Abstract
Abstract. The Italian legislation on Remote Pilot Aircraft Systems (SAPR: Sistema Areomobile a Pilotaggio Remoto), as in 2012, regulates the use of drones in controlled and uncontrolled airspace. In 2016, the regulation introduced simplified procedures for the use of ultra-light drones. These instruments are particularly widespread in the field of Cultural Heritage survey. In fact, according to the Italian regulations currently in force it is possible to pilot a drone of less than 300 grams without the need of a flight license and without a specific training course and medical examination and it is not required a special permit to fly in populates areas (although without flying over groups of people). Another possible explanation is the limited cost of these aircrafts and their easy availability on the market, both on the shelves of all electronic shops and in online stores.Following the boom of drones under 300 g, and considering the new European regulations also pay particular attention to a similar segment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (in the future for aircraft under 250 g), it is important to evaluate the results that can be obtained through these small instruments and above all to evaluate which are the fields of application compatible with the technical limitations imposed by the need to lighten the components onboard (think in particular of the sensors of digital cameras).The purpose of the study is linked to the documentation of Cultural Heritage, in particular, we want to investigate the quality and metric reliability of photogrammetric surveys carried out through ultra-light drone images. Some application of UAV photogrammetry by ultra-light drones are showed in this paper and they deal with archaeological and architectural survey.
Highlights
1.1 Survey from the topThe documentation of cultural heritage from the top has always played a role of primary importance, because, through it, you can observe details and phenomena otherwise invisible
From the characteristics described above, it can be seen that the weakest point of the ultra-light Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems applied to photogrammetric surveying in architecture and culture is connected to the coverage of each single pixel on the ground GSD (Ground Sample Distance)
The table used in the photogrammetric flight project is proposed, which relates the final scale of the survey, the GSD corresponding to the final scale of the survey, the GSD of the photographic acquisitions and the corresponding flight height by using the same equation (1) described after in the paper
Summary
The documentation of cultural heritage from the top has always played a role of primary importance, because, through it, you can observe details and phenomena otherwise invisible. In 2015, with the second edition of the regulation, the possibility of using very light drones was included, even in contexts that were previously prohibited This has led to the spread of ultra-light drones which, thanks to their ease of use, the possibility of flying even over built-up areas and the absence of the need for any king of license, represent a highly effective tool for documenting cultural heritage. The need to reduce the weight of UAV systems (to 300 gr for the Italian regulation, to 250 gr for the European regulation in force since July 1st, 2019) determines some constraints and limitations that it is right to take into account before addressing the survey.
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