Color and Laser Data as a Complementary Approach for Heritage Documentation

Abstract

Heritage recording has received much attention and benefits from recent developments in the field of range and imaging sensors. While these methods have often been viewed as two different methodologies, data integration can achieve different products, which are not always found in a single technique. Data integration in this paper can be divided into two levels: laser scanner data aided by photogrammetry and photogrammetry aided by scanner data. At the first level, superior radiometric information, mobility and accessibility of imagery can be actively used to add texture information and allow for new possibilities in terms of data interpretation and completeness of complex site documentation. In the second level, true orthophoto is generated based on laser data, the results are rectified images with a uniform scale representing all objects at their planimetric position. The proposed approaches enable flexible data fusion and allow images to be taken at an optimum time and position for radiometric information. Data fusion usually involves serious distortions in the form of a double mapping of occluded objects that affect the product quality. In order to enhance the efficiency of visibility analysis in complex structures, a proposed visibility algorithm is implemented into the developed methods of texture mapping and true orthophoto generation. The algorithm filters occluded areas based on a patch processing using a grid square unit set around the projected vertices. The depth of the mapped triangular vertices within the patch neighborhood is calculated to assign the visible one. In this contribution, experimental results from different historical sites in Jordan are presented as a validation of the proposed algorithms. Algorithms show satisfactory performance in terms of completeness and correctness of occlusion detection and spectral information mapping. The results indicate that hybrid methods could be used efficiently in the representation of heritage structures.