Assessment of Drone and Ground-Based Structure from Motion (SfM) Topographic Models in Grass Covered Archaeological Landscapes

Increased accessibility to drone-mounted remote sensing technologies provide researcher with unprecedented control over the resolution of data collection. This trend towards "personal" remote sensing enables the use of non-invasive and cost-effective survey methods. In this paper, we assess drone and ground-based structure from motion (SfM) topographic models against digital elevation models (DEMs) produced from LiDAR collected at Angel Mounds State Historic Site (12VG1) in Evansville, Indiana. Angel Mounds, a Native American village site along the Ohio River, is home to several large manmade earthworks which are presently covered in grass for management and preservation purposes. The LiDAR was obtained using a DJI M600 hexacopter outfitted a Reigl MiniVux and an onboard inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a CHC real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) antenna. Our study demonstrates the potential for SfM to be used as an effective tool for modeling and managing archaeological landscapes with low vegetation cover.