Application of laser scanning technology in the renovation works

Abstract

The object of research is a historic altar, located in the chancel of the Roman Catholic Church under the invocation of St. John the Baptist and Saint Roch in Jonkowo (Poland, Warmia). This historical object takes its origin from 1715. The alter contains two floors. In the upper part there is a picture of Jesus Christ, which is surrounded by angels. In the lower, larger part, there is a picture of St. Roch. In addition, there occur side ornaments and carved columns and statues of St. Peter and St. Paul. The result of the research was to perform ancillary documentation for professionals conducting renovation of the altar. For this purpose the laser scanner technology was used. The authors, during the field works, performed over a dozen scans and photos from both sides of the altar. All these data were register together by using special HDS targets. The acquired point clouds present the front of the main altar in tree-dimensional space. The obtained data allow us to perform the virtual visualization. After data elaboration simple measurements of details in the altar, in a special software, was possible to conduct. These results became the basis for comparison the appearance and shape of the object before and after the renovation work. The paper presents the process of obtaining the data and shows how to solve the problems related to their elaboration process. In addition, author present the possibility of application new technology of laser scanning and the obtained data by specialists.