What’s in the Toolbox? A Critical Look at Remote Sensing and Recording Systems Used for Underwater Archaeology
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2014
Remote sensing technologies are now mainstays in underwater area survey, site recording, interpretation, and presentation of underwater cultural heritage. This session examines how these systems continue to contribute to archaeological investigations, evolving best practices, the strengths and weakness of each method, and also how they can be integrated with geomatic recording.
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- Documents (8)
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3D Scanning Sonar: A discussion of its applications and limitations based on recent tests by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (2014)
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Over the last two summers the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) has had the opportunity to deploy a 3D Scanning Sonar unit in its archaeological fieldwork. This emerging technology offers many advantages for the assessment and study of submerged cultural resources including ease of deployment and the ability to operate well in low-visibility situations. In 2012 the LCMM employed the sonar unit in a detailed examination of the Sloop Island Canal Boat. This vessel had been documented with...
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Confidence and Coverage Modeling in Marine Magnetometer Survey Part I: Perspectives on the Application to the Federal Management of Archaeological Resources (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Office of Renewable Energy Programs have developed and tested a geospatial tool designed to automate the processing of magnetometer data. Field tested by a NPS/BOEM team across a variety of submerged cultural materials during the summer of 2013, the tool operates via a mathematical algorithm that models a ferromagnetic object’s detectability as a function of its size, magnetic field strength, and...
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Confidence and Coverage Modeling in Marine Magnetometer Survey Part II: Using Geospatial Processing to Visualize, Assess, and Review Magnetic Surveys for Archaeological Resources (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Office of Renewable Energy Programs have developed and tested a geospatial tool designed to automate the processing of magnetometer data. Field tested by a NPS/BOEM team across a variety of submerged cultural materials during the summer of 2013, the tool operates via a mathematical algorithm that models a ferromagnetic object’s detectability as a function of its size, magnetic field strength, and...
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The Development and Application of a High-Resolution Underwater Laser Scanning System for 3D Structural Recording (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
In 2010, Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Service approached 2G Robotics of Waterloo, Ontario, to explore the feasibility of developing an underwater laser scanning system capable of producing very-high resolution 3D site maps of large-scale underwater structures. Building on the proven imaging capabilities of their existing close-up laser scanning technologies, 2G designed and manufactured a new longer range system to Parks Canada’s specific operational requirements. With an effective...
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The Empress of Ireland and other Quebec wrecks surveyed by real-time 3D sonar (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The team from MSi 3D had the opportunity to test the Echoscope 3D real-time sonar on the wrecks of the Empress of Ireland in June 2013. Located by 40m deep of water, the survey took about 1h30 on site, and the resulting images are highly impressive. Other test where also made on more recent wrecks and on another one dating from the french regime. Those result demonstrate the usefulness of this quite new technology for the documentation of underwater sites.
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The Muskegon Shipwreck in Lake Michigan: Archaeological Applications and Modeling Three-dimensional Sonar Sector Scan Data for Identification, Analysis and In Situ Site Management (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
In 2013, newer applications of remote sensing technology were employed to better define the archaeological site of the Muskegon Shipwreck, Indiana’s only historic shipwreck listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Sector scan sonar survey data was compiled in both two and three-dimensional formats providing a new perspective of the site for further archaeological Identification and analysis. The combined results of this survey expanded our understanding of the site contexts and...
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New Tools for a new Frontier: The Use of Underwater Visualization Tools in Cenotes (2014)
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This paper focuses on the active use of a diversity of visualization tools that are currently being created and used by underwater explorers and archaeologists in Cenotes or karstic sinkholes in the Yucatan Peninsula. These new tools range from simple and economic ROVs to cameras capable of creating spherical gigapixel images and video. Our goal is to share these experiences with others in the community so that future methods and technologies for capturing data can be the result of...
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Taking the Plunge: Applying Terrestrial Cyber-Archaeology Practices to Underwater Cultural Heritage Research and Conservation (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The emerging field of cyber-archaeology utilizes collaborative scientific inquiry and innovative technology to advance the productivity and integrity of cultural heritage diagnostics. As digital infrastructure and imaging solutions are engineered for terrestrial sites worldwide, we stand to profit from a critical appraisal and application of similar methods to overcome the trials of underwater research. Methodologies to integrate diagnostic imaging and remote sensing systems for rapid underwater...