Mapping the Inhospitable Landscapes of the Orkney Islands using RPAS

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reports the outcome of the RPAS‐based prospection of four prehistoric and early historic sites on Mainland, Rousay and South Ronaldsay Islands of the Orkney archipelago (Northern Scotland). Application of RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) improved the effectiveness and accuracy of the mapping of the archaeological landscape, comparing to the ground‐base survey. The paper presents the workflow used to obtain the low altitude images using RPAS and photogrammetric pipeline applied to create ortophotomaps and digital elevation models. Then the interpretation of mapped remnants at the sites of Brough of Deerness, Burrian, Hashwick and Burwick is discussed. Beside reporting the new datasets for the Orkney the author is clarifying the problem of surveying “the inhospitable” landscapes ‐ the areas that for different reasons might be difficult to access by survey using ground‐based methods. Therefore Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems are advocated as a solution in such challenging conditions.