Anthony Corns

• MSc Geographical Information Science
• Manager at The Discovery Programme

Airborne Laser Scanning (sometimes referred to as lidar) has been described as revolutionary for the understanding and management of cultural landscapes. The ability to create highly accurate three dimensional (3D) models and visualise the topographic features that represent past human interaction with the land surface has undoubtedly changed our v...

In March 2023 the EU-funded CHERISH project published its free user-guide and methodology for investigating heritage and climate change in the coastal and maritime environment (Barker and Corns 2023). This paper provides an overview of the publication, specifically the CHERISH toolkit – the 15 approaches employed by the multi-disciplinary project t...

5Dculture is a 24-month collaborative project co-funded by the European Union. It includes twelve partners from diverse sectors of cultural heritage, including archaeology, museums and fashion. It aims to enrich the offer of European 3D digital cultural heritage assets in the data space and fosters their reuse in important domains such as education...

In Ireland, the CHERISH project has investigated the impacts of climate change on wreck sites exposed to different environmental conditions. Remote sensing and archaeological recording methodologies created substantive site records, baseline and monitoring datasets. Maritime archaeologists, geologists, divers, surveyors and geophysicists worked tog...

Coastal promontory forts are an enduring monument type around Britain, Ireland, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, and NW France and Spain. They are bounded on their promontory neck by walls, or earthen banks and ditches. They were perfectly located to exploit both landward and seaward resources, commanding blocks of coastal territory as well as maritim...

Coastal heritage and archaeological sites are part of a complex system of socioenvironmental processes whose conditions are placed at risk from increasing climate-change pressures and impacts. Cultural-heritage managers are working to increase understanding of these pressures and create ways to assess, mitigate, and/or adapt to change. Coastal-zone...

This article aims to summarise the current situation regarding digital archaeological archives in Ireland.

This paper presents and discusses the preliminary results of a small scale visualisation project as part of which the low-cost LiDAR scanner that now comes as standard with the iPad Pro was used in conjunction with both the Arctec Leo structured light scanner and photogrammetric survey methods to record, analyse and present the recently excavated r...

This paper proposes a design for libraries of European Classical architectural elements based on shape grammars. This design is based on a workflow which develops library objects from 3D CAD primitives using architectural rules to construct parametric representations of architectural elements. In the case of Classical architecture, the design and d...

The change and restrictions in how we react with cultural heritage because of the COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgency in advancing remote and digital access to objects and sites. This paper outlines the process for developing Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) using digital recording and modelling of architectural heritage and archaeology. V...

The change and restrictions in how we react with cultural heritage because of the COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgency in advancing remote and digital access to objects and sites. This paper outlines the process for developing Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) using digital recording and modelling of architectural heritage and archaeology.

Promontory forts are an understudied but distinctive maritime archaeological feature from the Iron Age to the early medieval period from northern Spain to Scotland. Their coastal location renders them susceptible to erosion and loss to history, a situation exacerbated by increased storm frequency and sea level rise. Reconstruction of their original...

Digitisation and virtual representation of Archaeology and Architectural Heritage potentially connects tangible and intangible cultural assets allowing for recording, conserving and documenting cultural heritage in all its possible forms. The process for digitisation of Heritage commences with remote sensing and data capturing technologies such as...

The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) Directive (2007) requires public organisations across Europe to share environmentally-related spatial datasets to support decision making and management of the environment. Despite the environmental focus of INSPIRE, it offers limited guidance for archaeological datasets. Most primary d...

As a single coherent model, the proposed Virtual Historic Dublin City will improve the current approaches for planning, conserving, presenting and interpreting cultural heritage buildings and their environments. The combination of digital recording, modelling and data management systems enable the interaction with complex, interlinked three-dimensi...

This paper illustrates how BIM integration with GIS is approached as part of the workflow in creating Virtual Historic Dublin. A design for a WEB based interactive 3D model of historic buildings and centres in Dublin City (Virtual Historic Dublin City) paralleling smart city initiates is now under construction and led by the National Monuments at t...

ABSTRACT: This paper illustrates how BIM integration with GIS is approached as part of the workflow in creating Virtual Historic Dublin. A design for a WEB based interactive 3D model of historic buildings and centres in Dublin City (Virtual Historic Dublin City) paralleling smart city initiates is now under construction and led by the National Monu...

The Virtual Historic City as an integral part of the smart city will: Integrate information from different scales, sources and disciplines in a single, coherent virtual city model, Present cultural heritage buildings and their environments for education and cultural tourism virtual experiences

An outline of how Aerial Archaeology is expected to be a core resource to the CHERISH project. Four sections are included: 1. COASTAL ZONE MAPPING 2. MANAGING THE DATA GAPS: Commissioning new lidar 3. BASELINE MONITORING: Oblique photography 4. BASELINE MONITORING: UAV survey More detail can be found on the CHERISH project website, http://www.cheri...

A poster outlining the monitoring strategy for the built heritage of Skellig Michael World Heritage Site. This is work being undertaken on behalf of OPW, and is within the CHERISH project study area.

Cultural heritage researchers have recently begun applying Building Information Modelling (BIM) to historic buildings. The model is comprised of intelligent objects with semantic attributes which represent the elements of a building structure and are organised within a 3D virtual environment. Case studies in Ireland are used to test and develop the...

As a partner in the EU co-funded 3D-ICONS project, the Discovery Programme undertook the 3D documentation of some of the most iconic cultural heritage sites in Ireland. This pan-European project aimed to establish a complete pipeline for the production of 3D replicas of archaeological monuments and historic buildings, and to publish the content to...

The INSPIRE Directive (2007) mandates European Union countries to share environment-related datasets so that they can be easily accessed by other public organisations within their own and neighbouring countries to inform policies or activities that may impact on the environment. Key to delivering INSPIRE is the establishment of Spatial Data Infrast...

As a partner in the EU co-funded 3D-ICONS project, the Discovery Programme has surveyed a wide range of the iconic cultural heritage sites in Ireland. This project aimed to establish a complete pipeline for the production of 3D replicas of archaeological monuments and historic buildings, and to publish the content to Europeana for public access. Ch...

The EU co-funded project Advanced Research Infrastructure for Archaeological Dataset Networking in Europe (ARIADNE) aims to integrate data and services across Europe for the archaeological research community. The Discovery Programme has investigated data holdings and management practices in Irish archaeology, focusing on what information is availab...

This paper explores the capture and use of lidar data for a selection of inscribed and tentative World Heritage Sites in Ireland. The detailed specifications for these projects are presented and the impact of these variables on the subsequent use of the data is discussed. The paper examines how different commissioning agencies have managed their li...

Although the INSPIRE Directive provides a roadmap and technical specifications for providing interoperability of spatial information created and held by public bodies across Europe, its relevance to archaeological and built heritage information is unclear. Whilst there is a clear need for access to information about the historic environment by a ra...

In Ireland the Discovery Programme has been pioneering the use of high resolution LiDAR data as a mapping and modelling resource for archaeological landscapes, working on a number of sites as part of its 3D modelling research interests. In general, the results have been well received, with the derived DTMs, DSMs and associated hillshade models havi...

Papers from a congress that took place at the University of Leuven from the 19th to 21st September, 2005. Contents: Preface (Marc Lodewijckx); 1) On the Precipice in Iceland (Oscar Aldred, Elin Osk Hreidarsdottir); 2) The 'ICCD-Aerofototeca Nazionale' Aerial Photo Collections (M. Filomena Boemi); 3) Heritage Stewardship: a New Tool for Old Heritage...

The Discovery Programme has successfully implemented terrestrial laser scanning for the recording of archaeological excavations. However, a number of weaknesses in the process were identified, particularly the poor quality of the derived orthoimages, the basic visual record of the excavation. Searching for a solution lead us to consider the potenti...

Within the archaeological community the application of traditional ground based survey techniques for the 3-dimensional recording of monuments has been successful, but with several limitations. Within the past seven years the application of LiDAR technology for the capture of landscape topography data has been used to great effect. However, the acc...

Within the archaeological community the application of traditional ground based survey techniques for the 3-dimensional recording of monuments has been successful, but with several limitations. Within the past seven years the application of LiDAR technology for the capture of landscape topography data has been used to great effect. However, the acc...

The creation and use of digital spatial data within cultural heritage studies has increased over the past decade. The commissioning of high quality LiDAR, photogrammetric and geophysical datasets has brought about a better understanding of how human activity has shaped our landscape. However, the ability to realize the full potential of this cultur...

Over the past 16 years, the Discovery Programme, an Irish archaeological research organisation, has strived to produce accurate high resolution 3-dimensional models of earthwork monuments and their archaeological landscapes. Initially, this was achieved by the use of terrestrial-based survey technologies including total stations and RTK GPS. Howeve...

The Spatial Heritage & Archaeological Research Environment I.T. (SHARE IT) project was a collaborative venture supported by the Heritage Council (Ireland) under its Irish National Strategic Archaeological Research Programme 2008. Partners were drawn from research (the Discovery Programme), academia (School of Archaeology, UCD; Digital Media Centre,...

The CIPHER project was set up in April 2002 as a thirty month project supported by the European Union. The project aims to give the public new ways of accessing cultural heritage information from around Europe using new technologies. These technologies are intended to help organise knowledge and cultural heritage narratives. The technology helps to...

Abstract The CIPHER project was set up in April 2002 as a thirty month,project supported,by the European,Union. The project aims to give the public new,ways,of accessing cultural heritage information,from around,Europe using new technologies. These technologies are intended to help organise knowledge,and cultural heritage narratives. The technology...