The second part of this book is focused on the application of the different geophysical methodolo... more The second part of this book is focused on the application of the different geophysical methodologies - Geoelectrical, Ground Penetrating Radar and Electromagnetic - to Cultural Heritage, both in Italian and foreign sites. In order to highlight the various possible applications, the case studies, related to the most frequent diagnostic surveys, have been divided into main topic: Monuments, Historical Buildings, Urban Centres, Archaeological Parks, Preventive Archeology and Ancient viability.
Near Surface Geoscience 2014 - 20th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, 2014
ABSTRACT Non-destructive geophysical prospecting methods are increasingly used for the investigat... more ABSTRACT Non-destructive geophysical prospecting methods are increasingly used for the investigation of archaeological sites, where a detailed physical and geometrical reconstruction of structures is required prior to any excavation work. In this work the comparison between 3D inversions of ERT and vertical gradient of the total magnetic field (VGTMF) data, to delineate sharp discontinuities (boundary of cavities and fractures in the medium) in the Archaeological Test Site of Sabine Necropolis at Research Area of National Research Council of Rome (Montelibretti, Italy) are shown and discussed. While the VGTMF data inversion has been made minimizing an L-2 norm, the ERT data have been inverted minimizing an L-2 and an L-1 norm, obtaining different information and details. The results are then compared in the volume under the surveyed area: merits and shortcomings of the different techniques are pointed out and analyzed. Both ERT and VGTMF locate the tomb; VGTMF overestimates its barycentre depth and gives a smeared volume; ERT L-1 inversion gives a fine picture of the chamber, delineates the corridor and underestimates the resistivities; ERT L-2 inversion gives a broad image of the chamber, does not delineate the corridor but gives more appropriate resistivities.
The archaeological area of the Lateran in Rome lies immediately within the Aurelian Walls near th... more The archaeological area of the Lateran in Rome lies immediately within the Aurelian Walls near the gate of the Via Tusculana, under the Cathedral of St. John and the neighbouring buildings. It is an area of great historical importance. The domus of the first two centuries AD were superseded by the Castra Nova Equitum Singularium of Septimius Severus and later by the Constantinian basilica and the Lateran bishopric. The ‘Lateran Project’ was born from the collaboration between the Vatican Museums and the Universities of Florence, Newcastle and Northumbria, with the support of the British School of Rome and the collaboration of the Institute for Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). Up until now the major remains have only been published in brief preliminary notes, but the completion of a 3D survey by the Project allows a far more detailed and interesting reading.
ABSTRACT The area described in this article was ‘detected’ by the Laboratory for Landscape Archeo... more ABSTRACT The area described in this article was ‘detected’ by the Laboratory for Landscape Archeology and Remote Sensing,Universityof Sienaresearch teamduringaerialprospectionin spring 2005.Analysis of the aerial photographs allowed interpretation of the site as a triple-ditched enclosure.During subsequent field-walkingsurveyanumberofarchaeologicalartefactswerecollectedandmapped.Differential global positioning system (DGPS) survey confirmed the morphological pattern of the site, whichseemsto represent asurvivalofthe EarlyMedievalAgesettlement patternonthe coastalplain. The field-walking and DGPS surveys were followed by a programme of geophysical survey combining three different methods: differential magnetics (Overhauser probe), ground-penetrating radar (GPR) andAutomaticResistivity Profiler (ARP#, Geocarta).Finally, three sampleareaswere excavated,mainly to test the evidence collected previously.The excavation data ^ ditches, post-holes, domestic pottery, animalbones, andwallremains ^ support theinterpretationofthesiteasthefirstearth-and-timbercastle mound, ormotte, to be identified inTuscany
The ongoing off-site analysis of data captured in the field prior to early March 2020 and a range... more The ongoing off-site analysis of data captured in the field prior to early March 2020 and a range of equally essential work on archival sources and database development kept team members fully occupied. The British School at Rome team, led by Stephen Kay, used two Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) antennas, a 400 MHz and 200 MHz;the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche team, led by Salvatore Piro, deployed GPR with a 70 MHz monostatic antenna and a GSSI 300/800 MHz dual-frequency digital antenna;and Geostudi Astier, led by Gianfranco Morelli, operated GPR with the IDS Stream multi-channel system, surveying between them a wide-ranging set of targets. Coordination of this work required not only the generous help of many key Roman stakeholders, more fully acknowledged below, but also a good understanding of the history of investigation at each location, something being further developed through archival research and data sharing with SITAR (https://www.archeositarproject.it/), the latter project led by Mirella Serlorenzi, and the Archivio Centrale dello Stato where, thanks to Mirco Modolo, we got the opportunity to work on the important documents that form part of Edoardo and Guglielmo Gatti's archive. [...]all three teams converged to take a combined approach to GPR and ERT.
By analysing the technical advantages and characteristics of imaging radar in cultural heritage, ... more By analysing the technical advantages and characteristics of imaging radar in cultural heritage, we provide new insights for the future development of cutting-edge Digital Heritage approaches through technical integration and interdisciplinary synergy.
Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems Discussions, 2016
This paper describes a noninvasive investigation conducted in two important churches, namely the ... more This paper describes a noninvasive investigation conducted in two important churches, namely the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the church Santa Croce, both placed in Gravina in Puglia (close to Bari, southern Italy). The church of Santa Croce, now deconsecrated, lies below the Cathedral. Therefore, indeed the two churches constitute a unique building body. Moreover, below the church of Santa Croce there are several crypts, only partially known. The prospecting was performed both with a pulsed commercial GPR system and with a prototypal reconfigurable stepped frequency system. The aim was twofold, namely to achieve some information about the monument and to test the prototypal system. The GPR measurements have been also integrated with an IRT investigation performed on part of the vaulted ceiling of the church of Santa Croce, in order to confirm or deny a possible interpretation of some GPR results.
Non-destructive geophysical prospecting methods are increasingly used for the investigation of ar... more Non-destructive geophysical prospecting methods are increasingly used for the investigation of archaeological sites, where a detailed physical and geometrical reconstruction of structures is required prior to any excavation work. In 1996, at the Archaeological Test Site of the Sabine Necropolis at Research Area of National Research Council of Rome (Montelibretti, Italy), a small area had been selected to test the integration of magnetic, ground-penetrating radar, and electrical resistivity tomography techniques. The magnetic data were acquired as the vertical gradient of the total magnetic field and were inverted by minimizing an L-2 norm. The ground-penetrating radar data were acquired as singleoffset measurements on a regular grid and processed to obtain time slices of reflection amplitude. The electrical resistivity tomography data were acquired with dipole–dipole array along parallel profiles in both east–west and north–south directions. In this work, we reprocessed the data collected in 1996 performing a three-dimensional inversion of electrical resistivity tomography data using ground-penetrating radar data and three-dimensional inversion results of the magnetic data. We inverted electrical resistivity tomography data according to L2 and L1 norm minimization. Both the mean apparent resistivity and different resistivity distributions derived from processed ground-penetrating radar and three-dimensional inversion of the vertical gradient of the total magnetic field data were used as a starting model. The results were then compared in the volume under the surveyed area: merits and shortcomings of the different techniques are pointed out and analyzed. From the results of the different applied techniques, it comes that both electrical resistivity tomography and vertical gradient of the total magnetic field locate the searched tomb as a volume, whereas ground-penetrating radar mainly identified the ceiling of the tomb. Vertical gradient of the total magnetic field data inversion obtained from minimization of the L2 norm properly locates both the chamber and the corridor but produces smeared overestimated volumes. Three-dimensional inversions of electrical resistivity tomography data with a priori information give an accurate picture of the chamber and delineates the corridor, even if the resistivity values are underestimated if compared with the expected resistivity of void. Results are compared with the archaeological findings as the area was unearthed and verified in 2001.
The second part of this book is focused on the application of the different geophysical methodolo... more The second part of this book is focused on the application of the different geophysical methodologies - Geoelectrical, Ground Penetrating Radar and Electromagnetic - to Cultural Heritage, both in Italian and foreign sites. In order to highlight the various possible applications, the case studies, related to the most frequent diagnostic surveys, have been divided into main topic: Monuments, Historical Buildings, Urban Centres, Archaeological Parks, Preventive Archeology and Ancient viability.
Near Surface Geoscience 2014 - 20th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, 2014
ABSTRACT Non-destructive geophysical prospecting methods are increasingly used for the investigat... more ABSTRACT Non-destructive geophysical prospecting methods are increasingly used for the investigation of archaeological sites, where a detailed physical and geometrical reconstruction of structures is required prior to any excavation work. In this work the comparison between 3D inversions of ERT and vertical gradient of the total magnetic field (VGTMF) data, to delineate sharp discontinuities (boundary of cavities and fractures in the medium) in the Archaeological Test Site of Sabine Necropolis at Research Area of National Research Council of Rome (Montelibretti, Italy) are shown and discussed. While the VGTMF data inversion has been made minimizing an L-2 norm, the ERT data have been inverted minimizing an L-2 and an L-1 norm, obtaining different information and details. The results are then compared in the volume under the surveyed area: merits and shortcomings of the different techniques are pointed out and analyzed. Both ERT and VGTMF locate the tomb; VGTMF overestimates its barycentre depth and gives a smeared volume; ERT L-1 inversion gives a fine picture of the chamber, delineates the corridor and underestimates the resistivities; ERT L-2 inversion gives a broad image of the chamber, does not delineate the corridor but gives more appropriate resistivities.
The archaeological area of the Lateran in Rome lies immediately within the Aurelian Walls near th... more The archaeological area of the Lateran in Rome lies immediately within the Aurelian Walls near the gate of the Via Tusculana, under the Cathedral of St. John and the neighbouring buildings. It is an area of great historical importance. The domus of the first two centuries AD were superseded by the Castra Nova Equitum Singularium of Septimius Severus and later by the Constantinian basilica and the Lateran bishopric. The ‘Lateran Project’ was born from the collaboration between the Vatican Museums and the Universities of Florence, Newcastle and Northumbria, with the support of the British School of Rome and the collaboration of the Institute for Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). Up until now the major remains have only been published in brief preliminary notes, but the completion of a 3D survey by the Project allows a far more detailed and interesting reading.
ABSTRACT The area described in this article was ‘detected’ by the Laboratory for Landscape Archeo... more ABSTRACT The area described in this article was ‘detected’ by the Laboratory for Landscape Archeology and Remote Sensing,Universityof Sienaresearch teamduringaerialprospectionin spring 2005.Analysis of the aerial photographs allowed interpretation of the site as a triple-ditched enclosure.During subsequent field-walkingsurveyanumberofarchaeologicalartefactswerecollectedandmapped.Differential global positioning system (DGPS) survey confirmed the morphological pattern of the site, whichseemsto represent asurvivalofthe EarlyMedievalAgesettlement patternonthe coastalplain. The field-walking and DGPS surveys were followed by a programme of geophysical survey combining three different methods: differential magnetics (Overhauser probe), ground-penetrating radar (GPR) andAutomaticResistivity Profiler (ARP#, Geocarta).Finally, three sampleareaswere excavated,mainly to test the evidence collected previously.The excavation data ^ ditches, post-holes, domestic pottery, animalbones, andwallremains ^ support theinterpretationofthesiteasthefirstearth-and-timbercastle mound, ormotte, to be identified inTuscany
The ongoing off-site analysis of data captured in the field prior to early March 2020 and a range... more The ongoing off-site analysis of data captured in the field prior to early March 2020 and a range of equally essential work on archival sources and database development kept team members fully occupied. The British School at Rome team, led by Stephen Kay, used two Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) antennas, a 400 MHz and 200 MHz;the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche team, led by Salvatore Piro, deployed GPR with a 70 MHz monostatic antenna and a GSSI 300/800 MHz dual-frequency digital antenna;and Geostudi Astier, led by Gianfranco Morelli, operated GPR with the IDS Stream multi-channel system, surveying between them a wide-ranging set of targets. Coordination of this work required not only the generous help of many key Roman stakeholders, more fully acknowledged below, but also a good understanding of the history of investigation at each location, something being further developed through archival research and data sharing with SITAR (https://www.archeositarproject.it/), the latter project led by Mirella Serlorenzi, and the Archivio Centrale dello Stato where, thanks to Mirco Modolo, we got the opportunity to work on the important documents that form part of Edoardo and Guglielmo Gatti's archive. [...]all three teams converged to take a combined approach to GPR and ERT.
By analysing the technical advantages and characteristics of imaging radar in cultural heritage, ... more By analysing the technical advantages and characteristics of imaging radar in cultural heritage, we provide new insights for the future development of cutting-edge Digital Heritage approaches through technical integration and interdisciplinary synergy.
Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems Discussions, 2016
This paper describes a noninvasive investigation conducted in two important churches, namely the ... more This paper describes a noninvasive investigation conducted in two important churches, namely the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the church Santa Croce, both placed in Gravina in Puglia (close to Bari, southern Italy). The church of Santa Croce, now deconsecrated, lies below the Cathedral. Therefore, indeed the two churches constitute a unique building body. Moreover, below the church of Santa Croce there are several crypts, only partially known. The prospecting was performed both with a pulsed commercial GPR system and with a prototypal reconfigurable stepped frequency system. The aim was twofold, namely to achieve some information about the monument and to test the prototypal system. The GPR measurements have been also integrated with an IRT investigation performed on part of the vaulted ceiling of the church of Santa Croce, in order to confirm or deny a possible interpretation of some GPR results.
Non-destructive geophysical prospecting methods are increasingly used for the investigation of ar... more Non-destructive geophysical prospecting methods are increasingly used for the investigation of archaeological sites, where a detailed physical and geometrical reconstruction of structures is required prior to any excavation work. In 1996, at the Archaeological Test Site of the Sabine Necropolis at Research Area of National Research Council of Rome (Montelibretti, Italy), a small area had been selected to test the integration of magnetic, ground-penetrating radar, and electrical resistivity tomography techniques. The magnetic data were acquired as the vertical gradient of the total magnetic field and were inverted by minimizing an L-2 norm. The ground-penetrating radar data were acquired as singleoffset measurements on a regular grid and processed to obtain time slices of reflection amplitude. The electrical resistivity tomography data were acquired with dipole–dipole array along parallel profiles in both east–west and north–south directions. In this work, we reprocessed the data collected in 1996 performing a three-dimensional inversion of electrical resistivity tomography data using ground-penetrating radar data and three-dimensional inversion results of the magnetic data. We inverted electrical resistivity tomography data according to L2 and L1 norm minimization. Both the mean apparent resistivity and different resistivity distributions derived from processed ground-penetrating radar and three-dimensional inversion of the vertical gradient of the total magnetic field data were used as a starting model. The results were then compared in the volume under the surveyed area: merits and shortcomings of the different techniques are pointed out and analyzed. From the results of the different applied techniques, it comes that both electrical resistivity tomography and vertical gradient of the total magnetic field locate the searched tomb as a volume, whereas ground-penetrating radar mainly identified the ceiling of the tomb. Vertical gradient of the total magnetic field data inversion obtained from minimization of the L2 norm properly locates both the chamber and the corridor but produces smeared overestimated volumes. Three-dimensional inversions of electrical resistivity tomography data with a priori information give an accurate picture of the chamber and delineates the corridor, even if the resistivity values are underestimated if compared with the expected resistivity of void. Results are compared with the archaeological findings as the area was unearthed and verified in 2001.
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Papers by Salvatore Piro