3D MODELING OF RIO MIERA WRECK SHIP MERGING OPTICAL AND MULTIBEAM HIGH RESOLUTION POINTS CLOUD

Abstract. 3D reconstruction and virtual reality (VR) technology provide many opportunities for the documentation and dissemination of underwater cultural heritage. Advances in the development of underwater exploration technology have allowed for the first time to accurately reconstruct a complete 3D model of the cargo Rio Miera in the Cantabrian Sea. Sunk on December 6, 1951 after a strong collision, the cargo ship Rio Miera rests on a sandy bottom about 40 meters deep, very close to the Cantabrian coast. Located in an area of strong currents is a classic objective of the region for the most experienced divers. The survey was carried out this summer in R/V Ramon Margalef of the IEO, acquiring acoustic data with multibeam echo sounders and hundreds of images acquired by a remotely piloted underwater vehicle. The campaign is part of the PhotoMARE project - Underwater Photogrammetry for MArine Renewable Energy. This work describes the workflow regarding the survey, images and acoustic data acquisition, data processing, optic 3D point cloud color enhancement and acoustic and optic dataset merging procedure to obtain a complete 3D model of wreck Rio Miera in Cantabrian Sea. Through this project, Spanish Institute of Oceanography – IEO have advanced – combining acoustic and image methods - in the generation of 3D models of archaeological sites and submerged structures.