Multi-wavelength Airborne Laser Scanning for Archaeological Prospection

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is a widely used technique for the sampling of the earth’s surface. Next to the widely used geometric information current systems provide additional information about the signal strength of each echo. In order to utilize this information, radiometric calibration is essential. As a result physical observables that characterise the backscatter characteristic of the sensed surface are available. Due to the active illumination of the surfaces these values are independent of shadows caused by sunlight and due to the simultaneously recorded 3D information a single-channel true orthophoto can be directly estimated from the ALS data. By the combination of ALS data utilizing different laser wavelengths a multi-wavelength orthophoto of the scene can be generated. This contribution presents, next to the practical calibration workflow, the radiometric calibration results of the archaeological study site Carnuntum (Austria). The area has been surveyed at three different ALS wavelengths within a very short period of time. After the radiometric calibration of each single ALS wavelength (532nm, 1064nm and 1550nm) a multi-channel ALS orthophoto is derived. Subsequently, the radiometric calibration results of the singleand multi-wavelength ALS data are studied in respect to present archaeological features. Finally, these results are compared to the radiometric calibration results of an older ALS data acquisition campaign and to results of a systematic air photo interpretation. * Corresponding author.