Crow Canyon Archaeology Center and the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument looked to map Sand Canyon an ancestral Pueblo site. They knew traditional mapping would not suffice. Using UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) LiDAR technology, they received impressive results. They also made some new discoveries.
Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the culturally rich Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado, USA contain a wealth of historical and environmental resources. Now a recreational hotspot, in A.D. 1240, the Pueblo community occupied the area. They constructed over 70 villages with approximately 30,000 residents. In Sand Canyon alone over 90 subterranean structures, known as ‘kivas’, were used by families as dwellings. Hundreds of years later, the preservation team were looking for a way to accurately survey this site of archaeological importance. It had been over 20 years since a survey of this calibre had been undertaken. They needed new ways to visualise the area.
In partnership with local UAV service experts, Caddis Aerial, Routescene Inc were chosen to create a high-resolution terrain model of the Sand Canyon Pueblo site. They used their UAV LiDAR 3D mapping solution. This turnkey solution was identified as the perfect system for penetrating the dense vegetation and producing high-resolution data.
Fundamental to the Routescene system is a carefully thought through 6 step workflow which spans the entire utilisation of the solution. From survey and project planning, data acquisition, data processing to the final outputs or “actionable information”. This workflow is a set of orchestrated and repeatable procedures and processes. Every survey and subsequent data analysis is undertaken in a systematic, streamlined way; ensuring the best possible outcomes each time.
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