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John O | September 2017

Thermal imaging cameras providing boost to archaeological studies


a study led by researchers at dartmouth college (hanover, n.h.) demonstrated the benefits that thermal imaging technology, particularly combined with modern commercial drones, has brought to archaeology for collecting site data.

 


color orthoimage of a survey area at the enfield shaker village, n.h., showing location of historic buildings indicated on a 1917 map. (jesse casana, austin chad hill and elise laugier)

 

according to a report from the college, the goal of the research was to give other archaeologists a roadmap for how to implement this technology in current or future projects.

 

“archaeologists have long used thermal infrared images to locate buried architecture and other cultural landscape elements,” the report explained. “the thermal infrared radiation associated with such archaeological features depends on several variables, including the make-up of the soil, its moisture content and vegetation cover.

 

“past conventional geophysics methods, such as fieldwalking, enabled archaeologists to obtain field data across one hectare of a site per day. but now, aerial thermography makes it possible to gather field survey data across a much larger area in much less time.”

 

modern radiometric thermal cameras with drones controlled by smartphone or tablet have made aerial thermography readily accessible even under tight budget constraints and the software allows researchers to map multiple images together, aligning features and seeing patterns that might not have been possible before.

 

to conduct the study of thermal imaging’s effect on archaeology, the researchers used case studies from six sites in north america, the mediterranean, and the middle east. this covered a wide range of environmental conditions and archaeological features.

 

“for example, at an ancestral pueblo settlement in blue j, n.m, the researchers were able to map detailed architectural plans of a dozen ancient house compounds—  a discovery enabled by the site’s optimal conditions, the soil matrix, low density ground cover, and the environmental conditions at the time of the aerial thermography,” the article added.

 

the research was recently published in advances in archaeological practice. the abstract (translated by google translate) read:

 

“while a long history of experimental data shows that aerial thermal imagery can be used to detect a wide range of both surface and subsurface archaeological features, technological obstacles have largely prevented the widespread adoption of this promising survey method. however, recent advances in the sophistication of thermal cameras, the reliability of commercial drones, and the increasing power of photogrammetric software packages have made archaeologists the ability to collect, process and analyze aerial thermal images. 

 

“this article provides an overview of the theory behind the application of aerial thermography in archeology, as well as a discussion of an emerging set of methods developed by authors to conduct remote surveys. research on archaeological sites in north america, the mediterranean and the near east is summarized.

 

“the results illustrate cases in which aerial thermography is very effective, as well as contexts in which the vegetation cover, soil composition or depth and specific features of the archaeological features present challenges. we highlight new advances to filter the "noise" caused by vegetation and methods to improve the visibility of the archaeological features using thermal radiometric images. whose results illustrate cases in which aerial thermography is very effective, as well as contexts in which the vegetal cover, the composition of the soil or the depth and specific characteristics of the archaeological features presents challenges. 

 

“we highlight new advances to filter the ‘noise’ caused by vegetation and methods to improve the visibility of the archaeological features using thermal radiometric images. whose results illustrate cases in which aerial thermography is very effective, as well as contexts in which the vegetal cover, the composition of the soil or the depth and specific characteristics of the archaeological features presents challenges."

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