Historical building floor characterization thanks to GPR and LiDAR integration

The conservation and the preservation of cultural heritage historic buildings necessitate interventions that safeguard their authenticity and structural integrity. Thus, the creation of digital models, often referred to as digital twins, has become a central focus in geomatic surveying, particularly in the fields of architecture and cultural heritage, driven by the development of the Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM). The latter refers to the generation and management of digital representations of an historical building’s physical and functional characteristics throughout its lifecycle. This approach enables professionals across various sectors (e.g., architecture, engineering, construction, and geology) to collaborate and share information from the design through the construction, and the building’s operational phase, enhancing the management and preservation of both contemporary and historical structures. LiDAR systems, often coupled with digital photogrammetry, has emerged as a key remote sensing technology for creating accurate digital models consisting of point clouds composed of millions of points. These techniques are widely used in fields such as civil engineering, architecture, urban planning, geology, and archaeology, allowing for the creation of reliable 3D models useful for documentation, analysis, and conservation. Recently, advancements in SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) laser scanning technology (see Section Methods for more details) have opened the possibility for fast and detailed documentation of architectural spaces, offering a complementary dataset for deeper structural analysis.