De Maeyer, P.

De Wit, B.

De Wulf, A.

Incoul, A.

Missiaen, T.

Nuttens, T.

Stal, C.

Van den Berghe, M.

Open Marine Archive

Preserving the archaeological heritage o f the North Sea using 
innovative data acquisition techniques and webGIS
Incoul Annelies, Philippe De Maeyer, Bart De Wit, Alain De Wulf, Tine Missiaen, T im othy Nuttens, 
Cornelis Stal and Michiei Van den Berghe
Department o f Geography, Faculty o f Sciences, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S8),
B-9000 Gent, Belgium
E-mail: annelies.incoul@uqent.be
The knowledge o f the underwater cultural heritage in the Belgian North Sea is rather lim ited. Yet 
th is submerged heritage form s an im portant aspect o f our cultural heritage and offers huge 
possibilities fo r scientific and (inter-)cultural purposes. However th is unique underwater archive is in 
danger due to increasing economic activities at sea, such as aggregate extraction, wind farms, 
dredging, fish ing, etc. This is not the only threat. Due to  the com plexity o f the state structure in 
Belgium, a solid regulation regarding underwater cultural heritage is still lacking, notw ithstanding 
the awareness o f the need to  take responsibility fo r th is heritage in danger at the political and 
adm inistrative level. The project SeArch offers solutions to these challenges via the development o f 
an effic ient assessment methodology and an approach towards a sustainable management policy 
and legal framework. This project involves a close collaboration between the fo llow ing partners: 
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Flemish Heritage Agency (FHA), Deltares (Department o f Geology 
and Geophysics) and Ghent University (Renard Centre o f Marine Geology, Maritime Institute and 
Department o f Geography). The contribution o f the Department o f Geography is twofold. First, an 
innovative survey m ethodology has to be created which allows accurate and cost-efficient evaluation 
o f the archaeological potential in the intertida l zones o f the Belgian beaches. Conventional 
topographic and bathymetric surface modelling methodologies are not suffic ient fo r these areas 
and new surveying approaches are required. In the summer o f 2013, a fie ld campaign was 
conducted on the beach o f Raversijde (Belgium). A Mobile Terrestrial Laser Scanning (MTLS) 
configuration on an amphibious vehicle was used to  detect archaeological relicts. Previous 
feasib ility  studies have demonstrated that th is set-up is very promising fo r intertida l surface 
modelling in comparison w ith other measurement techniques. The configuration with an 
amphibious vehicle also enables data acquisition w ith unsettled weather and d ifficu lt terrain 
conditions in a reasonable time span and at a reasonable cost. Moreover, the technique appears to 
close the spatial incompleteness between land measurements and measurements in shallow water 
(with a depth o f less than ten meter). Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are constructed from  the 
acquired spatial data. Secondly, the Department o f Geography is responsible fo r the set-up o f a 
web-based Geographical Inform ation System/Service (webGIS) as part o f a new and specialized 
Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). The application w ill allow e ffic ient integration and visualisation o f 
archaeological and environmental data in a user-friendly way. By implem enting a webGIS, the 
benefits o f standard map reading (such as providing insight) can be combined w ith facilities such as 
easy accessible spatial analysis and feature querying in an interactive environment accessible 
worldwide. The p latform  is useful fo r dissemination o f inform ation and fo r support o f decision 
makers.
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Preserving the archaeological heritage of the North Sea using innovative data acquisition techniques and webGIS

Preserving the archaeological heritage of the North Sea using innovative data acquisition techniques and webGIS

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