Droning on in the Badia

UAVs and Site Documentation at Wadi al-Qattafi

Bibliographic Data

ID4871794
AuthorsAustin C Hill (0000-0002-8397-8105), Yorke M Rowan (0000-0002-6577-1215), Yorke Rowan
Year2017
Volume80
Issue2
Pages114-123
Publication date2017-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNear Eastern Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1094-2076 • E-ISSN: 1557-5594
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.5615/neareastarch.80.2.0114
OpenAlexW2625166283
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited12

Drones, or Unpiloted Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), are quickly changing approaches to archaeological mapping. They are effective tools for documenting smaller ancient features that might be missed by the resolution limitations of satellite imagery. As part of the Eastern Badia Archaeological Project, this article presents the preliminary results of a large-scale aerial survey of Wadi al-Qattafi, Jordan undertaken to map the kites and smaller features concentrated around and on top of the basalt mesas in the area. A combination of fixed and rotary wing aircraft was used to record approximately 20,000 images across 32 square kilometers of the survey area. The resulting orthophotographs and digital elevation models (DEMs) provide a high-resolution recording of the landscape. Ultimately this allows for mapping and identification of even the smallest anthropogenic features, as well as an analysis of how larger features were constructed to utilize local topography

Aerial Survey · Archaeology · Cartography · Digital elevation model · Documentation · Drone · Geography · Remote sensing · Wadi · 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage · Archaeological Research and Protection · Computer Science · Robotics and Sensor-Based Localization · Geology

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