Remote Sensing
The ISAAC Research Centre has a range of equipment which is suitable for ground-based and airborne sensing, enabling remote analysis at a distance of several metres. This removes the need for scaffolding to lift the mobile instruments and operators to the surface being analysed, making analysis quicker, safer and cheaper. The results obtained are more accurate, as the instrumentation is operated from a stable location, and can analyse deposits which would otherwise be inaccessible.
Our equipment has been used for industrial applications, including detection of corrosion on bridges and other metal structures, and a recent collaboration with the National Grid used remote analysis to monitor the condition of UK electrical transmission assets.
In a heritage context, our remote sensing equipment has been used for analysis of large scale wall paintings in cave structures, decorated ceilings in churches and salt mapping in an English Heritage property. A particularly novel use of our remote SWIR Hyperspectral Imaging system was for condition assessment of an entire collection of enamels at the British Museum, without moving the objects from display.
Applications of Remote Sensing
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Pigment identification on large decorated surfaces
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Data collection where access is difficult and must be done at a distance
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Condition assessment of large structures and large collections
isaac instrumentation
Airborne Remote Analysis Systems
Spectral Imaging
System
UAV-based VIS/NIR Hyperspectral Imaging + LIDAR system
(UAV LIDAR-HSI)
Developer
Headwall
Spectral Range
400 nm – 1000 nm
Spectral Resolution
2.2 nm
Working
Distance
< 10 m
Service
MOLAB
Ground- based Remote Analysis Systems
Remote Raman Spectroscopy
System
Remote Raman
Developer
ISAAC Lab
Excitation Wavelength
785nm
Spectral Range (Raman Shift)
90 – 3050 cm-1
Spot Size
1mm
Working
Distance
3m – 20 m
Service
MOLAB/
FIXLAB
Remote Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)
System
Remote LIBS
Developer
ISAAC Lab
Spectral Range
200 nm – 945 nm
Irradiation Central Wavelength
1064 nm
Spot Size
1-1.5 mm
Working
Distance
3 m – 15 m
Service
MOLAB
Remote Spectral Imaging
System
Remote VIS-NIR Spectral Imaging
Remote VIS-NIR Hyperspectral Imaging
Remote SWIR Hyperspectral Imaging
Developer
ISAAC Lab
ISAAC Lab
ISAAC Lab
Spectral Range
400 nm – 850 nm
400 – 1000 nm
930 – 2500 nm
Spectral Resolution
50 nm
2.8 nm
5.5 nm
Maximum Spatial Resolution
60 µrad
30 µrad
45 µrad
Working
Distance
< 1.5 m
< 3.5 m
< 3.5 m
Service
MOLAB/
FIXLAB
MOLAB/
FIXLAB
MOLAB/
FIXLAB
Remote Laser- induced Fluorescence Spectral Imaging
System
Remote LIF
Spectral Imaging
Remote LIF Spectral Imaging
Developer
ISAAC Lab
ISAAC Lab
Spectral Range
400 nm – 1000 nm
400 nm – 1000 nm
Irradiation Central Wavelength
355 nm
532 nm
Spectral Resolution
2.8 nm
2.8 nm
Maximum Spatial Resolution
30 µrad
30 µrad
Service
MOLAB/
FIXLAB
MOLAB/
FIXLAB
selected publications
This is a selection of our Remote Sensing publications. Our full publication list can be found here.
Kogou, S., Li, Y., Cheung, S., Han, N., Liggins, F., Shahtahmassebi, G., Thickett, D. and Liang, H. 2025 Ground-Based Remote Sensing and Machine Learning for in Situ and Noninvasive Monitoring and Identification of Salts and Moisture in Historic Buildings. Analytical Chemistry 2025 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c05581
Li, Y., Suzuki, A., Cheung, C.S., Kogou, S. & Liang, H., 2024. Ground-Based Remote Standoff Laser Spectroscopies and Reflectance Spectral Imaging for Multimodal Analysis of Wall Painting Stratigraphy. Analytical Chemistry, 96, 47, 18907-18915 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c05264
Li, Y., Suzuki, A., Cheung, C., Gu, Y., Kogou, S. & Liang, H., 2022. A Study of Potential Laser-Induced Degradation in Remote Standoff Raman Spectroscopy for Wall Paintings. The European Physics Journal Plus, 137, 1102. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-03305-2
Kogou, S., Shahtahmassebi, G., Lucian, A., Liang, H., Shui, B., Zhang, W., Su, B., and Van Schaik, S., 2020. From Remote Sensing and Machine Learning to the History of the Silk Road: Large Scale Material Identification on Wall Paintings. Scientific Report 10, 19312, https://doi.org/10.1038/S41598-020-76457-9
Li, Y., Cheung C. S., Kogou, S., Liggins, F., and Liang, H., 2019. Standoff Raman Spectroscopy for Architectural Interiors from 3-15m Distances. Optics Express, 27(22), 31338-31347.
Liang, H., Lucian, A., Lange, R., Cheung, C.S. and Su, B., 2014. Remote Spectral Imaging with Simultaneous Extraction of 3d Topography for Historical Wall Paintings. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 95, pp. 13-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2014.05.011