Laser Scanners Technology Applications - The Case of Church of Holy Trinity and Figure of Panagia Pafsolipi, Heybeliada, Turkey

Laser scanning is a method commonly used to geometric documentation of monuments and historical landmarks. Laser scanners, as surveying instruments, combine principals of the sciences of topography and photogrammetry. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate a group of data collected using a laser scanner, concerning the attribution of geometry while drawing. The evaluation was accomplished comparing this group to another group of data, which was used as the reference data and was measured using a total station. Two objects of study were used and surveyed. The Greek Orthodox Church which is dedicated to Holy Trinity and is located in Heybeliada of Turkey and a famous figure of Holy Mother holding Jesus, known as Panagia Pafsolipi, which is placed at the interior of the Church. The comparison of the drawings that were exported using both data was satisfying. The divergence that was noticed is of the size of some millimeters. Such differences are acceptable for the most cases of architectural and archaeological documentation. This means that laser scanning, except from the fact that is a fast and efficient way of documentation, also provides products at level of accuracy that is close to the accuracy of the traditional documentation methods.