Abstract
Extended Abstract (DOCX)(PDF)

Producing 3D point cloud and digital elevation models through the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Historic St. Luke’s Church case study

Mentor: Mr. Clay Swindell
Team Members: Tangee Beverly, Cornelius Holness, Nigel Pugh, Tori Wilbon

This research project was initiated to demonstrate the ability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to gather elevation and 3D data using only a visible light camera. The chosen test case was the structure and property associated with Historic St. Luke’s Church. This historic property represents Virginia’s oldest standing church built in the late 17th century. While the property area associated with the church covers several acres, The UAV team chose to focus on the historic structure and immediate surrounding area. The intention was to fly a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ UAV along a gridded flight plan designed to capture an array of images at defined intervals. These images were subsequently processed with the Pix4d software to produce an image mosaic of the gridded area, a 3d point cloud and digital elevation model (DEM), and finally a 3D model of the historic structure. The dataset will expand on the historical and the geographic placement of the structure and will assist Historic St. Luke's in directing future archaeological and landscape studies on the property.
 
Keywords— archaeology, aerial imagery, DJI Phantom 2 Vision+, drone, U.A.V.