Case Study: Abovit Aerialography preserves colonial-era church ruins with Pix4Dmapper

Preserving colonial era church ruins with drone mapping

Abovit Aerialography, a cultural heritage photography company in the United States, worked with Pix4D to help preserve the Sheldon Church Ruins and Brick House Ruins, two colonial-era National Historic Landmarks at risk of loss. The challenge was to document these historic structures in a way that could support preservation planning and the design of potential support structures.

Using Pix4Dmapper, Abovit Aerialography captured 847 nadir, oblique, and terrestrial images with a DJI Phantom drone and GoPro camera, then processed them together to create detailed 3D models and point clouds. The result was a clear digital reconstruction of the ruins, with 6 cm GSD, delivered to the Preservation Society of Charleston and the Historic Charleston Foundation to aid preservation efforts.