Coordinator: Dr Ing. John C. Betts 

 

LARSOCS is an interdisciplinary project which was started up in October 2016 with financial support from the Research, Innovation and Development Trust fund (RIDT). The project has included staff from the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Engineering and Institute of Earth Systems, and has hosted interns from the École Nationale des Sciences Géographiques (ENSG), France.

 

The aim of LARSOCS was to create a sustainable capability for low to very low height above ground aerial photography using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in support of archaeological survey and excavation, which can also be used for other areas of application including geosciences, environment, and cultural heritage. 

 

The project has acquired four off-the-shelf UAVs including two DJI Phantom 3 models and two DJI Spark UAVs. The former are flown at altitudes below 30 m to take aerial photos for the documentation of sites and the generation of orthophotomosaics, Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and 3D models. The two DJI Spark UAVs are used for student training and for flights carried out in confined spaces. This latter approach was used for UAV photography of excavated locations flying below a sun-shade awning erected at a height of about 2 m above ground. 

 

Project resources and products are used to document department fieldwork, support requirements for aerial imaging of archaeological sites and excavation and for teaching and demonstration of use for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

 

Campaigns carried out with the UAVs have included:

• Flights over the quarry areas west of Clapham Junction cart ruts, Dingli, in 2017. These flights were used for initial training in the use of a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced UAV. These included a Roman period quarry site. 
• Flights over Clapham Junction cart ruts in 2017, to produce a record of part of the site and gain experience in flight planning for pre-programmed flight control. 
• Survey of a hunting hut and rubble wall on Campus in 2018 as a training exercise in flight planning, piloting and image processing for international interns with the Department of Classics and Archaeology. 
• Survey of the Żejtun Roman Villa to document Department fieldwork and generate orthophotomosaics and 3D models for the 2017 and 2018 campaigns. 
• Detailed survey of three excavation areas within the Żejtun site to validate the use of a UAV flying in the confined space below a sun-shade awning, and to produce three detailed 3D models in support of the Żejtun fieldwork carried out in 2018. 
• Survey of Ta’ Kaċċatura Roman villa site and part of Wied Dalam in 2018, in response to a request by Heritage Malta, and generation of image set, orthophotomosaic, DEM and 3D models.
• Survey of Xagħra Circle in 2018, in response to a request by Heritage Malta, and generation of image set, orthophotomosaic, DEM and 3D models.
  
  

LARSOCS has hosted Mannaig L’Haridon in May – August 2017 and Alice Sampieri-Feytout and Alexandre Girard in May – August 2018. Mannaig, Alice and Alexandre were at the time of their internships Masters students studying at the École Nationale des Sciences Géographiques (ENSG), France, and were instrumental in supporting the project activities and in carrying out image processing work.