Testing the Applicability of Drone-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeological Prospection
Ground-based ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been applied successfully for decades in archaeological geophysics. However, there are sometimes severe problems arising in cases of rough terrain, permission to enter a site, or due to vegetation. Other issues may also make it impossible to use conven...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| author | Roland Linck Mukta Kale Andreas Stele Joachim Schlechtriem |
| author_facet | Roland Linck Mukta Kale Andreas Stele Joachim Schlechtriem |
| author_sort | Roland Linck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ground-based ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been applied successfully for decades in archaeological geophysics. However, there are sometimes severe problems arising in cases of rough terrain, permission to enter a site, or due to vegetation. Other issues may also make it impossible to use conventional ground-based GPR. Therefore, mounting the GPR antenna below a drone could be a potential alternative. Successful applications of drone-based GPR have already been reported, e.g., in the fields of geological mapping, glaciology, and UXO-detection. However, it is not clear whether faint archaeological remains can also be mapped using this approach. In the survey discussed below, we tested such a drone-based GPR setup at an archaeological site in Bavaria, where well-preserved Roman foundations at a shallow depth are known from previous geophysical surveys with magnetics and ground-based GPR. The aim was to evaluate the possibilities and problems arising with this new approach through a comparison with the afore-mentioned data, obtained in previous ground-based surveys of this site. The results show that under certain circumstances, the archaeological remains can be resolved while using a drone. However, the remains are much harder to detect with a lower degree of resolution and survey setup and acquisition time play a crucial role for a successful survey. Especially relevant are two factors: First, the correct choice of profile orientation, as there are strong reflections caused by near-surface features (like field boundaries) due to decoupling the antenna from the ground. Second, a very dry soil is mandatory, as otherwise too much signal is lost at the air-ground-interface. Considering these factors, drone-based GPR represents a valuable tool for modern archaeological geophysics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2036c4abd9ce48fbb5adbd6f11a4d02f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
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| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-2036c4abd9ce48fbb5adbd6f11a4d02f2025-08-20T01:49:24ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-04-01179149810.3390/rs17091498Testing the Applicability of Drone-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeological ProspectionRoland Linck0Mukta Kale1Andreas Stele2Joachim Schlechtriem3Z V—Zentrallabor & Geo-Erkundung, Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites (BLfD), Hofgraben 4, 80539 Munich, GermanyInstitute for Geophysics, Department for Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Theresienstr. 41/IV, 80333 Munich, GermanyZ V—Zentrallabor & Geo-Erkundung, Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites (BLfD), Hofgraben 4, 80539 Munich, GermanyDrone It GmbH, Dieselstraße 21, 85232 Bergkirchen, GermanyGround-based ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been applied successfully for decades in archaeological geophysics. However, there are sometimes severe problems arising in cases of rough terrain, permission to enter a site, or due to vegetation. Other issues may also make it impossible to use conventional ground-based GPR. Therefore, mounting the GPR antenna below a drone could be a potential alternative. Successful applications of drone-based GPR have already been reported, e.g., in the fields of geological mapping, glaciology, and UXO-detection. However, it is not clear whether faint archaeological remains can also be mapped using this approach. In the survey discussed below, we tested such a drone-based GPR setup at an archaeological site in Bavaria, where well-preserved Roman foundations at a shallow depth are known from previous geophysical surveys with magnetics and ground-based GPR. The aim was to evaluate the possibilities and problems arising with this new approach through a comparison with the afore-mentioned data, obtained in previous ground-based surveys of this site. The results show that under certain circumstances, the archaeological remains can be resolved while using a drone. However, the remains are much harder to detect with a lower degree of resolution and survey setup and acquisition time play a crucial role for a successful survey. Especially relevant are two factors: First, the correct choice of profile orientation, as there are strong reflections caused by near-surface features (like field boundaries) due to decoupling the antenna from the ground. Second, a very dry soil is mandatory, as otherwise too much signal is lost at the air-ground-interface. Considering these factors, drone-based GPR represents a valuable tool for modern archaeological geophysics.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/9/1498ground-penetrating radarGPRdrone-based GPRUAV-GPRarchaeological prospectionRoman fortress |
| spellingShingle | Roland Linck Mukta Kale Andreas Stele Joachim Schlechtriem Testing the Applicability of Drone-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeological Prospection Remote Sensing ground-penetrating radar GPR drone-based GPR UAV-GPR archaeological prospection Roman fortress |
| title | Testing the Applicability of Drone-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeological Prospection |
| title_full | Testing the Applicability of Drone-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeological Prospection |
| title_fullStr | Testing the Applicability of Drone-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeological Prospection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Testing the Applicability of Drone-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeological Prospection |
| title_short | Testing the Applicability of Drone-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar for Archaeological Prospection |
| title_sort | testing the applicability of drone based ground penetrating radar for archaeological prospection |
| topic | ground-penetrating radar GPR drone-based GPR UAV-GPR archaeological prospection Roman fortress |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/9/1498 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rolandlinck testingtheapplicabilityofdronebasedgroundpenetratingradarforarchaeologicalprospection AT muktakale testingtheapplicabilityofdronebasedgroundpenetratingradarforarchaeologicalprospection AT andreasstele testingtheapplicabilityofdronebasedgroundpenetratingradarforarchaeologicalprospection AT joachimschlechtriem testingtheapplicabilityofdronebasedgroundpenetratingradarforarchaeologicalprospection |