Developing Guidelines for the Use of Passive Thermography on Cultural Heritage in Tropical Climates

Manogna Kavuru,Elisabetta Rosina

doi:10.3390/app10238411

Manogna Kavuru, Elisabetta Rosina

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app10238411

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Journal: Applied sciences	Publication Date: Nov 26, 2020
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Texas A&M University, Politecnico di Milano

Abstract

Infrared thermography (IRT) has been a very successful tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of cultural heritage restoration projects. It has been used to identify anomalies, moisture issues, etc., in historic buildings. Although it is a promising tool, one of the limitations is that a method to deploy it onsite has not been standardized. This is due to the different variables that might affect thermal signatures captured by the thermal camera, when onsite. Especially since environmental conditions play a major role in thermography, the process must vary from region to region significantly. That said, efforts have been made over the years to establish some base standards for designated purposes of infrared thermography in the construction field. These standards and best practice methods, although comprehensive, do not effectively help with issues that are contextual to the location of the building, for instance, tropical climates, such as India. This paper aims to suggest guidelines for a passive approach of thermography, based on practical applications and procedures followed during the thermographic survey at the former British Residency in Hyderabad, India. Additionally, this paper explores the avenues through which region specific guidelines can be established.

Highlights

Infrared thermography (IRT) has been a very successful tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of cultural heritage
While many guidelines and standards exist for the use of infrared thermography, not many elaborate on particular details, and this could be due to the ambiguity of the results presented by the instrument itself
We propose a modest rubric by which we can judge the efficacy of employing IRT at a site in different months in Hyderabad, see Figure 5

Summary

Introduction

Infrared thermography (IRT) has been a very successful tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of cultural heritage. Thermography for moisture monitoring of buildings is well-documented in existing literature [7,8,9,10,11], and it is a very useful technique, especially for preliminary scanning and for monitoring the surface in intervals of time. It does not require sampling and, can be applied on precious surfaces. Kirkpatrick was the British envoy responsible for the construction of the Residency [17]. The British Residency is representative of all those buildings that were constructed in

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