From Multispectral 3D Recording and Documentation to Development of Mobile Apps for Dissemination of Cultural Heritage

Many human, technical, and economic resources are devoted nowadays to document cultural heritage. Nevertheless, the resources are limited and heritage in general is suffering not only from anthropogenic and natural disasters but also from varying physical and chemical conditions. This paper summarizes a wide range of recording and documentation activities carried out at the Petra Archaeological Park, in particular, at Djinn Block No. 9 to improve the level of understanding of that iconic monument. The recording and documentation considered a wide range of metric and multispectral techniques such as close-range photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning, multispectral photography, thermography, and remote sensing to build up scientific knowledge of the monument prior to undertaking conservation and preservation measures. The conventional 3D documentation with visible colors was accompanied by layers of multispectral information that were used to inspect and monitor the deterioration of the monument, as a step to take the right conservation and preservation initiatives. Besides the scientific documentation and conservation, dissemination is considered as a vital part of any survey to raise awareness to the society (both local and foreigners, even visitors) about its wellness (even if it is very much deteriorated). The dissemination is implemented for mobile devices (apps for mobile phones and tablets) to integrate different layers of information: 3D, history, multispectral imagery, geo-localization, geo-services, and last but not least cyber-archaeology to visualize fully textured ideal 3D reconstructions of the past periods on multiple platforms. A critical view of the different steps ranging from data acquisition, processing (geometry and spectral content), and post-processing to deliver cyber-archaeological products will be analyzed.