Spatial archaeological surface survey method in complex occurrence environment supported by airborne LiDAR

Airborne LiDAR, as an active remote sensing technology, effectively perceives surface or shallow subsurface relic information in complex environments. However, due to the cost and technical factors, it remains unpopular in large-scale archaeological survey. Based on prism semi-solid airborne LiDAR, we’ve designed a total spatial archaeological survey method encompassing data acquisition, processing, and archaeological analysis. This method not only meets the precision requirements of LiDAR data, but also reduces the learning and application difficulty for archaeologists. Taking the ancient city site survey in Nanyang as an example, we tested this method across various cultural heritage occurrence environments, including vegetated areas, urban landscapes, and micro-topographical scenes. The results indicate that this method efficiently and effectively acquires and senses archaeological relic information in complex environments, providing a solid data foundation for archaeological surveys, site protection monitoring, and related endeavors. Consequently, this method advances the widespread application of airborne LiDAR in spatial archaeological surface survey.