Digitally preserving Hukuru Miskiy

作者：Reka Vasszi

A team of surveyors, programmers and heritage professionals are on a mission to unfold and virtually document the secrets behind the construction of the most important heritage site of the Maldives – the Malé Hukuru Miskiy.

The Malé Hukuru Miskiy, meaning the Friday Mosque, is located on the capital island of Malé in the Maldives and currently is included in the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list. To meet UNESCO’s standards and become part of the final World Heritage list requires thedetailed documentationc的清真寺omplex and additional conservation and refurbishment work.

Through centuries, no information or drawings have survived to describe the complex design and construction of the site and its structures, hence, the Department of Heritage of the Maldives asked水Solutions Pvt Ltd. to capture and document the heritage complex in 3D.

水溶液提供马尔代夫的测量，工程和环境咨询服务。该公司致力于介绍新技术和最先进的设备，以改善其测量服务。进行精确的数字调查，这将成为3D documentation and renovation of Hukuru Miskiy, Water Solutions used laser scanning in combination with a total station and theworld’s fastest GNSS RTK rover.

“Hukuru Miskiy is a historically and architecturally significant place; the work carried out by Water Solutions to digitise the mosque is priceless,”马尔代夫艺术，文化和遗产部长Yumna Maumoon说。

Scanning the largest coral stone building in the world

胡kuru Miskiy was built in 1658 under the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar. This mosque complex, the largest and finest coral stone building in the world, is a testimony of the fusion of Indian Ocean seaborne cultures and proof of the unique artistry of the Maldivian people.

The materials and techniques used in building Hukuru Miskiy display a significant stage in ancient construction techniques of Maldivians. For the sake of preserving this cultural heritage and honour foregone Maldivian craftmanship, Water Solutions captured and georeferenced Hukuru Miskiy仅仅几天, using a combination of Leica Geosystems solutions:

• Leica BLK360imaging laser scanner
• Leica Viva TS16robotic total station
• LeicaGS18 TGNSS RTK rover
• LeicaCyclone REGISTER 3603D激光扫描点云注册软件。

“调查是我充满激情的事情。我喜欢户外工作带来的技术和冒险感。Leica Geosystems通过其最新的测量装备一直在创新和改变游戏。详细收集该项目的数据使这是一个令人兴奋的数据,” said Mohamed Affan Shakir, offshore surveyor at Water Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Blending technologies

The heritage site consists of the mosque surrounded by a 17^th-century cemetery and a minaret. The sanctuary complex is still used to conduct the daily prayers, thus the team had limited time to scan the building. Besides, the many small rooms, the detailed carvings on the walls and the narrow loft encumbered the documenting process.

水Solutions required acompact productthat would capture用高分辨率图像快速扫描and can also适合小地方记录细节。考虑到这些挑战，团队选择了BLK360来捕获清真寺，其屋顶结构，墓地和尖塔。

To reference the scanning targets, theTS16robotic total station was used in non-prism mode to directly measure the coordinates of the targets. To georeference the final point cloud, theGS18 TGNSS RTK rover was used to establish control points on site. Finally, the point clouds were transferred and post-processed inCyclone REGISTER 3603D激光扫描点云注册软件。

“We put our trust in Leica Geosystems surveying equipment to collect accurate data and never had any issues with the equipment. It is vital to have a gear that you can rely on when carrying out surveying in any outdoor environment,” said Hamdulla Shakeeb, laser scanning expert at Water Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Pushing the boundaries of heritage preservation

The creation of this digital dataset can help preserve this more than350-year-old heritage siteand the detailed as-built map can be used in the rehabilitation of the roof structure and as baseline map for future restoration. The detailed3D models allow heritage professionals to document, manage, renew or maintain Hukuru Miskiyand qualify the site for the final decision on its inscription on the World Heritage list.

“Using Leica Geosystems equipment has strengthened the confidence with our clients, helping to build long-lasting business relations,”沙基尔说。

Besides the physical preservation of the heritage site,laser scanning enables the development of small-scale 3D models or Virtual Reality applicationsto teach students about Maldivian history, craftsmanship, traditional architecture and ancient construction techniques.

The BLK360, in combination with the total station and GNSS RTK rover, enabled Water Solutions to introduce laser scanning in the Maldives for the first time and showcase the potential of laser scanning to survey and document heritage sites.