Engaging with the Canopy—Multi-Dimensional Vegetation Mark Visualisation Using Archived Aerial Images

Abstract

Using Montarice in central Adriatic Italy as a case study, this paper focuses on the extraction of the spectral (i.e., plant colour) and geometrical (i.e., plant height) components of a crop canopy from archived aerial photographs, treating both parameters as proxies for archaeological prospection. After the creation of orthophotographs and a canopy height model using image-based modelling, new archaeological information is extracted from this vegetation model by applying relief-enhancing visualisation techniques. Through interpretation of the resulting data, a combination of the co-registered spectral and geometrical vegetation dimensions clearly add new depth to interpretative mapping, which is typically based solely on colour differences in orthophotographs.

Keywords

• aerial photography
• archaeological prospection
• canopy height model
• local relief model
• Montarice
• protohistoric settlement
• vegetation marks