Area-Optimized, Rapid UAV-Borne Recording of Medieval Heritage in Central Asia

Current consumer-grade UAV technology is economical, highly automated, and well-suited for large area prospection. At the same time, rapid recording of sites and monuments that cannot be preserved or protected in their entirety is becoming a key research topic. We address the critical issue of designing UAV-based workflows to maximize area coverage on a strictly limited time budget. We illustrate our rationale and the evolution of our methods and results with two case studies from Central Asia: the Medieval fortifications in the Oasis of Bukhara (Uzbekistan) and the Orkhon Valley (Mongolia), which contains a multitude of sites preserved as subtle topographic features that spread across an immense area. We discuss the appropriate use of videogrammetry to complement single-shot imagery and to provide rapid and gap-free data coverage. We also review planning tools and provide best practice guidelines (implementable at low cost) for using current, off-the-shelf hardware and software to highest efficiency.

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