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COMPUTER VISION‐BASED ORTHOPHOTO MAPPING OF COMPLEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES: THE ANCIENT QUARRY OF PITARANHA (PORTUGAL–SPAIN)
Author(s) -
VERHOEVEN G.,
TAELMAN D.,
VERMEULEN F.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2012.00667.x
Subject(s) - orthophoto , archaeology , photogrammetry , digital surface , computer science , aerial survey , artificial intelligence , remote sensing , computer vision , geology , geography , lidar
Ancient quarries are intriguing archaeological sites, but their detailed recording is complex. This paper presents a cost‐effective approach to mapping of the Roman quarry site of Pitaranha (Portugal–Spain). First, aerial photographs were acquired using a radio‐controlled digital reflex camera attached to a Helikite, which allowed the acquisition of the necessary low‐altitude aerial footage in the very unstable wind conditions above the quarry. Using computer vision algorithms, the resulting set of photographs was semi‐automatically transformed into a Digital Surface Model (DSM) and a corresponding orthophotograph. Besides focusing on the acquisition and processing method, this paper evaluates the accuracy of the generated products. The orthophotograph proved to be satisfactorily accurate for 1:200 hard‐copy mapping.