Sensing the Submerged Landscape of Nisida Roman Harbour in the Gulf of Naples from Integrated Measurements on a USV

Abstract

This paper shows an interesting case of coastal landscape reconstruction by using innovative marine robotic instrumentation, applied to an archaeological key-site in the Campi Flegrei (Italy), one of the more inhabited areas in the Mediterranean during the Roman period. This active volcanic area is world famous for the ancient coastal cities of Baiae, Puteoli, and Misenum, places of military and commercial excellence. The multidisciplinary study of the submerged Roman harbour at Nisida Island was aimed at reconstructing the natural and anthropogenic underwater landscape by elaborating a multiscale dataset. The integrated marine surveys were carried out by an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) foreseeing the simultaneous use of geophysical and photogrammetric sensors according to the modern philosophy of multi-modal mapping. All instrumental measurements were validated by on-site measurements performed by specialised scuba divers. The multiscale analysis of the sensing data allowed a precise reconstruction of the coastal morpho-evolutive trend and the relative sea level variation in the last 2000 years by means of a new type of archaeological sea-level marker here proposed for the first time. Furthermore, it provided a detailed multidimensional documentation of the underwater cultural heritage and a useful tool for evaluating the conservation state of archaeological submerged structures.