2022_UAVs and GIS models for landscape representation

2016

ABSTRACT: The archaeological site Cornesti “Iarcuri ” is the largest earth fortification in Romania, made out of four concentric compounds, spreading over 1780 hectares. It is known since 1700, but it had only a few small attempts of systematic research, the fortress gained interest only after the publishing of some satellite images by Google Earth. It is located in an area of high fields and it occupies three interfluves and contains two streams. Our paper contains a geomorphologic, topographic and cartographic analysis of the site in order to determine the limits, the structure, the morphology, the construction technique and the functionality of such a fortification. Our research is based on satellite image analysis, on archaeological topography, on soil, climate and vegetation analysis as a way to offer a complex image, through this interdisciplinary study of landscape archaeology. Through our work we try not to date the site as this objective will be achieved only after completi...

Management of Cultural Heritage for restoration purposes is a challenge when different surveys are carried out on a multidisciplinary team. This paper deals the implementation of an archiving and managing system for architectural related-work, specifically rehabilitation. All the data collected and delivered by technicians and experts such as drawings, reports, pictures and rectified imagery concerning the restoration were input into an architectural information system. The architectural information system is a Geographic Information System (GIS) particularized for architectural analyses and management. It has been implemented in such a way that it is possible to link alphanumeric data with building maps independently of its spatial attitude and level. The challenges for overcoming a fully 3D documentation project into a 2D management system are addressed. Furthermore, the conceptualization of a specific architectonic management system based on multi-source information is highlighted. Finally, the benefits of developing a management system for architectural surveys and restorations dealing with multidisciplinary teams are also discussed.

Archeologia e Calcolatori, 2024

The contribution draws on the experience gained within the Rome Transformed project on the Eastern Caelian hill, reserving a with more general attention to problems of method. The spatial dimensions of the project pose problems including – but at the same time going beyond – those normally addressed for the visualization of individual surveyed structures. Two points seem crucial: 1) the transparency of metadata and paradata; 2) the tension between too much or too little prescriptive models or ontologies. Visualizing a territory poses peculiar problems; we have several examples in the past, but normally the reconstruction of ancient orography on which to place surveyed structures is not explicitly thematized. The territory imposes a leap in scale in the size and management of the data; forms the palimpsest on which to arrange the views of the individual sectors or structures into which it is divided; defines the ‘conditions of existence’ of topographical and monumental articulation; must consider the effects that older phases impose on later ones. Visualization of a territory is not only a way to present to the scientific community and the wider public in a concise manner the results achieved. Such an approach poses the need to work in an environment in which it is possible to progressively incorporate evidence of a very heterogeneous nature such as archival data, geognostic surveys of different types, surveys using traditional techniques or 3D scanning, and core drilling. The organisation of such heterogeneous data within a single software becomes essential for their subsequent processing. It was therefore necessary to design an application able to manage in a single three-dimensional environment the data produced while maintaining the associated information (metadata and paradigms) in order to allow them to be compared and at the same time guaranteeing full interoperability with the GIS environments in which the modelling activity is carried out.

First International Conference on Interdisciplinary Studies, 2018

Geographic surveying is a pre-requisite for many studies into Earth surface processes and dynamics, and recent technological advances have seen the development of drones as a platform from which to acquire aerial photos over large spatial scales at high resolution. Geospatial methods used in data collection for architectural documentation and restoration are studied with the application of close range photogrammetry. The purpose of this study is the application of Digital Ortho Model (DOM) for Land cover and as built mapping with the generation of a Digital Surface Model (DSM) through Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetric techniques for the production of high-resolution topographic data, as well as three-dimensional models of the study area, rendered with their original textures, as a proposal for documentation and conservation. The study area is the ancient home and workshop region of the Lebanese forgotten painter and sculptor Youssef El Howayek in Oura village in the North of Lebanon. Once digital data is archived using geospatial technologies (Geographical Information Systems GIS and Remote Sensing), the output data constitutes the foundation for architects and urban designers for restoration and planning in order to put the artist on the list of regional and international cultures. The geographical result of this study beside the extraction of topographic and land use maps, a geographical system database is able to integrate the museum of Youssef El Howayek on a cultural and touristic digital map in a cartographic web portal exposing the artist art works

International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences

Cultural heritages are the history of the nations, and history forms the identities of the nations. Therefore, protection of cultural heritages means protection of the history and identity of the nations. Identification of the current status of cultural heritages is important for documentation, preservation, and for use as a base for restoration. Documentation studies need robust and scientific methods. GIS and photogrammetry have recently been the most commonly used scientific methods for documenting cultural heritages. The aim of this study is investigate the photogrammetric method and GIS for documentation of cultural heritages digitally. In documentation studies, digital terrestrial photogrammetry is one of the main methods of processing information of historical monuments on computers according to GIS and documenting it in three dimensions. In this study for documentation, all data of 46 historical monuments located in Silifke/Mersin were collected and transferred to a database so that it is made queryable. Some of those heritages were reconstructed as 3D models by the use of photogrammetric techniques. Finally, 3D Models were integrated into the system for presentation.

The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2021

The study proposes advanced analyses of the monastic citiy of the western coastal area of the Athos Peninsula in Greece. This research is the result of architectural and environmental survey campaigns conducted since July 2020. The current bibliographic documentation is limited, and most of the volumes focus on an art and historical description of the paintings in the monasteries, as well as on visitors' travel notes. Through the consolidated phases of the discipline of representation, such as digital surveying, point clouds and the processing of flat surfaces, a journey of knowledge of the third arm of the Chalkidiki peninsula is proposed with regard to the religious architecture considered as micro-cities.

2015

Recent advancements in spatial mapping and in the development of innovative software and navigational tools, have set a new technological framework within which, analogue or physical tools are transformed into digital ones. The integration of interdisciplinary technological resources to traditional surveying and simulating methods extends our capabilities in multiple levels of spatial analysis, i.e. the simultaneous control and modeling of environmental data corresponding to various aspects & dimensions. In such a framework, investigation of the aspects of sustainability and resilience of architectural heritage can be approached as a process of interrelating parameters and properties associated in multiple scales to spatial and geographical structures and stratifications. This study attempts to present the development of a "digital multi-parametric methodology" with which, we may rapidly, directly and reliably detect the spatial structures and their properties which comprise environments of our architectural heritage, through the case study of a complex of semi-deserted settlements in the Doris Municipality, in Greece. As for fieldwork, using the new digital media (drones, thermal cameras, etc.) as well as the analogue ones (recording + surveying typological, building and morphological data, etc.), the method originally tests the framework of the field research and its potential range, while at the same time is integrating and processing the results (of the field research) through the development of a new online digital platform. The resulting simulated spatial structure in organizational patterns, aims in decoding the unique sequences of data which identify spatial entities found in the examined settlement, as well as recognizing interactions among them. On a larger scale, the interaction of each spatial entity (object) with the broader built environment is examined, whilst in a third level the settlement itself is associated with the adjacent natural environment, its resources, and the neighboring communities, based on factors related to sustainability and resilience of the specific cultural landscape. Considering all the above, the study aims to suggest possible new innovative ways of reading architectural heritage and parameters that deem the viability and resilience over time and changes in regards with their existing state.

The Department of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Siena has long been engaged in the study of the ancient landscape, essentially through intensive field survey and surface collection from agricultural surfaces, the analysis of vertical aerial photographs and the stratigraphical interpretation of monuments. In the last ten years the Laboratory of Information Technology Applied to Medieval Archaeology (LIAAM) has directed its work towards the development and application of global management systems for archaeological documentation. This work has involved not only archaeological excavation but also the preparation and publication of archaeological cartography through the development of GIS dedicated systems. This type of solution allows the realization of three main objectives: acceleration of investigative times, sophisticated elaboration of "intra" and "inter" site data, and real possibilities for tutelage. In particular, we can now for the first time produce efficient instruments for integrating archaeology into the politics of teaching and for achieving a fuller appreciation of the landscape around us. In the past, there have been in essence two fundamental problems: insufficient precision in describing the location of discoveries and the absence of efficient instruments for processing the resulting data. Now, with the georeferenced definition of site boundaries, based on differential GPS technology managed using Geographic Information System, this gap has been conclusively filled. In recent years we have been working towards the integration into the GIS base of a remote sensing module able to process, integrate and maximise the data received from various sources: vertical and oblique aerial photography, high-resolution satellite imagery, geophysical surveying and micro-digital terrain modelling using differential GPS. Basically, this work is aimed at the creation of an interconnected series of databases composed of alphanumeric archives (features, images, the results of ground-truthing exercises and dGPS surveys) along with the essential tools for processing the images in georeferential environments in which it is possible to define surfaces and to correctly calculate dimensions, distances and possible relationships between anomalies. This organization of the data greatly assists the potentially difficult task of surface ground-truthing, allowing anomalies to be located quickly and easily on the ground through a dGPS system and facilitating the subsequent management of the site documentation. The prototype system has been developed in two sample areas, chosen for their differing geo-morphological characteristics, landscape and cultural complexity. These lie in the southern and southeastern part of the province of Siena and along the coastal strip in the province of Livorno between Populonia and San Vincenzo. They have a combined extent of about 470 sq. km. In recent years both areas have been subject to intensive surveys and the multi-temporal analysis of vertical aerial photographs. They therefore present an excellent opportunity for testing the potential of multistage remote sensing in combination with conventional methodologies for landscape analysis.

Book2 - Informatics, Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing/ConferenceProceedings, 2016

The complex field of Conservation Science requires a gradual interdisciplinary approach and recently, more and more categories of experts involved in cultural heritage activities use GIS technologies to investigate the aspects of a local heritage. This paper aims to present the current conservation status of some old ecclesiastical buildings of Iasi, a city which represents an ancient religious, cultural, academic and economic urban centre of Romania, correlated to the traces of the human life (socio-cultural and economic) and community attitude towards ecclesiastical heritage. For this purpose, the studies have been conducted on the local monuments using GIS technologies for a better understanding and valorisation of the cultural heritage in an integrated manner. First we created a spatial database of ecclesiastical heritage included into the most recent national list of cultural heritage, in 2015. Then we attached specific attributes such as the year or period of construction, the year of the last interventions/restorations/reconstructions over time, etc. to each vector object. In this way it was possible to generate a number of maps that emphasize the old ecclesiastic city centre, the monuments in unstable areas etc. This attributes data base can be updated in real time, and in this way the governmental institutions can decide their conservation policies in a more accurate way, comparing with the traditional methods. The updated data regarding the conservation status of ecclesiastical heritage represent an important component in monitoring, protection and valorisation processes of local heritage and, in the same time, offer the possibility to involve the members of local community into heritage management for a sustainable development.

Proceedings of the 3rd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Image and Imagination. IMG 2021, 2023

For decades, it has been possible to verify how the use of GIS is an adequate tool for storing information and its subsequent analysis, since it is capable of effectively relating graphic information with any other type of data. It allows the storage of large volumes of information and its subsequent management, analysis, representation and dissemination, as well as the ability to be exploited by different users and repositories, such as the web. To carry out the inventory focused on the performance of administrative and protection tasks, in addition to the documentation related to the geometric model of the building, geographic information systems provide the additional value of spatial information, which together with information related to planning urban planning, the territory and the landscape, provide a vision of the building on an urban and territorial scale, not only as an isolated entity. The objective of the research has been the development of an Integral Information System focused on the protection of the Mudejar architectural heritage in Aragon, which is made up of unique architectural elements that have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, with the purpose of generating graphic information that facilitates spatial analysis for its conservation and dissemination.