Remote-sensing hyperspectral imaging for applications in archaeological areas: Non-invasive investigations on wall paintings and on mural inscriptions in the Pompeii site

摘要

Hyper-Spectral Imaging (HSI) is nowadays a well-established technology in the field of Cultural Heritage (CH), being acknowledged as a highly effective tool for accomplishing both non-invasive diagnostics and documentation of different typologies of polychrome artworks. Until recently, in CH field HSI technique has been mainly applied for investigating polychrome surfaces of small or medium size objects in museum collections, such as easel paintings, illuminated manuscripts or paper based artifacts. Conversely, the outdoor applications of HSI on large mural surfaces, wall paintings, frescoes and archeological assets are still mostly unexplored. This is due to the fact that the HSI systems designed for CH applications usually work at short-distance from the targets and can cover only limited size surfaces. To overcome this limitation, and to extend the applications of HSI to investigating mural paintings in external contexts, cloisters, ceilings, or assets in archaeological sites, a remote-sensing approach, based on the use of readapted avionic sensors, has been considered and tested in-field.