Let's scan the whole planet with LiDAR | Chris Fisher

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Camille Martínez

譯者: Zeddi Lee 審譯者: Helen Chang

The most astounding place I've ever been is the Mosquitia Rain Forest in Honduras.

我去過最驚人的地方 是宏都拉斯的莫斯基蒂亞雨林。

I've done archaeological fieldwork all over the world,

我在世界各地做過考古實地考察，

so I thought I knew what to expect venturing into the jungle,

所以我以為我知道 在叢林中冒險會發生什麼，

but I was wrong.

但我錯了。

For the first time in my life, I might add.

但我要補充一點， 這是我一生中第一次錯。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

First of all, it's freezing.

首先，天氣很冷。

It's 90 degrees, but you're soaking wet from the humidity,

氣溫是攝氏 32 度， 但濕氣太重讓你全身濕透，

and the canopy of trees is so thick that sunlight never reaches the surface.

樹冠太濃密，以致陽光從未到達地面。

You can't get dry.

你身上的水乾不了。

Immediately, I knew that I hadn't brought enough clothing.

我馬上知道我帶的衣服不夠。

That first night, I kept feeling things moving underneath my hammock,

第一天晚上，我一直感覺 有東西在我的吊床下面移動，

unknown creatures brushing and poking against the thin nylon fabric.

未知的生物在薄尼龍織物上又蹭又搓，

And I could barely sleep through all the noise.

噪音太多，我幾乎睡不著。

The jungle is loud. It's shockingly loud.

叢林裡很吵，嚇人的吵，

It's like being downtown in a bustling city.

簡直像在大城市嘈雜的市中心一樣。

As the night wore on,

來到夜裡，

I became increasingly frustrated with my sleeplessness,

失眠讓我越來越煩躁，

knowing I had a full day ahead.

因為明天有一整天的事要做。

When I finally got up at dawn,

當我終於在黎明時分起床時，

my sense of unseen things was all too real.

我在夜裡感覺到的東西都是真的。

There were hoofprints, paw prints,

到處都是蹄印、爪印、 蛇爬過的線條痕跡。

linear snake tracks everywhere.

And what's even more shocking,

更令人震驚的是，

we saw those same animals in the daylight,

我們在白天看到同樣的動物，

and they were completely unafraid of us.

牠們完全不怕我們。

They had no experience with people.

牠們沒有和人接觸的經驗，

They had no reason to be afraid.

沒有理由害怕。

As I walked toward the undocumented city, my reason for being there,

當我走向那個沒有歷史紀錄的城市時，

I realized that this was the only place that I had ever been

我意識到這是唯一

where I didn't see a single shred of plastic.

完全沒看到半點塑膠的地方，

That's how remote it was.

可見得那裡有多偏僻。

Perhaps it's surprising to learn

也許令人驚訝的是，

that there are still places on our planet that are so untouched by people,

我們星球上還有一些 人類還沒糟蹋過的地方，

but it's true.

但這是真的。

There are still hundreds of places where people haven't stepped for centuries

還有無數的地方， 人們幾個世紀或可能從未涉足。

or maybe forever.

It's an awesome time to be an archaeologist.

在這時代當考古學家太棒了。

We have the tools and the technology

我們有工具和技術

to understand our planet like never before.

用前所未有的方式來理解我們的星球。

And yet, we're running out of time.

然而，我們的時間不多了。

The climate crisis threatens to destroy our ecological and cultural patrimony.

氣候危機有可能摧毀 我們的生態和文化遺產。

I feel an urgency to my work

我對工作感到一種急迫感，

that I didn't feel 20 years ago.

這是 20 年前我感覺不到的。

How can we document everything before it's too late?

我們要如何在為時已晚之前 記錄一切呢？

I was trained as a traditional archaeologist

我接受的是傳統考古學家訓練，

using methodologies that have been around since the '50s.

用的方法是從 50 年代傳下來的。

That all changed in July of 2009

2009 年 7 月在墨西哥米卻肯州時，

in Michoacán, Mexico.

那一切都改變了。

I was studying the ancient Purépecha Empire,

我正在研究古代的普雷佩查帝國，

which is a lesser known but equally important contemporary

這是一個和阿茲特克同時期、 一樣重要卻鮮為人知的帝國。

of the Aztec.

Two weeks earlier, my team had documented an unknown settlement,

在那兩週前，我的團隊 記錄了一個未知的部落，

so we were painstakingly mapping, building foundations by hand --

所以我們費盡心思地 徒手繪製建築物地基的地圖，

hundreds of them.

而且有好幾百個。

Basic archaeological protocol is to find the edge of a settlement

基本考古程序是先找到部落的邊緣，

so you know what you're dealing with,

先對挖掘對象有個概念，

and my graduate students convinced me to do just that.

我的研究生說服我這樣做。

So I grabbed a couple of CLIF Bars, some water, a walkie,

於是，我抓起幾個營養棒、 一些水、一個無線對講機，

and I set out alone on foot,

然後我獨自步行出發，

expecting to encounter "the edge" in just a few minutes.

期待在幾分鐘內到達「邊緣」。

A few minutes passed.

幾分鐘過去了。

And then an hour.

然後一個小時。

Finally, I reached the other side of the malpais.

最後，我到達了瑪律派的另一邊。

Oh, there were ancient building foundations all the way across.

哦，有古老的建築地基貫穿。

It's a city?

這是個城市？

Oh, shit.

哇，糟了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It's a city.

這是一個城市。

Turns out that this seemingly small settlement

原來，這個看似小的部落

was actually an ancient urban megalopolis,

實際上是一個古老的巨型都會區，

26 square kilometers in size,

面積 26 平方公里，

with as many building foundations as modern-day Manhattan,

建築地基與現代曼哈頓一樣多，

an archaeological settlement so large

一個考古聚落如此之大，

that it would take me decades to survey fully,

需要我幾十年的時間 才能全面勘測完畢，

the entire rest of my career,

可能要花我餘生的整個職業生涯，

which was exactly how I didn't want to spend the entire rest of my career --

但我就是不想這樣 度過我剩下的職業生涯

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

sweating, exhausted,

——揮汗如雨， 精疲力竭，

placating stressed-out graduate students --

安撫緊張的研究生——

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

tossing scraps of PB and J sandwiches

扔花生醬加果醬三明治安撫野狗，

to feral dogs,

which is pointless, by the way,

告訴你，那一點也沒用。

because Mexican dogs really don't like peanut butter.

因為墨西哥的狗真的不喜歡花生醬。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Just the thought of it bored me to tears.

光是想就覺得無聊到要哭了。

So I returned home to Colorado,

於是我回到了科羅拉多，

and I poked my head through a colleague's door.

我探頭到同事的門裡，對他說：

"Dude, there's gotta be a better way."

「老兄，一定有更好的辦法。」

He asked if I had heard of this new technology called LiDAR --

他問我是否聽說過名為 雷射雷達（LiDAR）的新技術——

Light Detection And Ranging.

光探測和測距。

I looked it up.

我查了一下。

LiDAR involves shooting a dense grid of laser pulses

雷射雷達是從飛機射出 密集的雷射脈衝到地面。

from an airplane to the ground's surface.

What you end up with is a high-resolution scan

得到的結果是地表和其上的 所有東西的高解析度掃描圖。

of the earth's surface and everything on it.

It's not an image,

它不是照片，

but instead it's a dense, three-dimensional plot of points.

而是一個密集的點構成的立體圖。

We had enough money in the scan,

我們的掃描計畫有足夠的錢，

so we did just that.

所以我們就那麼做了。

The company went to Mexico,

公司派人去了墨西哥，

they flew the LiDAR

讓雷射雷達飛過場址，

and they sent back the data.

然後傳回數據。

Over the next several months, I learned to practice digital deforestation,

在接下來的幾個月裡， 我學會了在電腦上去掉森林，

filtering away trees, brush and other vegetation

過濾掉樹木、刷子和其他植被，

to reveal the ancient cultural landscape below.

以揭示下面的古文明景觀。

When I looked at my first visualization,

當我看著我做出來的第一個影像，

I began to cry,

我哭了，

which I know comes as quite a shock to you,

我知道你一定覺得不可思議，

given how manly I must seem.

因為我這麼有男子氣概，怎麼會哭。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

In just 45 minutes of flying,

在 45 分鐘的飛行中，

the LiDAR had collected the same amount of data

雷射雷達收集的數據量

as what would have taken decades by hand:

和我們花幾十年人工收集的一樣多：

every house foundation,

每一個房子的地基、

building, road and pyramid,

建築物、道路和金字塔，

incredible detail,

辨識出令人難以置信的細節，

representing the lives of thousands of people

代表了成千上萬在這些空間裡

who lived and loved and died in these spaces.

生、愛、死的人的生活。

And what's more, the quality of the data

更重要的是，數據的品質

wasn't comparable to traditional archaeological research.

不是傳統考古研究可相提並論的。

It was much, much better.

好很多很多。

I knew that this technology would change the entire field of archaeology

我當時就知道這項技術 將改變整個考古學領域的未來，

in the coming years,

and it did.

果真如此。

Our work came to the attention of a group of filmmakers

我們的作品引起了 一群電影製作人的注意，

who were searching for a legendary lost city in Honduras.

他們正在尋找宏都拉斯 一個傳奇的失落城市。

They failed in their quest,

他們失敗了，

but they instead documented an unknown culture,

但他們卻用雷射雷達 記錄了一種未知的文明，

now buried under a pristine wilderness rain forest,

埋藏在一座原始雨林。

using LiDAR.

I agreed to help interpret their data,

我同意幫助他們解讀數據，

which is how I found myself deep in that Mosquitia jungle,

這就是為何我發現自己 深陷莫斯基蒂亞叢林。

plastic-free and filled with curious animals.

這裡沒有塑膠的蹤跡， 而且充滿了好奇的動物。

Our goal was to verify that the archaeological features

我們的目標是驗證我們在雷射雷達中

we identified in our LiDAR

識別的考古遺跡

were actually there on the ground,

確實在地面上，

and they were.

而它們真的在那裡。

Eleven months later, I returned with a crack team of archaeologists

十一個月後，我帶著國家地理學會

sponsored by the National Geographic Society

和宏都拉斯政府贊助的 一組考古學家回來了。

and the Honduran government.

In a month, we excavated over 400 objects

在一個月內，我們 從我們現在所說的美洲虎城

from what we now call the City of the Jaguar.

挖掘出 400 多件文物。

We felt a moral and ethical responsibility to protect this site as it was,

我們覺得自己有道德和倫理責任 來保護這個遺跡的原貌，

but in the short time that we were there,

但我們在那裡的那段狠的短的時間內，

things inevitably changed.

事情不可避免地改變了。

The tiny gravel bar where we first landed our helicopter was gone.

我們第一次降落直升機的 石礫小淺灘不見了。

The brush had been cleared away and the trees removed

灌木叢被清除，樹木被移走，

to create a large landing zone for several helicopters at once.

來建造一個可同時讓 數架直升機降落的停機坪。

Without it,

沒有它，

after just one rainy season,

只過了一個雨季，

the ancient canals that we had seen in our LiDAR scan

我們在雷射雷達掃描中 看到的古運河

were damaged or destroyed.

就已經損壞或摧毀了。

And the Eden I described soon had a large clearing,

我描述的伊甸園 很快就有一個大的空地、

central camp,

中央營地，

lights

燈光

and an outdoor chapel.

和一個室外教堂。

In other words, despite our best efforts to protect the site as it was,

換句話說，儘管我們盡了最大的努力 來保護遺跡的原貌，

things changed.

事情還是變了。

Our initial LiDAR scan of this City of the Jaguar

我們最初對美洲豹城的雷射雷達掃描

is the only record of this place as it existed just a few years ago.

是這個地方唯一的記錄， 幾年前它還存在。

And broadly speaking,

廣義而言，

this is a problem for archaeologists.

這對考古學家來說是個問題。

We can't study an area without changing it somehow,

我們不能研究一個地區 而完全不改變它，

and regardless, the earth is changing.

不管怎樣， 地球也在改變。

Archaeological sites are destroyed.

考古遺址被摧毀。

History is lost.

歷史消失了。

Just this year, we watched in horror

就在今年，我們驚恐地 看著聖母院大教堂起火。

as the Notre Dame Cathedral went up in flames.

The iconic spire collapsed,

標誌性的教堂塔尖倒塌了，

and the roof was all but destroyed.

屋頂整個毀壞了。

Miraculously, the art historian Andrew Tallon and colleagues

奇蹟似的，藝術史學家 安德魯·塔隆和他的同事

scanned the cathedral in 2010 using LiDAR.

在 2010 年使用雷射雷達 掃描了大教堂。

At the time, their goal was to understand how the building was constructed.

當時，他們的目標 是要了解建築是如何建造的。

Now, their LiDAR scan is the most comprehensive record of the cathedral,

現在，他們的雷射雷達掃描圖 是大教堂面貌最完整的記錄，

and it'll prove invaluable in the reconstruction.

它將在教堂重建時最具參考價值。

They couldn't have anticipated the fire

他們不可能預料到火災

or how their scan would be used,

或當初的掃描會有什麼用處，

but we're lucky to have it.

但我們很幸運有它。

We take for granted that our cultural and ecological patrimony

我們理所當然地認為 我們的文化和生態遺產

will be around forever.

將永遠存在。

It won't.

不會的。

Organizations like SCI-Arc and Virtual Wonders

像 SCI-Arc 和虛擬奇觀這樣的組織

are doing incredible work

正在進行不可思議的工作

to record the world's historic monuments,

來記錄世界歷史古跡，

but nothing similar exists for the earth's landscapes.

但是地球景觀卻沒有什麼類似的。

We've lost 50 percent of our rain forests.

我們失去了 50% 的雨林。

We lose 18 million acres of forest every year.

我們每年損失 7.3 萬 平方公里的森林。

And rising sea levels will make cities, countries and continents

海平面上升將使城市、國家和大洲

completely unrecognizable.

全無法辨認。

Unless we have a record of these places,

除非我們有這些地方的記錄，

no one in the future will know they existed.

否則將來沒有人會知道 這些地方曾經存在。

If the earth is the Titanic,

如果地球是鐵達尼號，

we've struck the iceberg,

我們已經撞上冰山，

everyone's on deck

每個人都在甲板上，

and the orchestra is playing.

管弦樂隊還在演奏。

The climate crisis threatens to destroy our cultural and ecological patrimony

氣候危機有可能在幾十年內 摧毀我們的文化和生態遺產。

within decades.

But sitting on our hands and doing nothing

但什麼也不做是不行的。

is not an option.

Shouldn't we save everything we can on the lifeboats?

難道我們不該在救生艇上 保存一切嗎?

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Looking at my scans from Honduras and Mexico,

看看我在宏都拉斯和墨西哥的掃描，

it's clear that we need to scan, scan, scan

很明顯，我們現在需要盡可能 不停掃描、掃描、掃描，

now as much as possible,

趁我們還做得到的時候盡量掃描。

while we still can.

That's what inspired the Earth Archive,

這就是啟發「地球檔案館」 的靈感來源，

an unprecedented scientific effort

這是一次史無前例的科學努力，

to LiDAR-scan the entire planet,

從威脅最嚴重的地區開始，

starting with areas that are most threatened.

對整個地球進行雷射雷達掃描。

Its purpose is threefold.

目的有三個。

Number one: create a baseline record of the earth as it exists today

第一、建立地球今天存在的基線記錄，

to more effectively mitigate the climate crisis.

以更有效地緩解氣候危機。

To measure change, you need two sets of data:

要測量變化，您需要兩組數據：

a before and an after.

測量前和測量後的數據。

Right now, we don't have a high-resolution before data set

現在，地球大部分測量前收集的數據，

for much of the planet,

還沒有所謂的高解析度，

so we can't measure change,

因此我們無法衡量變化，

and we can't evaluate which of our current efforts

也無法評估我們目前 為對抗氣候危機而做出的努力中，

to combat the climate crisis

are making a positive impact.

哪些正在產生積極的影響。

Number two: create a virtual planet

第二、建造一個虛擬行星，

so that any number of scientists can study our earth today.

以便讓任何科學家 都能研究今天的地球。

Archaeologists like me can look for undocumented settlements.

像我這樣的考古學家 就可以尋找未知的部落。

Ecologists can study tree size,

生態學家可以研究樹的大小、

forest composition and age.

森林的組成和年齡。

Geologists can study hydrology,

地質學家可以研究水文、

faults, disturbance.

斷層、地殼的擾動。

The possibilities are endless.

可能性是無窮無盡的。

Number three: preserve a record of the planet

第三、為我們的子子孫孫 保存地球的記錄，

for our grandchildren's grandchildren,

so they can reconstruct and study lost cultural patrimony in the future.

這樣他們將來就可以 重建和學習失去的文化遺產。

As science and technology advance,

隨著科學技術的進步，

they'll apply new tools, algorithms,

他們將應用新的工具、演算法， 甚至人工智慧，

even AI to LiDAR scans done today,

到現在的雷射雷達掃描，

and ask questions that we can't currently conceive of.

並提出我們目前還想不到的問題。

Like Notre Dame,

和聖母院一樣，

we can't imagine how these records will be used.

我們無法想像這些記錄會如何被運用。

But we know that they'll be critically important.

但是我們知道，它們將至關重要。

The Earth Archive is the ultimate gift to future generations,

地球檔案館是給後代子孫的終極禮物，

because the truth be told,

因為說實話，

I won't live long enough to see its full impact,

我活得不夠久，看不到它的全部影響，

and neither will you.

你也看不到。

That's exactly why it's worth doing.

這正是值得做的原因。

The Earth Archive is a bet on the future of humanity.

地球檔案館是對人類未來的賭注。

It's a bet that together,

身為人類和科學家，

collectively,

我們是地球生命共同體。

as people and as scientists,

that we'll face the climate crisis

當我們共同面對氣候危機時，

and that we'll choose to do the right thing,

要選擇做對的事情，

not just for us today

為的不只是今天的我們自己，

but to honor those who came before us

也是為了榮耀那些先驅，

and to pay it forward to future generations

並讓後代子孫

世世代代延續這項遺產。

who will carry on our legacy.

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）