Providing an archaeological bird's‐eye view – an overall picture of ground‐based means to execute low‐altitude aerial photography (LAAP) in Archaeology

Abstract

Since the beginning of aerial photography, researchers have used all kinds of devices ranging from pigeons, kites, poles and balloons to rockets in order to take cameras aloft and remotely gather aerial data needed for a combination of research goals. To date, many of these unmanned devices are still used, mainly to gather archaeologically relevant information from relatively low altitudes, enabling so-called low-altitude aerial photography (LAAP). Besides providing a concise overview of the unmanned LAAP platforms commonly used in archaeological research, this paper considers the drawbacks and advantages of every device and provides an extensive reference list. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.