An important archaeological discovery in Honduras chronicled the breakthrough use of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) in archaeology and offers a path to accelerating work like this in the future. Douglas Preston's book, "The Lost City of the Monkey God", includes an account of how LiDAR technology played a pivotal role in this discovery—it was used for 3D mapping of this in the dense Honduran rainforest, which had never been used in archaeology for this purpose. This major advancement in a social science came with complex data challenges in a difficult edge environment, highlighting the need for robust data platforms like Kinnami AmiShare.
LiDAR: A Revolutionary Tool for Archaeology (and many other sciences)
Imagine trying to find a hidden city swallowed by miles of impenetrable jungle. Traditional archaeological exploratory methods had come up short in this area of Honduras. LiDAR changed the game. This technology uses lasers to measure distances, essentially creating a 3D map of the terrain, even through thick vegetation. An aircraft equipped with and air LiDAR machine flies back and forth over the area, emitting laser pulses that bounce back off the ground and any objects in their path. By measuring the time it takes for these pulses to return, the system can calculate the distance and coupled with location data can create a highly detailed topographical map. This National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) video does a great job of explaining how this is done.
LiDAR had once previously been used in mapping an important known Mayan site, Caracol in Belize. Archaeologists estimated that what they accomplished in a few short days there would have taken 30 years to map using more traditional ground survey equipment.
LiDAR is how archaeologists validated potentials sites for further exploration in the dense Honduran rain forest, which Preston describes in his book. LiDAR allowed them to see below the dense foliage, revealing the telltale signs of ancient structures hidden beneath the rain forest canopy. A mission that several explorers had attempted over a 150 year span was accomplished in a matter of days.
The Edge Data Journey: A Costly and Risky Endeavor
While LiDAR offered a shortcut to discovery, the data journey was anything but easy. The Honduran expedition faced significant challenges; they were very lucky not to have lost data in this expedition and to have gotten any results at all:
Cost:
The expedition, including the LiDAR equipment and personnel, cost nearly $500,000 with an expectation of mapping 50 square miles. Unexpected delays and equipment failures reduced the area which could be mapped to about 25 square miles; each square mile surveyed cost roughly $20,000.
Logistics & Support:
The LiDAR equipment contained military classified components, a device called an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), requiring special export agreements and armed guards when the plane wasn’t in the air.
In addition to the core expeditionary team three LiDAR engineers from the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) in Houston were needed to execute the mission. These included the Chief Engineer, a data-mapping scientist and a lidar technician.
Data Accuracy:
Air LiDAR sequenced with satellite GPS readings can map to within one to two meters accuracy, depending on conditions. This was not precise enough for purpose; the satellite GPS data needed to be supplemented with ground-based GPS units placed at three strategic locations. This would provide precision to within a foot, high enough resolution to identify evidence of human construction. Location options were very limited as terrain was impassable. Ground GPS units were placed at these locations.
Roatán Island, base camp where the team was staying in modern accommodations
Trujillo, 45 miles away from base camp on the mainland
Dulce Nombre de Culmí, 63 miles further inland on the property of a friend and with no local internet
Data Security and Protection:
The ground GPS unit at Dulce Nombre de Culmí was a remote location with no internet connection. Every day the location data was put on a USB stick and driven two hours to the small town of Catacamas, where the data was uploaded to the internet. Complicating the mission was that the stretch of road driven was known to be frequented by narcotics traffickers who had robbed, harassed and murdered other travelers.
Data Management:
All of the LiDAR, IMU and satellite GPS data was carried on two removeable hard drives at the end of each day from the plane at the Roatán Island airport to the resort where they were staying. Here it was loaded onto the data-scientist’s laptop. One evening the plane had an unplanned overnight on the mainland due to fuel shortage and the two hard drives were transported by the author on a short commercial flight to the island—no backups.
GPS data was uploaded to the internet from the three ground locations; The Dulce Nombre de Culmí data first leg of the journey by thumb drive
Once data from the remote locations was uploaded to NCALM in Houston, it was downloaded to the data-mapping scientist’s laptop on Roatán Island by 9 p.m. There he worked into the night to verify that it and all the data taken from the plane’s LiDAR and GPS systems was clean thus confirming all equipment was working properly and the mission could continue as planned the following day. In all it took four days to gather the data to map Target Area 1.
After all of the data was collected, the data-mapping scientist faced the complex task of fusing LiDAR machine, IMU, satellite GPS, and ground GPS data and rendering the 3D maps using this point cloud. He shared the finished maps with other team members who were back in the states via the internet.
Kinnami AmiShare: Ensuring Data Resiliency at the Edge
The Honduran expedition perfectly illustrates the data resiliency challenges inherent in edge computing, with unreliable networks and multiple remote locations, you need data protection against loss or corruption, security for data privacy, and transmission options ensuring on-time data delivery. The data journey in this example is a patchwork of solutions and reading about it I kept my fingers crossed that they would not have a catastrophic data loss.
To be resilient you need options. Kinnami addresses these data resilience problems holistically and removes the need for patchwork of solutions with its secure data mesh AmiShare. AmiShare could help in a number of ways:
Data Protection and Security:
AmiShare's data replication capabilities could have ensured that the valuable LiDAR and location data was protected against loss or corruption, mitigating the risk of losing the entire expedition's findings, not leaving it up to good luck. When files are brought into the AmiShare system they are automatically fragmented, replicated, uniquely encrypted and distributed across other devices in the distributed system. For example, the data onboard the plane could have been replicated before any data was moved from that site, same for the ground GPS.
Chance had it that a year later, during the ground truthing phase of the project, the expedition’s lead dropped his cell phone in a creek. Even with the help of Apple he was unable to retrieve photos, the culmination of 20-year’s work. AmiShare could have automated the replication and distribution of his photos across other devices at the expedition site.
Data Availability with Automated Data Management:
AmiShare provides data resilience, we liken it to a spider’s web. When one strand is broken, the others are intact providing alternate ways for the spider to travel. AmiShare is network agnostic and therefore when one network is down AmiShare automatically manages data transmission and uses other available networks to the system.
AmiShare could have enabled multiple secure and reliable data transfer methods for all of the data involved to the laptop on Roatán Island for processing. Satellite internet is one option. If that were unavailable, AmiShare can choose an alternative such as high frequency radio. AmiShare can create ad-hoc networks and has successfully hopped data in GPS denied environments across drones for real-time data sharing in search and rescue scenarios. Any hand carried data could have been eliminated. Its AI-driven policy engine manages data movement and makes decisions based on currently available resources, which can change at any time.
Purpose-built for the Edge
AmiShare operates automatically and is transparent to the end-users.
AmiShare is built for devices like drones, satellites, and IoT and is suitable for low SWaP devices, which is usually what you find at the edge.
Data protection and security is everywhere even on foreign owned devices. If a device is lost or stolen, encryption keys can be destroyed rendering the AmiShare encrypted data on the lost device useless.
It is a peer-to-peer data mesh offering options.
The discovery of the lost city in Honduras demonstrates the transformative power of LiDAR in archaeology. However, it also underscores the critical need for robust data management solutions. Kinnami AmiShare, with its focus on data resiliency and edge computing capabilities, offers a compelling solution for overcoming these challenges and ensuring the success of future expeditions and missions of any type.
Please feel free to email me at Patricia.friar at kinnami- dot-com with your thoughts on this blog or anything else data resilience related. Patricia Friar
ii Mapping Archaeological Landscapes from Space, Douglas C. Comer and Michael J. Harrower, Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013, Chapter 15, The Use of LiDAR at the Maya Site of Caracol, Belize, Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase, and John F.
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