Light detection and ranging (lidar) in the Witham Valley, Lincolnshire: an assessment of new remote sensing techniques

Airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) allows the identification and accurate recording of upstanding features on the ground to sub-metre accuracy. The technique has previously been tested in areas of known high monument density such as the Stonehenge World Heritage Site with exciting results, but it is also proving useful in less spectacular areas. This paper will look at some recent work carried out by the Aerial Survey Team at English Heritage concentrating on an area in the Witham Valley, east of Lincoln in the east of England. The area has recently been covered by an archaeological aerial survey project as part of the National Mapping Programme; examining the lidar data for the same area has revealed some interesting results. Lidar clearly has potential for recording certain site types and especially in highlighting relationships between sites in the broader landscape, but there are limitations with the standard off the shelf data due to issues of spatial resolution. The study also makes clear the importance of not using lidar data alone, but ensuring that it is part of an examination of all readily available sources. Copyright (c) 2006 English Heritage. NMR.