STRANDED AND SANDED IN: DRONE MOUNTED AERIAL MAGNETOMETER IDENTIFICATION OF BURIED AND SUBMERGED SHIPWRECKS ON THE NEW JERSEY COAST

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2022

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Abstract

An estimated 3,000 to 7,000 shipwrecks have occurred off the coast of New Jersey, with hundreds occurring within the littoral zone. These sites have subsequently been buried by natural sand movement and beach replenishment projects or exist in a partially buried state within the surf zone. While terrestrial and vessel-mounted magnetometer surveys are not feasible in this shallow environment, the development of ultra-sensitive drone and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based remote sensing platforms has provided the potential ability to rapidly identify these cultural materials for compliance and planning of weather and climate change resiliency projects. This thesis proves the capabilities of a MAGPi ML-4 atomic magnetometer, initially designed to detect small, buried munitions and unexploded ordinance of approximately eight pounds of ferrous material, to accurately and rapidly identify multiple of types of shipwrecks in the high energy coastal environment where traditional survey methods are precluded when coupled with a Matrice 600 Pro 6-rotor drone. This thesis also proved the ability for this setup to effectively bridge the gap between terrestrial and underwater archaeological surveys as presented in the littoral zone, while producing data of sufficient quality to promote the development of the theoretical understanding of the relationship between shipwrecks and the larger maritime cultural landscape. Three shipwrecks were used for data collection, representing vessels comprised of iron, wood, and steel. Additional measurements of individual ferromagnetic objects commonly found in association with shipwreck archaeological sites were taken and analyzed using predictive modeling based on magnetic detectability algorithms created from prior remote sensing surveys to determine what material can be detected using the magnetometer and UAV platform. The results of this thesis confirm the predicted capabilities of the equipment used and provides detection ranges to establish a framework to future research, including a determination on the minimum amount of wooden hull material with iron fasteners required to exist in an archaeological context to be detectable.

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