Synthetic aperture radar (SAR), also known as ground-penetrating radar (GPR), has existed for thirty years. It is a scientific process whereby microwave energy is sent in pulses to the ground, producing the return of echoes. The echoes are then processed and images are created. Using this process to research Qumran and its surrounding areas has already led to additional discoveries (see Cemetery), and is being used to probe for more caves and manuscript discoveries in the region.

Further Reading:

• Donald W. Parry, David V. Arnold, David G. Long, and Scott R. Woodward, “New Technological Advances: DNA, Databases, Imaging Radar,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years. A Comprehensive Assessment (ed. Peter W. Flint and James C. VanderKam; Leiden: Brill, 1998), 1:496-515.