Archaeological Oceanography

Summary

High resolution optical imaging for deep water archaeology. Hanumant Singh, Christopher Roman, Oscar Pizarro, Brendan Foley, Ryan Eustice and Ali Can, in Archaeological Oceanography. Princeton University Press, July 2008.

Abstract

High resolution imaging in the context of deep water archaeology presents some unique challenges. The constraints of the underwater environment on optical and acoustic modalities, the characteristics of underwater imaging platforms, the lack of sufficiently high update rate, high resolution navigation, and the requirements for highly precise mapping all contribute to making this a particularly difficult problem. In this paper we examine each of these constraints and discuss algorithmic and practical methodologies towards the goal of precise and repeatable high resolution mapping of archaeological sites of interest underwater. We present these techniques with illustrative examples based on optical black and white and color imagery and multibeam data taken with platforms as diverse as the NR1 nuclear submarine, the Jason and Hercules ROVs at a variety of archaeological sites including Roman shipwrecks at Skerki Bank, Phoenician shipwrecks off the coast of Israel and the wreck of the RMS Titanic in the North Atlantic.

Bibtex entry