Openness as Visualization Technique for Interpretative Mapping of Airborne Lidar Derived Digital Terrain Models

Michael Doneus

doi:10.3390/rs5126427

Abstract

Openness is proposed as a visualization technique for the archaeological interpretation of digital terrain models derived from airborne laser scanning. In contrast to various shading techniques, openness is not subject to directional bias and relief features highlighted by openness do not contain any horizontal displacement. Additionally, it offers a clear distinction between relief features and the surrounding topography, while it highlights both the highest and lowest parts of features. This makes openness an ideal tool for mapping and outlining of archaeological features. A comparison with sky-view factor and local relief model visualizations helps to evaluate advantages and limits of the technique.

Highlights

In archaeological prospection, airborne laser scanning (ALS) is mainly used to obtain information about archaeological sites and environmental structures in relief
This study has examined the use of positive and negative openness to visualize digital terrain models for interpretative mapping of topographic archaeological features
It is the first time that openness has been systematically investigated on a micro-topographic scale using data provided by airborne laser scanning

Summary

Introduction

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is mainly used to obtain information about archaeological sites and environmental structures in relief. For this purpose, high quality digital terrain models (DTM) are derived from ALS data, and are subsequently interpreted. Simple shaded relief has long been used as a standard visualization technique. While it is perceived and “read”, its major drawback lies in the fact that it has reduced information content [1,2]. The number of publications dealing with the problem of displaying and interpreting

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion