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Equipment

We specialize in advanced archaeological remote sensing, using satellite, aerial, and ground-based technologies.  SPARCL incorporates a large, communal lab space, several research offices, and storage facilities in the Department of Anthropology building. Our equipment collection highlights relatively low-cost, easily deployed  instrumentation, with particularly strong capabilities in satellite-aided regional survey, drone-based aerial imaging using a range of sensors, mapping and 3D documentation of archaeological sites and excavations, and subsurface geophysical remote sensing of archaeological features.

  • The Arcaeorover – an autonomous robotic rover designed and built by SPARCL staff to collect broad-scale ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry data
  • SENSYS MAGNETO MXPDA Magnetometry Cart – a push cart magnetometry system with RTK positioning, capable of covering large areas
  • RM Frobisher TAR-3 Resistance Meter system – a portable, high-resolution instrument that can detect the presence of sub-soil archaeological features up to 1.5m below the surface
  • GSSI UtilityScan ground-penetrating radar (GPR) unit with 350 MHz digital antenna – a high-resolution instrument that can map buried archaeological features up to 5 meters below the surface
  • Bartington Grad601-2 Dual-Sensor Magnetic Gradiometer – a dual sensor fluxgate magnetometer capable of mapping subtle changes in magnetic fields, which indicate buried archaeological features up to 2 meters beneath the surface
  • DJI Matrice 210 RTK v2 – “enterprise-grade” quad-copter capable of long-duration flights with a variety of advanced sensors, designed for aerial survey and integrated with RTK GNSS ground station
  • DJI Matrice 300 RTK – “enterprise-grade” quad-copter capable of relatively heavy lift (2.7 kg) and long-duration flights with integrated with RTK GNSS ground station and a variety of advanced sensors, including the Zenmuse L1 LiDAR + RGB camera
  • DJI Matrice 600 Pro UAS – airborne heavy-lift (5.5 kg) hexarotor vehicle equipped with redundant GNSS, compass, and IMU. Configured for the Resonon Pika IR-L+ Hyperspectral Imaging Camera and the Geo-MMS LiDAR system.
  • DJI Mavic 3E
  • 3DR Aero M – fixed-wing long-distance mapping-grade drone
  • RC hot air balloon aerial photography system, custom-built for aerial survey with integrated GNSS and telemetry
  • Custom-built fixed wing RTK GNSS mapping-grade drone, designed for deployment of color, NIR and thermal cameras
  • 3DR Solo quad-copters (3)
  • Zenmuse L1 LiDAR + RGB Camera
  • DJI P1 RGB Camera – full frame, 45MP sensor for ultra high resolution aerial survey
  • MicaSense RedEdge-MX multi-spectral sensor with embedded GPS
  • Zenmuse XT2 Thermal + RGB Camera
  • FLIR Vue Pro R 640 9mm thermal imaging camera with ThermalCapture digital data logger and ThermalCapture Calibrator – a high-performance, compact, lightweight LW (7.5 -13.5 µm) uncooled thermal imaging camera mounted on a quadcopter UAS, with custom 3D-printed gimbal.
  • Resonon Pika IR-L+ Imager with integrated GPS – an advanced hyperspectral camera that records imagery in the near–infrared (900–1700nm) range of the spectrum
  • Zenmuse X4S high resolution RGB camera outfitted for integration with DJI Matrice 210 RTK
  • Reach RS2 L1/L2/L5 RTK GNSS Receivers (2)
  • Reach RS L1 RTK GNSS Receivers (4)
  • Lecia TS06 plus total station – for traditional, rapid surveys and micro-topography development.
  • GPS baseline and absolute positioning software including Trimble Geomatics Office, Leica Geomatics Office, and GYPSY-OASIS from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  • A suite of mapping grade GPS receivers with decimeter post-processing accuracy data-dictionaries with ArcGIS and other GIS software.
  • ERDAS Imagine/LPS and ENVI/IDL for geometric and radiometric processing of satellite and aerial optical image and synthetic aperture radar and terrestrial optical imagery.
  • DREMEL DigiLab 3D Printer – for replication of historical artifacts for teaching and research
  • Humminbird SOLIX 15 side scan sonar for underwater surveys
  • Pacific Image PowerSlide X Automated 35mm Slide Scanner – high-resolution scanner for digitizing historic imagery and photographs for 3D surface reconstruction.
  • Canon 5D MkII (2 units) – 21.1 megapixel full-frame sensor digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera bodies and lenses, capable of live remote viewing and 1080p video recording.
  • Sketchfab Pro – software to share 3D model visualizations on mobile, desktop, or VR devices.
  • Agisoft Metashape Professional Ed. – industry-leading software for automatically building accurate, high-quality textured 3D models, DEMs, and orthophotos from still images.
  • Meshlab – an open source, multi-platform for point cloud processing.
  • LAStools – a robust, efficient toolset for processing airborne and terrestrial LiDAR.