The Application of RGB, Multispectral, and Thermal Imagery to Document and Monitor Archaeological Sites in the Arctic: A Case Study from South Greenland
Over the past decades, climate change has accelerated the deterioration of heritage sites and archaeological resources in Arctic and subarctic landscapes. At the same time, increased tourism and growing numbers of site visitors contribute to the degradation and manipulation of archaeological sites....
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2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a9756449806140f5a5e854a575cea8d4 2023-05-15T14:51:55+02:00 The Application of RGB, Multispectral, and Thermal Imagery to Document and Monitor Archaeological Sites in the Arctic: A Case Study from South Greenland Jørgen Hollesen Malte Skov Jepsen Hans Harmsen 2023-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/drones7020115 https://doaj.org/article/a9756449806140f5a5e854a575cea8d4 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/7/2/115 https://doaj.org/toc/2504-446X doi:10.3390/drones7020115 2504-446X https://doaj.org/article/a9756449806140f5a5e854a575cea8d4 Drones, Vol 7, Iss 115, p 115 (2023) UAV archaeology Arctic climate change multispectral sensors thermal sensors Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics TL1-4050 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/drones7020115 2023-02-26T01:30:39Z Over the past decades, climate change has accelerated the deterioration of heritage sites and archaeological resources in Arctic and subarctic landscapes. At the same time, increased tourism and growing numbers of site visitors contribute to the degradation and manipulation of archaeological sites. This situation has created an urgent need for new, quick, and non-invasive tools and methodologies that can help cultural heritage managers detect, monitor, and mitigate vulnerable sites. In this context, remote sensing and the applications of UAVs could play an important role. Here, we used a drone equipped with an RGB camera and a single multispectral/thermal camera to test different possible archeological applications at two well-known archaeological sites in the UNESCO World Heritage area of Kujataa in south Greenland. The data collected were used to test the potential of using the cameras for mapping (1) ruins and structures, (2) the impact of human activity, and (3) soil moisture variability. Our results showed that a combination of RGB and digital surface models offers very useful information to identify and map ruins and structures at the study sites. Furthermore, a combination of RGB and NDVI maps seems to be the best method to monitor wear and tear on the vegetation caused by visitors. Finally, we tried to estimate the surface soil moisture content based on temperature rise and the Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI), but did not achieve any meaningful connection between TVDI and on-site soil moisture measurements. Ultimately, our results pointed to a limited archaeological applicability of the TVDI method in Arctic contexts. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Greenland Subarctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Drones 7 2 115 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
UAV archaeology Arctic climate change multispectral sensors thermal sensors Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics TL1-4050 |
spellingShingle |
UAV archaeology Arctic climate change multispectral sensors thermal sensors Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics TL1-4050 Jørgen Hollesen Malte Skov Jepsen Hans Harmsen The Application of RGB, Multispectral, and Thermal Imagery to Document and Monitor Archaeological Sites in the Arctic: A Case Study from South Greenland |
topic_facet |
UAV archaeology Arctic climate change multispectral sensors thermal sensors Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics TL1-4050 |
description |
Over the past decades, climate change has accelerated the deterioration of heritage sites and archaeological resources in Arctic and subarctic landscapes. At the same time, increased tourism and growing numbers of site visitors contribute to the degradation and manipulation of archaeological sites. This situation has created an urgent need for new, quick, and non-invasive tools and methodologies that can help cultural heritage managers detect, monitor, and mitigate vulnerable sites. In this context, remote sensing and the applications of UAVs could play an important role. Here, we used a drone equipped with an RGB camera and a single multispectral/thermal camera to test different possible archeological applications at two well-known archaeological sites in the UNESCO World Heritage area of Kujataa in south Greenland. The data collected were used to test the potential of using the cameras for mapping (1) ruins and structures, (2) the impact of human activity, and (3) soil moisture variability. Our results showed that a combination of RGB and digital surface models offers very useful information to identify and map ruins and structures at the study sites. Furthermore, a combination of RGB and NDVI maps seems to be the best method to monitor wear and tear on the vegetation caused by visitors. Finally, we tried to estimate the surface soil moisture content based on temperature rise and the Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI), but did not achieve any meaningful connection between TVDI and on-site soil moisture measurements. Ultimately, our results pointed to a limited archaeological applicability of the TVDI method in Arctic contexts. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jørgen Hollesen Malte Skov Jepsen Hans Harmsen |
author_facet |
Jørgen Hollesen Malte Skov Jepsen Hans Harmsen |
author_sort |
Jørgen Hollesen |
title |
The Application of RGB, Multispectral, and Thermal Imagery to Document and Monitor Archaeological Sites in the Arctic: A Case Study from South Greenland |
title_short |
The Application of RGB, Multispectral, and Thermal Imagery to Document and Monitor Archaeological Sites in the Arctic: A Case Study from South Greenland |
title_full |
The Application of RGB, Multispectral, and Thermal Imagery to Document and Monitor Archaeological Sites in the Arctic: A Case Study from South Greenland |
title_fullStr |
The Application of RGB, Multispectral, and Thermal Imagery to Document and Monitor Archaeological Sites in the Arctic: A Case Study from South Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Application of RGB, Multispectral, and Thermal Imagery to Document and Monitor Archaeological Sites in the Arctic: A Case Study from South Greenland |
title_sort |
application of rgb, multispectral, and thermal imagery to document and monitor archaeological sites in the arctic: a case study from south greenland |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/drones7020115 https://doaj.org/article/a9756449806140f5a5e854a575cea8d4 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Greenland Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Greenland Subarctic |
op_source |
Drones, Vol 7, Iss 115, p 115 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/7/2/115 https://doaj.org/toc/2504-446X doi:10.3390/drones7020115 2504-446X https://doaj.org/article/a9756449806140f5a5e854a575cea8d4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/drones7020115 |
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Drones |
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