Air Force cultural resources team preserves history with lasers

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Schneider
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The Air Force is documenting and preserving some of the most historically significant sites in the country's space history through the use of a series of spatial technologies including an unexpected tool:  lasers.

Members of the University of South Florida Alliance for Integrated Spatial Technologies recently presented the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, with virtual models, three-dimensional videos, architectural computer-aided designs, geo-referenced databases and other interactive digital products resulting from documentation of conditions at six high-priority historic launch complexes at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The Air Force has partnered with AIST over the past two years to provide accurate and measurable data of the complexes, in part through the use of terrestrial laser scanning that documented and recorded the rapidly decaying sites that are in danger of being lost forever due to the corrosive ocean environment and limited funding for major preservation projects, said Tom Penders, cultural resources manager for the wing.

"We consider many of these structures to be endangered species, meaning that they are unique and sometimes the last of their kind," said Dr. Lori Collins, co-director of the AIST program at USF. "We are looking for ways to preserve them digitally and holistically, as well as improve management decisions for effective stabilization and maintenance."

The scanners used by the team are capable of collecting approximately one million data points per second, documenting everything within 330 meters with such a degree of accuracy that millimeter-sized details are able to be examined and analyzed, Penders said.

The scans are not only more accurate, but also faster and less expensive. The wing was able to scan all six complexes and produce more and better-quality archival documentation for what it would typically cost to scan one.

"Laser scanning, along with other 3D photogrammetric and imaging techniques, provides more accurate, detailed records of the historic properties than can be achieved by traditional documentation methods, and it costs far less and takes much less time," said Heidi Mowery, cultural resources specialist at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center's installation support team at Patrick, who assisted the wing with project funding requirements.

The digital products AIST developed from the scan data not only will be used for preservation and archival documentation efforts, but also for visualization through online, classroom and other applications to promote education and outreach, Penders said.

"I would like to see people taking a virtual tour of CCAFS and visiting the launch complexes, seeing them past and present," he added. "With cuts in budgets and ever-changing launch requirements, touring CCAFS is on hold or could be stopped in the future, if needed. This presents an alternative to a physical tour."

With baseline conditions of the complexes established, the project will continue to evaluate condition changes and deterioration over five years of continued monitoring, to include monitoring progress in controlling the growth of invasive plant species, such as the Brazilian pepper.  Moreover, AFCEC and the wing are collaborating with AIST to document additional launch complexes, a major archaeological site and some of the historic cemeteries located at Cape Canaveral AFS.

The resulting data will help the wing plan and prioritize future preservation and restoration efforts, Penders said.