3DMAPPR (Completed)

The Perth Region Maritime Archaeology 3-Dimensional Mapping Project is a community-based initiative being undertaken by the Maritime Archaeology Association of Western Australia (MAAWA) with the support and supervision of the Western Australian Museum. 
The project represents the first stage of a broader programme of site documentation and management, with the objectives of developing a low-cost photogrammetry package to facilitate the recording of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) in the Perth area, and providing training for MAAWA members in underwater photogrammetric recording and image processing techniques.

This project was made possible by financial support from the 2014 AIMA Scholarship.

For more information visit the project Facebook page.

Omeo

Take a look at the Omeo which was mapped with 3DMAPPR:

From: K. Edwards, N. Bigourdan, I. McCann and D. Cooper - 3DMAPPR: community-based underwater archaeological photogrammetry program in Perth, Western Australia, AIMA Bulletin, Vol.40, p1-16

Introduction

The Maritime Archaeology Association of Western Australia (MAAWA), in collaboration with Tempus Archaeology (TA) and with the support of the Maritime Archaeology Department of the Western Australian Museum (MADWAM), recently initiated the 3D Maritime Archaeological Project—Perth Region (3DMAPPR). Intended primarily as a community-oriented capacity-building exercise, the overall objectives of the initial stage of the project were twofold: (i) to assess the viability of employing a low-cost underwater 3D photogrammetry package to document maritime archaeological sites; and, (ii) to provide MAAWA members with a set of operational guidelines, training, and experience in underwater 3D photogrammetric recording and data processing techniques. It was intended that avocational ‘citizen scientists’ would then be able to help address current management priorities by making meaningful contributions to the ongoing documentation and monitoring of maritime archaeological sites in the Perth metropolitan region. Combined with another MAAWA initiative (the Shipwreck WA website and smart phone application, http://www.shipwreckswa.com), this data has the potential not only to inform ongoing management of maritime archaeological sites, but also to be used as a resource for research, public education and outreach. This paper provides an overview of activities undertaken as part of 3DMAPPR during the first year of its operation. After outlining the project background and rationale, the authors review several case studies and highlight the opportunities afforded by the adoption of underwater multi-image 3D photogrammetry in a non-specialist context.

Project background

The idea of initiating a community-based underwater 3D photogrammetry project developed out of a series of informal discussions between the authors concerning the apparent lacuna in documentation of wreck sites and other aspects of the maritime archaeological heritage in the Swan and Canning river systems. While a considerable number of sites were identified and investigated by MAAWA and MADWAM during the 1980s and 1990s (Scrimshaw 1980), it has to be acknowledged that the current status and condition of many of these sites remain unknown. The underlying reasons for this are manifold, but can primarily be attributed to: a. The lack of any formal or long-term monitoring program; b. A limited capacity to accurately document the cause(s), nature, and scale of changes to sites and their immediate environments; and c. Potentially too great a reliance on avocational involvement, with all of its concomitant pressures on time, money and expertise. Given these issues, and the inherent limitations of traditional manual underwater survey and recording techniques, it became readily apparent that there was a need to explore alternative approaches that would enable the non-specialist membership of MAAWA to undertake rapid in-situ site assessments and documentation. Necessarily, any such approach would need to meet a number of basic requirements in order to make it ‘fit for purpose’ within the context of a not-for-profit community organisation. These requirements included low financial and technical overheads; appropriate degree of accuracy and precision; and, the ability to utilise inexpensive consumer-grade hardware wherever possible.

OTHER MODELS

Publications:

Kevin Edwards and Darren Cooper: Three-dimensional photogrammetric recording of City of Perth and Mayfield undertaken as part of the Western Australian Maritime Archaeological Association’s 3DMAPPR Project. Academia link.

Kevin Edwards and Nicolas Bigourdan: IKUWA6 - 3D Session - 3DMAPPR. Academia link.

Kevin Edwards: Perth Region Maritime Archaeology 3D Mapping Project. Academia link.

Kevin Edwards: 3D photogrammetry for and by the public. Academia link.

Kevin Edwards, Nicolas Bigourdan, Ian McCann and Darren Cooper: 3DMAPPR: A community-based underwater archaeology photogrammetry program in Perth, Western Australia. Download.

In the Media:

Volunteers use 3D Imaging to Map Shipwrecks: Particle WA https://particle.scitech.org.au/people/volunteers-use-3d-imaging-map-shipwrecks/