Technical considerations in low-cost heritage documentation

Abstract

The use of photogrammetry in 3D heritage documentation has matured over the recent years. In the same time, many types of sensors have also been developed in the field of imaging. While photogrammetry is considered as a low-cost alternative to TLS, several options exist in terms of sensor type with trade-offs between price, ease of use, and quality of resolution. Nevertheless, a proper knowledge on the acquisition and processing is still required to generate acceptable results. This paper aims to compare three photogrammetric sensors, namely a classical DSLR camera, a drone, and a spherical 3600 camera in documenting heritage sites. Main comparison points include quality of the bundle adjustment and quality of the dense point cloud. However, an important point of the paper is also to determine whether a sensor at a given cost and effort is enough for documentation purposes. A TLS point cloud data was used as a common reference, as well as control and check points issued from geodetic surveying. In the aftermath of the comparison, several technical suggestions and recommendations were proposed as regards to the use of each sensor.