Mapping and 3D Modeling of Excavations Using UAVs, Photogrammetry, and LiDAR

Summary

Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs/drones) to carry photographic equipment and photogrammetric processing of resulting data simplifies and accelerates mapping, 3D modeling, and environmental reconstruction. Construction and expansion of highways through Mayapán and the surrounding region are destroying valuable archaeological remains and environmental features. The 2016 field season targeted these areas for rapid recording and depended on UAV photography and photogrammetric processing for site and excavation photos as well as production of 3D modeling of archaeological remains and excavation units. In this presentation, I outline the technology used, the data processing workflow, and the resulting products including oblique photos, orthorectified aerial photo mosaics, digital elevation models, 3D models, and data layers for use in geographical information systems. I conclude with an example of implementing UAV-borne LiDAR and multispectral cameras into archaeological mapping and modeling.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16238