Lindsay, Ian

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Using drones in archaeological research:  Kasakh Valley Archaeological Survey (KVAS), ArmeniaIan Lindsay Department of Anthropology Purdue University Purdue GIS Day November 4, 2016Archaeometry (2015)Near Eastern Archaeology (2014)SAA Advances in Arch. Practice (2014)Journal of Archaeological Science (2014)Indiana Drones: UAV/UAS in Archaeology Capturing ComplexityToward an Integrated Low-Altitude Photogrammetry and Mobile Geographic Information System Archaeological Registry SystemSteven A. Wernke, Julie A. Adams, and Eli R. HootenArchaeological aerial thermography: a case study at the Chaco-eraBlue J community, New MexicoJesse Casana a,*, John Kantner b, Adam Wiewel a, Jackson Cothren caDepartment of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Main 330, Fayetteville, AR 72701, United StatesbUniversity of North Florida, 1 UNF Dr., Jacksonville, FL 32224, United StatescDepartment of Geosciences and Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas, JBHT 320, Fayetteville, AR 72701, United Statesa r t i c l e i n f oArticle history:Received 18 September 2013Received in revised form17 February 2014Accepted 20 February 2014Keywords:Thermal imagingLWIRUAVPhotogrammetryArchaeo-geophysicsAncestral Puebloansa b s t r a c tDespite a long history of studies that demonstrate the potential of aerial thermography to reveal surfaceand subsurface cultural features, technological and cost barriers have prevented the widespread appli-cation of thermal imaging in archaeology. This paper presents a method for collection of high-resolutionthermal imagery using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), as well as a means to efficiently process andorthorectify imagery using photogrammetric software. To test the method, aerial surveys were con-ducted at the Chaco-period Blue J community in northwestern New Mexico. Results enable the size andorganization of most habitation sites to be readily mapped, and also reveal previously undocumentedarchitectural features. Our easily replicable methodology produces data that rivals traditional archaeo-logical geophysics in terms of feature visibility, but which can be collected very rapidly, over large areas,with minimal cost and processing requirements.! 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.1. IntroductionArchaeologists have recognized since the 1970s that aerial im-ages which record thermal infrared wavelengths of light (7.5e13 mm) could be a powerful means for recognizing both surface andsubsurface cultural remains (e.g., Tabbagh, 1977; Fourteau andTabbagh, 1979; Berlin et al., 1977), yet technological and cost bar-riers have largely prevented the widespread application of ther-mography in archaeological contexts. This paper presents interimresults of a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded proj-ect to develop techniques for collection of thermal imagery using aUAV, to designworkflows for efficient photogrammetric processingof imagery, and to assess the effectiveness of the technology atarchaeological sites located in a variety of different environments.Herein we present a case study that provides an illustration of ourmethodology, conducted at a Chaco-period archaeological com-munity known as Blue J, located in northwestern New Mexicoabout 70 km south of Chaco Canyon (Fig. 1). Results demonstratethe enormous potential of aerial thermography in archaeology,revealing the organization of occupation at Blue J and aiding inthe discovery of many previously undocumented subsurfacearchitectural remains, as well as providing a blueprint for similarinvestigations elsewhere.2. Archaeological thermographyThe principles behind archaeological thermographic imagingare relatively simple: due to their composition, density and mois-ture content, materials on and below the ground surface absorb,emit, transmit, and reflect thermal infrared radiation at differentrates. Experimental data illustrates the complexity of the variablesthat affect the potential visibility of archaeological features in athermal image (Scollar et al., 1990: 593e611). However, in general,such features should be resolvable if when compared to the back-ground matrix they have sufficient contrast in thermal inertia, aproduct of a material’s thermal conductivity and its volumetric heatcapacity (Perisset and Tabbagh, 1981), and if the image is acquiredat a time in the diurnal cycle when such differences are pro-nounced. Several studies have demonstrated that thermographycan detect features at or near the ground surface such as pits,ditches and field boundaries as well as buried architectural featuresup to a half meter below the ground (e.g., Perisset and Tabbagh,1981; Lunden, 1985; Bellerby et al., 1990).Despite its potential, archaeological applications of the tech-nology are scarce, largely because few archaeologists had access to* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 479 595 9569.E-mail address: jcasana@uark.edu (J. Casana).Contents lists available at ScienceDirectJournal of Archaeological Sciencejournal homepage: http : / /www.elsevier .com/locate/ jashttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.02.0150305-4403/! 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Journal of Archaeological Science 45 (2014) 207e219Jesse CasanaNew Approaches to Spatial Archaeometry: Applications from the Near EastAn autonomously-piloted octocopter, a Cinestar8, equipped with a thermal camera, takes off to begin a survey of an archaeological site.  Lightweight aerial mapping systems like this one have great potential for archaeological research. Photograph by J. Casana.AIMAGE-BASED MODELLING FROM UNMANNED AERIALVEHICLE (UAV) PHOTOGRAMMETRY: AN EFFECTIVE,LOW-COST TOOL FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS*J. FERNÁNDEZ-HERNANDEZ, D. GONZÁLEZ-AGUILERA,†P. RODRÍGUEZ-GONZÁLVEZ and J. MANCERA-TABOADADepartment of Cartographic and Land Engineering, University of Salamanca, C/ Hornos Caleros, 50, CP. 05003,Ávila, SpainThe rec rding and 3D modelling of complex archaeological sites is usually associated withhigh capital and logistical costs, because the data acquisition must be performed by specialistsusing expensive surveying sensors (i.e., terrestrial laser scanners, robotic total stationsand/or ground-penetrating radar). This paper presents a novel, low-cost, user-friendlyphotogrammetric tool for generating high-resolution and scaled 3D models of complex sites.The results obtained with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry of an archaeologi-cal site indicate that this approach is semi-automatic, inexpensive and effective, and that itguarantees quality.KEYWORDS: UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV), ARCHAEOLOGY, SOFTWAREDEVELOPMENT, IMAGE-BASED MODELLING, PHOTOGRAMMETRY, COMPUTER VISIONINTRODUCTIONThe past decade has witnessed a technological revolution in remote sensing that has transformedthe imaging and modelling of objects and scenes. In particular, new developments in terrestrialsurveying, such as the advent of terrestrial laser scanners, mobile mapping systems and robotictotal stations, have allowed the accurate acquisition of large amounts of data. However, thesegeomatic techniques are often impractical because of their high cost and the expertise theyrequire. Close-range photogrammetry and, more recently, computer vision photogrammetry,h ve revolutionized the acquisition and 3D modelling of objects and scenes because they can beused with lightweight aerial platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and to recon-struct complex areas such as archaeological sites. Fixed-wing (Wang et al. 2004), multi-rotor(Haarbrink and Eisenbeiss 2008; Nebiker et al. 2008; Steffen and Förstner 2008) and modernautogyro UAVs have become the most powerful and robust UAV platforms. The integration ofphotogrammetry and computer vision (Atkinson 1996; Hartley and Zisserman 2003) has pro-vided advances towards three objectives: (1) greater automation, which allows the positioningand orientation of the UAV to collect images from different heights and in different directions; (2)gre ter flexibility, which makes it possible to work with any type of image (e.g., visible, infraredand/or thermal) and any type of camera (calibrated or non-calibrated); and (3) high-qualityresults, by incorporating processes that allow the user to control the accuracy and reliability of theresults.*Received 23 May 2013; accepted 22 November 2013†Corresponding author: email daguilera@usal.esbs_bs_bannerArchaeometry 57, 1 (2015) 128–145 doi: 10.1111/arcm.12078© 2014 University of OxfordIndiana Drones: UAV/UAS in Archaeology • Several price points ✓ ~$500 = home-made UAV ✓ $1000 = 3DR Solo (+ a la cart accessories) ✓ $1300 = DJI Phantom 3 Pro ✓ $3000 = DJI Inspire ✓ $40,000 = Trimble UX5• Common applications ✓ hi-res aerial photography of excavations (stills, video) ✓ site documentation and modeling - record hard-to-access sites (e.g., rock art) - surface site cataloging - remote sensing: LiDAR, thermal imaging, etc.  - orthomosaics, 3D mapping of sites and landscapes  • excavation units “structure-from-motion (SfM)” • DEM, contour map generation • morphometric, volumetric analysis ✓ site monitoring (e.g., looting, construction) ✓ outreach, educationIndiana Drones: UAV/UAS in Archaeology • Common applications ✓ field selfiesIndiana Drones: UAV/UAS in Archaeology Analytical applications of drones• Photogrammetry - analysis using geospatial modeling and visualization of landscapes • terrestrial: digital photos/laser scanning • aerial: balloons/kite images ✓ drones - Software: ✓ AutoDesk 123D Catch (Free) ✓ PhotoModeler ($1145) ✓ ERDAS Imagine LPS ✓ Agisoft PhotoScan Pro ($550 edu.; $3500 retail) ✓ Pix4Dmapper Pro ($1990 edu.; $8700 retail)  Extent	of	LBA/Iron	1	Forts	in	Armenian	Highland	(1500-800	BC)Project ArAGATS study areasS h i r a kP l a i nM T .  A R A G A T S( 4 0 9 0 M )R. Kasakh R .  P a m b a k!!!!!############################################################# ##########TsaghkahovitGegharotHoromLusagyughMirakAparaniBerdKetiKarnut IKarnut IITagavoranistIranTurkeyGeorgiaArmeniaAzerbaijan(Azer.)0 10 205 km##Bronze-Iron Age sitecontour interval 400m±T s a g h k a h o v i t    P l a i nP a m b a k  V a l l e yK a s a k hV a l l e yT  S  A  G  H  K  U  N  Y  A  T  S    R  A  N  G  EAparanHartavanP  A  M  B  A  K        R  A  N  G  EGyumriVanadzorSite targeted for testingProposed survey areaShenkani bogSpitakAragatsiBerdKuchak IKuchak IILori BerdB  A  Z  U  M        R  A  N  G  EAparan IIAparan III 2014-2018 survey areaLBA/Iron 1 Fortresses 	Horom,	Shirak	Plain,	Armenia	Böyük	Qaleh,	northwest	Iran	(Biscione	2009)	Tsaghkahovit,	Tsaghkahovit	Plain,	ArmeniaAliler	Kale,	Van	basin,	Turkey	(Sevin	2004)LBA/Iron 1 Fortresses 	Çubuklu,	Van	basin,	Turkey	(Özfirat	2009)	Çubuklu,	Van	basin,	Turkey	(Özfirat	2009) 	Voskevaz,	Ararat	Valley,	Armenia	Knole,	Georgia	(Shanshashvili	and	Narimanishvili	2012)	Tsaghkahovit,	Tsaghkahovit	plain,	Armenia	(Lindsay	2011)Gegharot fortress shrine complexesWest	Citadel	ShrineLBA shrine at Gegharot fortressImages	of	(1)	storage	area	and	(2)	altar	in	the	East	Citadel	Shrine	at	GegharotGegharot	East	Citadel	ShrineFortress shrines: ritual, production, storage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#!#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#!!!#!!!!!!!!!#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!######ArmeniaTurkeyIranGeorgiaR.  Kas akh"AzerbaijanA P A R A N/#!0 2.5 5 7.5 10kmMt. Aragats4090 mFortressBurial ClusterSite Type Alan GreeneProject ArAGATS24 August 2016T s a g h  k u n y a t s  R a n g eUpper Kazakh River Valley survey area, Armenia Studying Late Bronze Age fortresses and associated landscapesIndiana Drones: UAV/UAS in Archaeology Indiana Drones: UAV/UAS in Archaeology DJI Phantom 3 Pro• iOS and Android compatible • 12 megapixal camera • 4K video • 5 km distance • 20 min batteryDJI Go app on iPhone• built in GPS - hovers w/in 1m - go-home feature • waypoint programming or pre-program mission gridPix4D Capture appDJI Phantom 3 Pro• Photogrammetry workflow - Pix4Dmapper Pro Analytical applications of drones• Photogrammetry - Kuchak fortress, Armenia • 480 images - Hi-res orthomosiac images • excavation planning • morphometric analysis Analytical applications of dronesOrthomosaic (Pix4Dmapper Pro)auxiliarydefensivearchitecture(?)0 50 100 m±gatecitadelwallTest units proposed in Year 1intramuralwallsextramuralarchitectureterraceextramuralarchitecture• Photogrammetry - Aparani Berd fortress, Armenia • 1000 images Analytical applications of drones3D model (Pix4Dmapper Pro)4433504433504434004434004498450449845044985004498500±0 10 205mမွၒဳၖွံဳ၆ဴဳ၈ဳံဳ၉ၑ်ၗၒ့ၓၗၒၐၑဳ၈ဵၐ၊ၔ၆္၏ၙဳ၂၊၄ွ၆့၀ဳၓ၊၄ဳၒၑဳ၂ဳ၈၆ဳ၈၌ဳၑ၅ဳ၎၊ၐဆၒဳဵဳ၀၀ၒဳဵွၒ၂၊ၔှွ၏ÎÎÎÎ ÎDrones in archaeology: Site monitoring and mitigation •topsoil mine encroaching on Bronze Age cemetery in rural Armenia2SHQ6WUHHW0DSDQGFRQWULEXWRUV&&%<6$± 0 1 20.5 Kmမွၒဳၖွံဳ၆ဴဳ၈ဳံဳ၉ၑ်ၗၒ့ၓၗၒၐၑဳ၈ဵၐ၊ၔ၆္၏ၙဳ၂၊၄ွ၆့၀ဳၓ၊၄ဳၒၑဳ၂ဳ၈၆ဳ၈၌ဳၑ၅ဳ၎၊ၐဆၒဳဵဳ၀၀ၒဳဵွၒ၂၊ၔှွ၏Drones in archaeology: Site monitoring and mitigation •13th century medieval Armenian church with eroding cemetery from prior excavationsGF2SHQ6WUHHW0DSDQGFRQWULEXWRUV&&%<6$± 0 0.5 10.25 Kmမွၒဳၖွျျ ၌့၄၊ၔ၆၈့ၒွဳၒံ၇၊ၔ၈ၖ၊ၔ၆ဳ၎ဳ၍ဳၓဳ၀၁ၑၒၐဳ၀ၖွဴ၈ဳ၁ဳ၈၆့ၒ၁ဳၓ၊ၔ၆ဆၒဳဵဳ၀၀ၒဳဵွၒ၂၊ၔှွ၏Drones in archaeology: Outreach, education, story tellingDrones in archaeology: Outreach, education, story tellingThank You Dr. Nicole Kong and Shirley Yue, GIS Day organizers Project ArAGATS team members Purdue University College of Liberal Arts National Science Foundation Evelyn Stowe, Wilke undergraduate intern 

Drone Panel Presentation: Using drones in archaeological research: Kasakh Valley Archaeological Survey (KVAS), Armenia

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1092&amp;context=purduegisday

Drone Panel Presentation: Using drones in archaeological research: Kasakh Valley Archaeological Survey (KVAS), Armenia

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