Autonomous Aerial Systems in Service of Cultural Heritage Protection from Climate Change Effects

This article reports on both past and ongoing work in such research projects as SCAN4RECO or ARCH, both funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 program. The former one concerns multi-modal and multi-spectral scanning of Cultural Heritage (CH) assets for their digitization and conservation via spatio-temporal reconstruction and 3D printing, while the latter one aims to support better preservation of cultural heritage areas from hazards and risks, both natural and human-borne ones. Both projects have adopted co-creation methodologies to help pilot hosts (preservation institutions and cities) to save their cultural heritage from the effects of progressing climate change effects. This included developing disaster risk management frameworks for assessing and improving the resilience of historic areas to climate change and natural hazards. Tools and methodologies have been designed for local authorities and practitioners, urban population, as well as national and international expert communities, aiding authorities in knowledge-aware decision making. In this article we focus on presenting novel approaches to performing 3D modelling of object geometry using 3D photogrammetric methods using autonomous and automatic control systems for achieving very high model accuracies using consumer types of devices, attractive both to professions and hobbyists alike. We also present practically adopted approaches for remote monitoring of weather and climate effects in local and global scales as well as means of assessing possible negative effects that such natural climatic effects might pose on the level and speed of degradation of Cultural Heritage.