An Overview of Innovative Heritage Deliverables Based on Remote Sensing Techniques

Abstract

The documentation and information representation of heritage sites is rapidly evolving. With the advancements in remote sensing technology, increasingly more heritage projects look to integrate innovative sensor data into their workflows. Along with it, more complex analyses have become available which require highly detailed inputs. However, there is a gap in the current body of knowledge of how to transfer the outputs from innovative data acquisition workflows to a set of useful deliverables that can be used for analysis. In addition, current procedures are often restricted by proprietary software or require field specific knowledge. As a result, more data are being generated in heritage projects but the tools to process them are lacking. In this work, we focus on methods that convert the raw information from the data acquisition to a set of realistic data representations of heritage objects. The goal is to present the industry with a series of practical solutions that integrate innovative technologies but still closely relate to the current heritage documentation workflows. An extensive literature study was performed discussing the different methods along with their advantages and opportunities. In the practical study, four deliverables were defined: the use of orthomosaics, web-based viewers, watertight mesh geometry and content for serious games. Each section is provided with a detailed overview of the process and realistic test cases that heritage experts can use as a basis for their own applications. The implementations are applicable to any project and provide the necessary information to update existing documentation workflows. Overall, the ideology is to increase the access to innovative technologies, better communicate the data to the different stakeholders and improve the overall usefulness of the information.