Peter DARE | Maria PAPAIOANNOU
(University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada)

Keywords: Terrestrial laser scanning, 3D model, historic church.

Abstract:
Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) is a modern surveying technique that can be used to capture in three dimensions the size and shape of an object. TLS acquires spatial information regarding the object by reflecting off the object a series of laser pulses and using the returned signals to determine the size and shape of the object. This can be done to an accuracy of just a few millimetres.
In this poster we show how the technique can be used to document and analyse the remains of a historic church on the island of Kalymnos in Greece. Over a period of one week we acquired enough spatial information – subsequently processed using TLS software – to produce a three dimensional digital replica of the church. We show how we have used the initial scan of the church to identify locations where more detailed studies were justified. At these locations of the church we have carried out a rescan with a higher accuracy and level of detail. This has enabled us to study features of the church such as its dome’s smoothness, and its closeness to a spherical shape.
With the assistance of a local archaeologist we have been able to gain a historic interpretation of the church and its relevance to the local community during its time of use.

Relevance conference / Relevance session:
Poster includes new technology (terrestrial laser scanning) and cultural heritage (historic church).

Innovation:
First time this historic church has been captured digitally enabling numerical analysis of its dome to take place with the addition of a historical viewpoint from a local archaeologist.

References:

  1. Michael Koutellas. (2006). “Kalymnos: History, Archaeology, Culture”.
  2. Donal Cooper and Jennifer Sliwka. (2015). “Virtual Florence: A Church Goes Digital”. Apollo, November.