Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Consortium
DLR Project Ma
“The “ATHENA” project aims to establish a Center of Excellence in the field of Remote
Sensing for Cultural Heritage. This center is being instead of established by twinning the
existing Remote Sensing and Geo-environment Research Laboratory at the Cyprus University
of Technology (CUT) with internationally-leading counterparts from other Member States of
the EU, i.e. the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and the German Aerospace Agency
(DLR). The close collaboration between CUT and other experts in the field of Remote Sensing
for Cultural Heritage in the EU is forming form a synergic network that permits networking,
transfer of knowledge and training of the existing personnel of CUT.”
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Contents
Training Activities 8
Dissemination 12
Conference Participation 22
Meetings 29
Twinning will:
The Idea:
Cultural Heritage sector has always been facing a number of challenges which have been
increased by the European financial crisis (e.g. decrease of public budgets, urbanisation, and
technological changes).
Within this context, Cultural Heritage professionals are seeking to improve currently used
methodologies, to better understand, protect and valorise the common European past and
common identity.
“ATHENA aims to improve and expand the capabilities of collaboration between low-
performing and leading institutions, involving professionals dealing with remote sensing
technologies for the support of the Cultural Heritage sector”.
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ATHENA Centre:
The ATHENA Centre is devoted to the development, introduction and systematic use of
advanced remote sensing science and technologies in the field of archaeology and Cultural
Heritage.
ATHENA is exploiting the current capabilities of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT),
both in terms of capacity as well as of equipment, performing advance research and support to
the Cultural Heritage sector.
The Centre aims to be in close collaboration with both national as well international research
institutes and stakeholders, providing integrated remote sensing services and solutions in the
area of the Eastern Mediterranean.
The new perspectives on archaeological and cultural heritage in the region will position
ATHENA as a centre of knowledge and a standard lab in the field of Remote Sensing
Archaeology.
Consortium:
www.cut.ac.cy
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IMAA and IBAM are two institutes of CNR with Laboratories specialized in the application
of Satellite Remote Sensing, LiDAR, GIS, Virtual reality, non-invasive tests for Archaeological
research, landscape, and Cultural Heritage valorization and conservation.
www.cnr.it
DLR Project M
www.dlr.de
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Training Activities
ATHENA project includes an intense training program targeting the knowledge transfer
amongst the participating partners of the project and beyond, depending on the nature of
each activity. The up to date accomplished training activities of the second year are hereunder
briefly described.
The second workshop of the ATHENA project, entitled “Remote sensing for Cultural Heritage
beyond Europe”, has been successfully accomplished during the RSCy2017 International Confer-
ence in Cyprus. The workshop attracted several scientists dealing both with remote sensing and
Cultural Heritage protection, while interesting examples from areas beyond Europe have been
presented.
The workshop concluded with a discussion of the use, potential and specificities of remote sens-
ing techniques for the study of human past and management of cultural heritage in the various
regions of the world.
www.cyprusremotesensing.com/rscy2017/Workshop
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z= 1.54m z= 1.35m
z= 1m z= 0.7m
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The 2nd Summer School of the ATHENA project was hosted at the Cyprus University of
Technology premises between 12-15 June, 2017. The topic of the summer school was “Special
issues of Optical Remote Sensing” and more specifically hyperspectral analysis and spectral
un-mixing. The lectures and hands-on workshop on Mat lab environment have been prepared
by Dr. Daniele Cerra from DLR.
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The third virtual training for “Archaeological looting: Ancient problems and New approaches
based on Remote Sensing” from CNR, was successfully completed in the premises of Cyprus
University of Technology at the Remote Sensing and Geoenviroment Lab of the Eratosthenes
Research Centre.
The training activities, focused on the use of remote sensing for looting monitoring, carried out
by Dr. Rosa Lasaponara and Nicola Masini on September 1st,2017 (The virtual training was
converted into an in situ training).
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Dissemination
ATHENA briefing
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On the 16th of November 2016, ATHENA participated in the Celebration of the annual GIS DAY.
The event took place at the Bank of Cyprus Central Offices in Nicosia and it organized by the
Cyprus Geographical Association & Cyprus Geography Teachers Association.
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The first e-Newsletter of ATHENA released. It contained all the activities carried out during the
1st year of the ATHENA project.
(https://athena2020.eu/files/index.php/s/hjwBcnAUVmBZuGx#pdfviewer)
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ATHENA supports the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage (JPI CH) workshop
“Enjoyment of cultural heritage by means of new and old media”.
The Workshop organized by the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus and the Cyprus
University of Technology.
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The role of remote sensing in Cultural Heritage. Emphasis magazine is distributed in more than
6000 hard copies every month in Paphos–Cyprus.
(https://issuu.com/enigmacyprus/docs/emphasis)
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Presentation of the ‘ATHENA’ by the PhD Candidate Mr Andreas Christofe at Sheffield Uni-
versity during the final event of the ‘ANAGENNISISIS’ FP-7 project in which CUT participates.
During the meeting Mr Andreas Christofe discussed the opportunities for future collaborations
between ANAGENNISISIS’ partners and the Eratosthenes Research Centre.
ATHENA project supports the Summer School Course “CULTURAL HERITAGE AND BUILT
ENVIRONMENT SURVEYING, MODELLING AND MONITORING” held at Politecnico di
Milano between June 20-23/2017.
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The topic of this year summer school was “Multi-Temporal, Multi-Source, Multi-Scale Remote
Sensing Data for Built Environment, Cultural Heritage and Archaeology”
During the summer school Dr. Athos Agapiou from CUT and Dr. Daniele Cerra from DLR
presented and provided hands on experience in the participants.
The summer school was organized by Prof. R. Brumana; Ass. Prof. B. Cuca and Ass. Prof. L.
Barazzetti.
ATHENA project presented to high school students during the summer school organized by the
Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Cyprus University of Technology, between 26
and 30 of June 2017.
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Athena was presented at the Researcher’s Night which was coordinated by Eratosthenes
Research Centre/Excelsior.
During this event the public had the opportunity to take part in research activities under the
guidance of the researchers, and at the same time to be informed for various scientific issues,
within a festive atmosphere, promoting the idea that researchers are “simple people”, whose
inclination is scientific curiosity and passion for research.
The main objective of the events organized by the local Research Promotion Foundation of
Cyprus (www.research.org.cy) was to strengthen the public image of researchers and of the
important role that they play within society, and at the same time to encourage young people to
follow professional careers in research.
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Conference Participation
Athena project was presented at the 37th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of En-
vironment (ISRSE-37) that took place in Tshwane, South Africa 8 to 12 May 2017. The theme of
the conference was “Earth Observation for Development and Adaptation to a Changing World”.
http://isrse37.org/
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Athena activities were presented at the International Symposium on the Conservation of Mon-
uments in the Mediterranean Basin (MONUBASIN). The symposium focused in the areas of
conservation and restoration of monuments, to present their work and exchange ideas/experi-
ences for over 28 years.
The event was organized by the National Technical University of Athens and took place from
20 to 22 of September 2017 following previous symposia at Bari (1989), Geneva (1991), Venice
(1994), Rhodes (1997), Seville (2000), Lisbon (2004), Orléans (2007), Patras (2010) and Ankara
(2014).
http://conference2017.monubasin.com/
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ATHENA also presented as a part of the oral presentation of the EXCELSIOR Teaming Project
www.excelsior2020.eu by Prof. D.G.Hadjimitsis and PhD candidate Andreas Christofe.
http://ffsig2017.maich.gr/
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Conferences/ Posters
Lysandrou V., Agapiou A., Kyriakides N., Hadjimitsis D. G., From space to ground. Digital
techniques for the investigation of monuments and sites, 10th MONUBASIN “Natural
and Anthropogenic Hazards and Sustainable Preservation”, 20 to 22 of September
2017, Athens, Greece.
Cerra D., Agapiou A., Plank S., Lysandrou V., Tian J., Schreier G., From Detection of
Underground Archaeological Relics to Monitoring of World Heritage Sites in Danger:
Ongoing Research Activities in the Frame of the ATHENA Twinning Project, 37th
International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, ISRSE 2017, 8-12
May 2017, South Africa.
Agapiou A., Exploitation of big data cloud infrastructures for earth observation cultural
heritage applications: mapping the land use changes patterns in the vicinity of “the
Great Pyramid at Giza”, Fifth International Conference on Remote Sensing and
Geoformation of Environment 20-23 March, 2017–Cyprus.
Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Satellite based investigation for detection of ancient tombs’
looting in Cyprus, 2nd Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in
Archaeology (CAA GR) 2016, Athens, Greece 20-21 December 2016.
Hadjimitsis D., Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Themistocleous K., Lasaponara R., Masini N.,
Krauss T., Cerra D., Gessner U., Schreier G., Establishing a remote sensing science
center in Cyprus: first year of activities of ATHENA project, 6th International Euro-
Mediterranean Conference (EuroMed 2016), 31 Oct. – 05 November 2016, Nicosia,
Cyprus.
Cuca B., Agapiou A., Hadjimitsis D.G., Observing the changes in landscape around the
historical capital of Nicosia using multi-spectral multi-temporal datasets, 6th International
Euro-Mediterranean Conference (EuroMed 2016), 31 Oct.–05 November 2016,
Nicosia, Cyprus.
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Agapiou A., Orthogonal equations for the detection of archaeological traces de-mystified,
Fourth International Conference on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation of the
Environment (RSCy2016), 4-8 April, 2016, Cyprus.
Kyriakides N., Lysandrou V., Agapiou A., Illampas R., Correlating damage condition
with historical seismic activity in underground sepulchral monuments of Cyprus,
Fourth International Conference on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation
of the Environment (RSCy2016), 4-8 April, 2016, Cyprus.
Cerra D., Tian J., Lysandrou V., Plank S., Automatic damage detection for sensitive
cultural heritage sites, XXIII ISPRS Congress 2016, 12-19 July, 2016, Prague.
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Meetings
The first annual meeting of ATHENA project has been successfully accomplished during the
EuroMED 2016 international conference that took place in Nicosia, Cyprus. ATHENA consor-
tium partners placed particular focus on the work plan for 2017 and discussed amongst other
forthcoming training and knowledge transfer activities. Decisions regarding the deliverables and
future communication for promoting the ATHENA vision have been also made.
Interim review meeting of the ATHENA project took place on 24th of May at CUT premises.
During the meeting the overall progress of the first 15 months (i.e. December 2015 – February
2017) was presented along with the overall achievements including training and dissemination
activities.
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Posters–Abstracts
Kouhartsiouk D., Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Themistocleous K., Nisantzi A., Hadjimitsis D. G.,
Lasaponara R., Masini N., Brcic R., Eineder M., Krauss T., Cerra D., Gessner U., Schreier
G., Active Satellite Sensors for the needs of Cultural Heritage: Introducing SAR applications
in Cyprus through ATHENA project, Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 19, EGU2017,
Vienna, Austria.
Agapiou Α., Lysnadrou V., Zorpas E., Hadjimitsis D.G., 2017. Coastal archaeological sites
and coastline changes: a multi-temporal GIS study based on aerial and satellite imageries
in Cyprus, Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 19, EGU2017, Vienna, Austria.
Lysandrou V., Agapiou A., Elaborating latent and apparent knowledge configurations in
Hellenistic-and Roman landscape of Cyprus, 2nd Computer Applications and Quantitative
Methods in Archaeology (CAA GR) 2016, Athens, Greece 20-21 December 2016.
Cuca B., Agapiou A., Hadjimitsis D. G., Urban landscapes: temporal changes around
the historical capital of Nicosia, Aerial Archaeology Research Group (AARG) annual
meeting, Pilsen, Czech Republic, 7-9, September, 2016.
Hadjimitsis D. G., Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Branka C., Themistocleous K., Nisantzi A.,
Lasaponara R., Masini N., Krauss T., Cerra D., Gessner U., Schreier G., ATHENA: Center
of Excellence in Cyprus in the Field of Remote Sensing for Cultural Heritage in the Areas
of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, 6th GEOBIA 2016, 14-16 September, 2016/
Enschede, The Netherlands.
Hadjimitsis D. G., Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Branka C., Themistocleous K., Lasaponara R.,
Masini N., Krauss T., Cerra D., Gessner U., Schreier G., ATHENA: Remote Sensing Science
Center for Cultural Heritage in Cyprus. European Geosciences Union – EGU, General
Assembly 2016, 17–22 April 2016, Vienna, Austria.
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Hadjimitsis D. G., Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Branka C., Themistocleous K., Nisantzi A.,
Lasaponara R., Masini N., Krauss T., Cerra D., Gessner U., Schreier G., Establishment
of a center of excellence in the field of remote sensing for cultural heritage at the Cyprus
university of technology: the ‘ATHENA’ Horizon 2020 Twinning project, Fourth International
Conference on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation of the Environment (RSCy2016),
4-8 April, 2016, Cyprus.
Hadjimitsis D. G., Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Themistocleous K., Branka C., Nisantzi A.,
Lasaponara R., Masini N., Krauss T., Cerra D., Gessner U., Schreier G., Educational
activities of remote sensing archaeology (Conference Presentation), Proc. SPIE 10005,
Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications VII, 100050L
(December 9, 2016); doi:10.1117/12.2242109; http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2242109
Kouhartsiouk D., Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Themistocleous K., Nisantzi A., Hadjimitsis D.
G., Lasaponara R., Masini N., Krauss T., Cerra D., Gessner U., Exploring the Importance
of Monitoring the Fire Risk Index in the vicinity of Cultural Heritage Sites in Cyprus using
Sentinel Remote Sensing data, 11th EARSeL Workshop, 25-27 September 2017 Chania,
Crete.
Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Themistocleous, K.; Kouhartsiouk D., Nisantzi A., Cerra D.,
Gessner U., Krauss T., Shreier G., Lasaponara R., Masini N., Hadjimitsis D. G.,
Copernicus and Cultural Heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean under the ‘ATHENA’
Project, RSPSoc 2017 Annual Conference Earth & Planets: making the most of our
observations, 5th–8th September 2017, Imperial College London, UK.
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Journals–Publications
Journal publications in scientific peer reviewed international journals. For further dissemina-
tion of the research outcomes of the projects, these articles have been published under an
open access status.
Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Sarris A., Papadopoulos N., Hadjimitsis D. G., 2017, Fusion of
satellite multispectral images based on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data for the
investigation of buried concealed archaeological remains, Geosciences, 2017, 7(2), 40;
doi:10.3390/geosciences7020040
Lysandrou V., Agapiou A., 2017, Advancing archaeological research through remote sensing: the
example of Tylliria area in Cyprus, Global Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology, 1(1).
Agapiou A., 2016, Remote Sensing Heritage in a petabyte-scale: Satellite Data and
Heritage Earth Engine© applications, International Journal of Digital Earth,
10.1080/17538947.2016.1250829.
Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Lasaponara R., Masini N., Hadjimitsis D. G., 2016, Study of
the variations of archaeological marks at Neolithic site of Lucera, Italy using multispectral
high resolution datasets, Remote Sensing, 8(9), 723; doi:10.3390/rs8090723.
Lysandrou V., Cerra D., Agapiou A., Charalambous E., Hadjimitsis D. G., 2016, Towards
a spectral library of Roman to Early Christian Cypriot floor mosaics, Journal of Archaeo
logical Science: Reports, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.06.029
Agapiou A., 2016, Orthogonal equations for the detection of archaeological traces de-mysti
fied, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.07.004
Cerra, D.; Plank, S.; Lysandrou, V.Tian, J. Cultural Heritage Sites in Danger-Towards Automatic
Damage Detection from Space. Remote Sens. 2016, 8, 781.
Kyriakides N., Lysandrou V., Agapiou A., Illampas Ρ., Charalambous E., 2016, Correlating
damage condition with historical seismic activity in underground sepulchral monuments
of Cyprus, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.07.007.
Agapiou, A.; Lysandrou, V.; Hadjimitsis, D.G. Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting
Detection. Geosciences 2017, 7, 98.
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