Rapid Mapping methods for archaeological sites

The paper focuses the feasibility of rapid mapping methods in archaeological site, enlightening the flexibility in different kind of ancient buildings and sites surveying with the aim to 3D document and to model objects of interest with rich geometric and radiometric contents and high accuracies. After discussing constraints to be considered for the correct use of rapid mapping methods, a case study will be described in which an UAV photogrammetry survey, integrated with a terrestrial survey using a mobile laser scanner based on SLAM technology (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) was performed. A Lidar (terrestrial laser scanner - TLS) survey as ground truth, that accompanies the use of ground control points for the evaluation of the metric results, completed the application. The case study is a great importance area in the ancient city of Hierapolis (TK), the Ploutonion, in which excavations were recently completed and the public exhibition was inaugurated (2018). The test case represents an example in which the advanced Geomatics technologies offer multiple challenging outcomes of experimental use of 3D dense models generated by imaging and ranging technologies. In addition to 3d points models, the two-dimensional architectural representation results at different scales will also be briefly discussed.