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Mapping the Inhospitable Landscapes of the Orkney Islands using RPAS
Author(s) -
Hanus Kasper
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
archaeological prospection
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.785
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1099-0763
pISSN - 1075-2196
DOI - 10.1002/arp.1582
Subject(s) - digital elevation model , archipelago , photogrammetry , remote sensing , geomatics , workflow , geography , plan (archaeology) , archaeology , mainland , prehistory , cartography , computer science , database
Abstract This paper reports the outcome of the RPAS‐based prospection of four prehistoric and early historic sites on Mainland, Rousay and South Ronaldsay Islands of the Orkney archipelago (Northern Scotland). Application of RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) improved the effectiveness and accuracy of the mapping of the archaeological landscape, comparing to the ground‐base survey. The paper presents the workflow used to obtain the low altitude images using RPAS and photogrammetric pipeline applied to create ortophotomaps and digital elevation models. Then the interpretation of mapped remnants at the sites of Brough of Deerness, Burrian, Hashwick and Burwick is discussed. Beside reporting the new datasets for the Orkney the author is clarifying the problem of surveying “the inhospitable” landscapes ‐ the areas that for different reasons might be difficult to access by survey using ground‐based methods. Therefore Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems are advocated as a solution in such challenging conditions.