Surveying and Digital Restoration of Towering Architectural Heritage in Harsh Environments: a Case Study of the Millennium Ancient Watchtower in Tibet

Siliang Chen, Haozhong Yang, Shusheng Wang and Qingwu Hu
Additional contact information
Siliang Chen: Architecture Department, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, No. 13, Yanta Road, Xi’an 710055, China
Haozhong Yang: Architecture Department, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, No. 13, Yanta Road, Xi’an 710055, China
Shusheng Wang: Architecture Department, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, No. 13, Yanta Road, Xi’an 710055, China
Qingwu Hu: School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, No. 129, Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430079, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: Aiming at the problem of difficult data collection and modeling in high-rise ancient buildings with narrow interiors, a method is proposed in this paper for modeling and supporting digital restoration based on unmanned aerial vehicle oblique photogrammetry combined with three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning technology. The ancient watchtower complex in the Tibetan region of China is taken as an example. Firstly, the data is collected using an unmanned aerial vehicle and 3D laser scanner. Secondly, the two types of data are merged to generate a three-dimensional status model. Finally, by analyzing the status model and combining the similar remaining conditions, a virtual restoration scheme is proposed, and a 3D restoration model is established. The results show that virtual restoration based on 3D measurement technology can be used as a new method for the research and protection of towering ancient buildings, asrecorded by adopting targeted technology for digital documentation. It is necessary and effective to adopt a method combining unmanned aerial vehicle oblique photogrammetry and the ground 3D laser scanning technology in harsh environments. The digital model can promote the sustainable utilization of cultural heritage. It is necessary to analyze and make full use of the status model of such ancient buildings based on accurately measured data for the virtual restoration of the damaged ancient buildings. The status model of the ancient buildings can be used for display browsing and disaster recording. The restoration model can be dismantled and used to guide the repair work.

Keywords: digital architectural heritage; virtual restoration; harsh environment; unmanned aerial vehicle aerophotogrammetry; ground 3D laser scanning; watchtower; data fusion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/3138/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/3138/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:9:p:3138-:d:167450

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().