IRES Track I: Terrestrial and UAS-based remote sensing, photogrammetry, and digital modeling of ancient marble quarries in Greece

最近，在无人驾驶航空系统（UAS，也称为UAV或无人机）的制造和可用性以及可以作为有效载荷集成到其平台中的轻型有源和无源传感设备方面取得了重大技术进步。这些综合系统的发展正在推动一个新兴的领域，即基于实地研究的航空应用。研究人员现在可以轻松捕获嵌入位置的可见光航空照片，以及地面或卫星系统无法实现的光谱，空间和时间分辨率的遥感数据。在航空研究的增长预期，这个IRES项目将提供培训和资源，为12名美国本科生学习和操作无人机系统，熟悉国家无人机系统的法规和协议，设计和实施航空调查，使用摄影测量和GIS软件处理航空数据，并创建产品，以有意义和信息丰富的方式整合航空和地面数据集。这个IRES项目的中心是希腊古代大理石采石场的地质考古学，从青铜时代到拜占庭早期，将在雅典美国古典研究学院维纳考古科学实验室的主持下进行。在过去的几十年里，地质考古学家，物理学家和化学家已经开发了一个地球化学和稳定同位素数据库，以区分古代使用的主要大理石生产采石场。该数据库用于评估大理石文物的来源，包括雕像，建筑和家具。然而，对实际采石场本身的调查和记录工作做得很少。对古代大理石采石场进行彻底的空中和地面调查，将能更好地评估采石场的大小和范围、单个采石坑的尺寸以及确定以前未知坑的可能性。在对地图和考古报告进行审查的基础上，IRES参与者将设计和实施配备有可见光相机以及多光谱和LiDAR传感器的UAS平台的数据收集任务。IRES参与者将获得使用摄影测量和地理信息系统软件处理数据所需的技能，以开发精确的高分辨率三维点云。参与者将使用点云渲染精确的地理校正数字地形模型，包括采石场边界，尾矿堆和滑道。解释的地表特征将通过地面实况调查进行验证。与会者将利用空中和地面图像生成准确的采石坑三维模型，从而确定采石场的体积和计算开采的大理石数量。IRES参与者将把已发表的地球化学和稳定同位素数据集整合到每个采石场模型中，并为地质学家、地貌学家、考古学家和其他对古希腊大理石资源感兴趣的人开发基于kmz的在线资源。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Recent substantial technological progress has been made in the manufacturing and availability of unmanned aerial systems (UAS, also known as UAV or drones) and the lightweight active and passive sensing devices that can be integrated into their platform as payloads. The development of these integrated systems is driving an emergent field of aerial applications in field-based research. Researchers can now capture location-embedded visible light aerial photographs with ease as well as remote sensing data at spectral, spatial, and temporal resolutions not achievable from terrestrial or satellite-based systems. In anticipation of the growth in aerial based research, this IRES project will provide training and resources for 12 U.S. undergraduate students to learn and operate UAS, become familiar with national UAS regulations and protocols, design and implement aerial surveys, process aerial data using photogrammetric and GIS software, and create products that integrate aerial and terrestrial datasets in a meaningful and informative way. This IRES project centers on the geoarchaeology of ancient marble producing quarries in Greece that span from the Bronze Age through Early Byzantine period and will be conducted under the auspices of the Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Over the past few decades, geoarchaeologists, physicists, and chemists have developed a geochemical and stable isotope database to differentiate between the major marble producing quarries utilized in antiquity. The database is used to assess provenance of marble artifacts including statuary, architecture, and furniture. However, very little effort has been given to the survey and recording of the physical quarries themselves. A thorough aerial and terrestrial survey of ancient marble quarry fields will provide improved assessment of the size and extent of quarry fields, dimensions of individual quarry pits, and the possibility of identifying previously unknown pits. Building from a review of maps and archaeology reports, IRES participants will design and implement data collecting missions with UAS platforms equipped with visual light cameras as well as multispectral and LiDAR sensors. IRES participants will gain the skills necessary to process the data with photogrammetric and GIS software to develop accurate high-resolution three-dimensional point clouds. Participants will use the point clouds to render accurate georectified digital terrain models that include quarry boundaries, tailing piles, and slipways. Interpreted surface features will be verified by groundtruthing. Participants will use the aerial and terrestrial imagery to generate accurate three-dimensional models of the quarry pits, allowing for the determination of quarry volumes and the calculation of the amount of extracted marble. IRES participants will integrate published geochemical and stable isotope datasets to each quarry model, and develop kmz-based online resource for geologists, geomorphologists, archaeologists, and others interested in ancient Greek marble resources.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.