Implementation of UAV Systems for Cultural Heritage

Dear Colleagues,

Unmanned aerial and ground vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have been widely used in cultural heritage for the last few years, offering new possibilities in the study of cultural heritage, especially when they are fused with other geomatic sensors such as digital cameras, laser scanners or multispectral cameras. Due to this, it is possible to digitalize complex areas, such as roofs or towers, and capture a wide variety of geometric and radiometric information. However, the rapid evolution of geomatics and robotics, e.g., the development of new algorithms for structures from motion or SLAM problems, as well as the latest developments in electronics (e.g., navigation systems), require a continuous review of the possibilities within the heritage field.

The present Special Issue will cover the latest advances in cultural heritage documentation, including the diagnosis of these structures, with the use of drones. Rather than another 3D reconstruction contribution, this Special Issue seeks high-quality papers that explore all the potentialities offered by these platforms and the latest advances in data acquisition, positioning, and sensor hybridization applied to the inspection of cultural heritage sites and objects.

We wish to invite you to contribute by submitting articles concerning your recent research, experimental work, reviews, and/or case studies related to drone inspection in cultural heritage. Contributions may be on, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Digital documentation of cultural heritage by drones;
• Diagnosis of cultural heritage by drones;
• Damage detection in cultural heritage by means of drones;
• Structural condition assessment in cultural heritage by means of drones;
• Multispectral imaging with drones in heritage constructions;
• Multidisciplinary study cases that include the use of drones.

Dr. Luis Javier Sánchez Aparicio
Prof. Dr. Efstratios Stylianidis
Dr. Serafin López-Cuervo Medina
Dr. Tomas Ramón Herrero-Tejedor
Dr. Julian Aguirre de Mata
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Drones is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• cultural heritage
• heritage documentation
• drones
• 3D point clouds
• structure from motion
• laser scanning
• multispectral imaging