Abstract
Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) technology, also referred to as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), represents the most relevant advancement of Earth Observation (EO) techniques for obtaining high-precision information about the Earth’s surface. This includes basic terrain mapping (Digital terrain model, bathymetry, corridor mapping), vegetation cover (forest assessment and inventory), coastal and urban areas, etc..
Recent studies examined the possibility of using ALS in archaeological investigations to identify earthworks, although the ability of ALS measurements in this context has not yet been studied in detail. It is widely recognized that there are numerous open issues that must be addressed. The most important of these limitations are: (i) data processing, (ii) interpretation and (iii) reliable mapping of archaeological features. In particular, there is a pressing need to generate very detailed maps of subtle archaeological remains as required for planning field survey, excavations etc.
Up to now, the visualisation has been approached using hill-shaded LiDAR DTMs, namely different DTMs are produced by different illuminations from arbitrary azimuths and elevations using GIS hill-shading techniques. But numerous limitations characterize this approach, mainly linked to the following aspects: (i) the use of numerous hill-shaded LiDAR DTMs is time consuming, (ii) the same features may be replicated from several angles, (iii) the interpretation is strongly subjective (depending on the interpreter), and (iv) this implies the impossibility to have reliable maps.
In this paper, these critical issues have been addressed using: 1) slope and convexity algorithms; 2) Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of hill-shaded LiDAR DTMs.
The investigations were carried out near Monte Irsi, a significant archaeological area in the Basilicata Region (Southern Italy) characterized by complex topographical and morphological features.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Masini, N., Lasaponara, R.: Satellite-based recognition of landscape archaeological features related to ancient human transformation. Journal of Geophysics and Engineering 3, 230–235 (2006)
Lasaponara, R., Masini, N.: Detection of archaeological crop marks by using satellite QuickBird multispectral imagery. Journal of Archaeological Science 34, 214–221 (2007)
Barnes, I.: Aerial remote-sensing techniques used in the management of archaeological monuments on the British Army’s Salisbury Plain Training Area. Archaeological Prospection 10, 83–91 (2003)
Sittler, B.: Revealing Historical Landscapes by Using Airborne Laser Scanning. A 3-D Modell of Ridge and Furrow in Forests near Rastatt (Germany). In: Thies, M., Koch, B., Spiecker, H., Weinacker, H. (eds.) Proceedings of Natscan, Laser-Scanners for Forest and Landscape Assessment - Instruments, Processing Methods and Applications. International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, vol. XXXVI, Part 8/W2, pp. 258–261 (2004)
Corns, A., Shaw, R.: High resolution LiDAR for the recording of archaeological monuments & landscapes. In: Lasaponara, R., Masini, N. (eds.) Advances in Remote Sensing for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management, Aracne, Rome, pp. 99–102 (2008)
Devereux, B.J., Amable, G.S., Crow, P., Cliff, A.D.: The potential of airborne lidar for detection of archaeological features under woodland canopies. Antiquity 79, 648–660 (2005)
Gallagher, J.M., Josephs, R.L.: Using LiDAR to Detect Cultural Resources in a Forested Environment: an Example from Isle Royale National Park. Archaeological Prospection 15, 187–206 (2008)
Doneus, M., Briese, C., Fera, M., Janner, M.: Archaeological prospection of forested areas using full-waveform airborne laser scanning. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(4), 882–893 (2008)
Lasaponara, R., Masini, N.: Full-waveform Airborne Laser Scanning for the detection of medieval archaeological microtopographic relief. Journal of Cultural Heritage 10S, e78–e82 (2009)
Lasaponara, R., Coluzzi, R., Gizzi, F.T., Masini, N.: On the LiDAR contribution for the archaeological and geomorphological study of a deserted medieval village in Southern Italy. Journal Geophysics Engineering 7, 155–163 (2010)
Cherry, J. F., Aylwin Cotton, M., Whitehouse, D.B.: A Trial Excavation at Monte Irsi, Basilicata. In Papers of the British School at Rome, vol. XXXIX, pp. 138ss (1971)
Small, A., Small, C., Campbell, I., MacKinnon, M., Prowse, T., Sipe, C.: Field survey in the Basentello valley on the Basilicata-Puglia border. Echos du Monde Classique. Classical Views XLII, 337–371 (1998)
Small, A.: The Iron Age and Roman Site of Monte Irsi, Canadian Archaeology Abroad, Calgary, 23–33 (1976)
Panarelli, F.: Monaci e priori della Chaise Diew a Montepeloso. In: Panarelli, F. (ed.) Archivi e reti monastiche tra Alvernia e Basilicata: il priorato di Santa Maria di Juso e la Chaise-Dieu, pp. 53–59. Congedo, Galatina (2007)
Lasaponara, R., Masini, N.: Primi rilievi dell’insediamento medievale di Monte Irsi attraverso tecniche di telerilevamento satellitare. In: Panarelli, F. (ed.) Archivi e reti monastiche tra Alvernia e Basilicata: il priorato di Santa Maria di Juso e la Chaise-Dieu, pp. 193–204. Congedo, Galatina (2007)
Janora, M.: Memorie storiche, critiche e diplomatiche della cittĂ di Montepeloso (oggi Irsina), Matera (1901)
Lasaponara, R., Masini, N.: On the potential of Quickbird data for archaeological prospection. International Journal of Remote Sensing 27(15-16), 3607–3614 (2006), doi:10.1080/01431160500333983
Coluzzi, R., Masini, N., Lasaponara, R.: Flights into the past: Full-Waveform airborne laser scanning data for archaeological investigation. Journal of Archaeological Science (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.10.003
Axelsson, P.: DEM generation from laser scanner data using adaptive TIN models. In: IAPRS, Amsterdam, Netherlands, vol. XXXIII, B4, pp. 111–118 (2000)
Su, L., Gibeaut, J.: An improved classification approach for lidar point clouds on texas coastal areas, A special joint symposium of ISPRS Technical Commission IV & AutoCarto in conjunction with ASPRS/CaGIS 2010 Fall Specialty Conference, Orlando, Florida, November 15-19 (2010)
Stal, C., Bourgeois, J., De Maeyer, P., De Mulder, G., De Wulf, A., Goossens, R., Nuttens, T., Stichelbaut, B.: Kemmelberg (Belgium) case study: comparison of DTM analysis methods for the detection of relicts from the First World War. In: Proc. 30th EARSeL Symposium: Remote Sensing for Science, Education and Culture (2010)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lasaponara, R., Masini, N. (2011). On the Processing of Aerial LiDAR Data for Supporting Enhancement, Interpretation and Mapping of Archaeological Features. In: Murgante, B., Gervasi, O., Iglesias, A., Taniar, D., Apduhan, B.O. (eds) Computational Science and Its Applications - ICCSA 2011. ICCSA 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6783. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21887-3_31
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21887-3_31
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21886-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21887-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)