Advanced Spatial Documentation of Cultural Resources at Southern Arizona National Parks

Summary

This poster presents the experiences to date associated with the execution and development of an advanced spatial documentation program at the National Park Service Southern Arizona Office, including sample products, case studies, success metrics and challenges associated with development and implementation. In late 2013, resource managers and support staff of the NPS Southern Arizona group decided to invest in the capacity to complete 3D digital documentation projects in-house. The goals of this effort were to reduce project management overhead expenses associated with the contract process, control costs, standardize products, foster a workflow where the NPS retained control of products and data, and ultimately expand the scope of spatial resource documentation at park units. This effort has been assisted by recent advances in spatial documentation technology such as close-range photogrammetry and the enhanced speed and portability of phase-based terrestrial laser scanners. These advances allow the efficient documentation of backcountry archeological sites which would previously have required significant time and expense. Additionally, rapid data capture capabilities facilitate the spatial documentation of multiple preservation project phases, increasing the temporal as well as spatial resolution of documentation products.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage