou, W., Xu, H., Parcharidis, I., Lin, H., & Fang, C. (2020). Space Technology Facilitates the Preventive Monitoring and Preservation of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty: A Comparative Study of the Qingtongxia and Zhangjiakou Sections in China. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 13, 5719–5729. https://doi.org/10.1109/jstars.2020.3023297