From UAS to BIM: Methods and Design for the Multiscale Metric and Spatial Documentation and Representation of Built Heritage and Infrastructures

Dear Colleagues,

Today, the use of UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) for the 3D metric documentation and representation of different assets can be considered a standard approach. These domains vary from built heritage, infrastructures, landscapes, and territories.

For their intrinsic characteristics, historical and architectural heritage is subject to several natural and manmade risks as well as the course of time. For this reason, they need protection, restoration, and maintenance actions; in this framework, actions connected to their 3D metric and spatial documentation are a crucial task.

Taking into account that the acquisition and processing phases related to UAS photogrammetry can be considered, at least in the majority of cases, as standard operations, the main research challenges nowadays are related to the multi-level, multi-granularity, and multiscale features of the territory and its built heritage and require targeted and specific actions.

Another factor that needs to be contemplated is the multitude of stakeholders and actors that are involved in the variou planning and management activities of these assets.

For these reasons, the adoption of BIM/HBIM (Building Information Modelling/Heritage BIM) and urbanBIM processes is a common procedure in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector, and its combination with UAS-derived data is of particular interest. The scan-to-BIM process/procedure, which begins from UAS photogrammetric point clouds to create a 3D model, is one of the techniques that is gaining popularity for the creation of as-built parametric models.

Furthermore, other methods and approaches, derived from the AI (Artificial Intelligence) field, such as point cloud semantic segmentation with deep and machine learning algorithms and techniques, are adopted and have been used in experiments as well.

Finally, the integration of BIM and GIS (geographic information system/Science) to represent urban and territorial scenarios with different scales up as well as for single building elements is becoming of great interest.

We are pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts to the MDPI journal Drones for our Special Issue “From UAS to BIM. Methods and design for the multiscale metric and spatial documentation and representation of built heritage and infrastructures”. Articles should be related to but not limited by the considered topics:

• UAS photogrammetry targeted for the generation of as-built models;
• Scan-to-BIM methods;
• IFC standard interoperability;
• The adoption of integrated UAS and BIM, for the documentation and monitoring of built structures, multi-temporal monitoring of construction sites, built heritage documentation, preservation, management, and restoration actions for built heritage, etc.;
• Innovative methodologies and workflow for the application of deep and machine learning approaches;
• Point cloud semantic segmentation algorithms and techniques;
• Multiscale, multi-levels, multi granularity representation of architectural built heritage, infrastructures, and territory;
• Methods for spatial, semantic, and technical interoperability of standards and data formats;
• Evaluation and validation of different operative workflows in terms of acquisition, processing, modeling, multi-platform integration, etc.

Prof. Dr. Fulvio Rinaudo
Dr. Lorenzo Teppati Losè
Dr. Elisabetta Colucci
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.

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