Savernake Forest lidar

The Savernake Forest NMP project was the first to use lidar (Light Detection & Ranging) as a primary source for the examination of an area largely covered in trees. Previous work with lidar in co-operation with the Forestry Commission and the Unit for Landscape Modelling – Cambridge University (ULM) in the Forest of Dean had shown the potential for lidar to penetrate canopies in mixed woodland and reveal features on the forest floor. It was hoped that the same would be possible at Savernake and this proved to be so.

The lidar survey was commissioned by the Forestry Commission and flown by ULM in spring 2006 covering the core of the wooded area together with a slight overlap into the surrounding farmland.

The data was provided to the Forestry Commission as processed Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) that represent the ground surface after all vegetation has been removed, so as to reveal features hidden beneath the forest canopy. These files were then further processed by staff within the Forestry Commission who provided image files to the Aerial Survey & Investigation team at English Heritage to interpret alongside the standard aerial photographs. Part of the aim of the project was to assess which features were visible just on the lidar, which just on photographs and which on both; to this end features were plotted from both sources and will be compared at the end of the project before being combined into a single seamless record of the archaeology of the Forest.

A number of sites have been recorded which were previously unknown, together with significant additional detail being added to those few sites previously thought to exist within the Forest. 

For further information on a project or any other aspect of the work of the Aerial Survey team please contact us at: AerialSurvey@english-heritage.org.uk.