Cranham Local History Society Lidar Survey Project

The local history society has successfully applied for a large grant to carry out a Lidar Survey of the Parish and surrounding area. This will comprise an area of about 100 sq km, running from Leckhampton Hill Fort to Haresfield Beacon and over to Miserden. The funding has come from the Cotswold Conservation Board, Local History Societies and Trusts, Crickley Hill Sites Warden and personal donations.

Lidar is a new aerial survey method that can detect the remains of structures hidden underneath trees. The Lidar instrument is mounted in an aircraft which flies over the area to be surveyed. A scanning laser is reflected off the ground to map the area underneath the flight path. The first reflection maps the tree tops and the last reflection maps the ground surface under the trees. We are planning to make a measurement is each square meter of the parish with a vertical resolution of 150mm. We also plan to collect vertical colour photography of the entire area at the same time. This data will be available as an interactive 3d landscape computer model and ascii x,y,z gridded data.

This is the first survey of this type carried out by a local history society. The survey results will be available to anyone who is interested in it for non commercial purposes. We need help in field walking and carrying out ground surveys to confirm the aerial survey plus we need help in creating a website about the project.

The survey takes place January 2009 when leaf cover is at its minimum. Future updates of the progress of this project will be found on:- www.cranhamsurvey.org.uk The web site is currently under construction.

If you are interested in helping with the survey please contact either myself on 01452 812313 will@bfseng.co.uk or Martin Whitaker 01452 864723