Columbus: contributions of remote sensing and anisotropic cost analysis to an historical debate
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Abstract
The route of the Christopher Columbus' first expedition is uncertain due to the absence or unreliability of this information in the admiral's diary. Current remote sensing data and GIS analysis can provide new information through analysis of the seasonal wind fields in the area. The results of the six-year analysis show that the wind regime is homogeneous and that it configures two relatively low-cost corridors for sailing with the conditions of 15th century ships. One of these two corridors leads exactly to the destination where Columbus is believed to have arrived on October 12th 1492 and is presented as the most likely route, somewhat further south than that proposed so far in the literature. The GIS are shown to be a tool capable of providing unprecedented information from global data, taken in this case by the QuikSCAT scatterometer, applying methods of spatial analysis rarely used in the scientific literature.
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