First three dimensional reproduction of the Roman Walls of Lugo

Submitted by laborate on Wed, 01/12/2010 - 14:19 GMT.

The research group Land Laboratory (LaboraTe) of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) has delivered to the Lugo City Council the first three-dimensional reproduction of the Roman Walls of Lugo, a monument declared World Heritage Site in year 2000 by UNESCO.

During the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, the LaboraTe research group did two topological surveys of this monument for the Archaeological Service of the city of Lugo. These surveys fill an important gap of information about the Roman walls, since the only available information before were partial, no-referenced studies which were impossible to integrate with other studies or the existing cartography of the city.

The first topological survey was one of classical type, and included both the Roman walls and its surroundings. The second one was done with Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) technology, and only included the monument itself. The equiment used in both surveys belongs to Territorial Information System (SIT) of the USC.

This use of TLS technology is pioneer in the region of Galicia; in fact, currently little work has been done using this technology in this part of Spain. In whole Spain no TLS work of the size and complexity the Roman walls demand has been completed. LTS is becoming the most suitable tool for the study of the historical heritage because it allows collecting extreme precision, high density data of geometric areas and volumes.

The results of the TLS topological survey is a cloud of over 100 million points whose resolution ranges from 3 to 5 centimeters. With this data it is possible to create pinpoint accuracy, three-dimensional models. In addition to the points, for each scanned area other data were collected: photographs reporting the state of the areas, and the amount of laser light reflected from the surface, a very useful information for the study of materials.

Besides the points defining the shape of the monument, other special items such as ridges, cracks, rails ou stairs were also scanned. Attention was paid to those of special archaeological value like primitive stairs, shafts embedded interests or loopholes embedded in the walls, never scanned before.

The product of this topological survey is data that will the base of a number of high-precision works, to be developed in the coming years, related to the Roman wall: realistic digital models, virtual reconstructions, creation of promotional media, studies about deformation and conservation status...

Thus, now the city of Lugo owns top quality topographic data that have multiple applications, such as

  • urban development
  • tourism promotion
  • historic preservation
  • research and technical studies




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