Multisensor Data Fusion for Cultural Heritage Assets Monitoring and Preventive Conservation

This paper shows the first phase of an ongoing interdisciplinary research project aimed at codifying procedures for the control and non-destructive analysis of the conservation status of CH artefacts to guide preventive preservation actions. It specifically explains the results of an experiment aimed at defining the procedural phases of semantic-informative enrichment of a digital architectural model where the morpho-metric components acquired with instrumental survey techniques are linked with cognitive and technical aspects (microclimatic, material, and geometric deviation data), with the aim of making this model a support for the simulation of scenarios connected to preventive preservation programmes. The research was carried out on the church of San Michele Arcangelo in Padula, affected by plaster detachment from the frescoes on the intrados of the vaulted systems. The work was conceived to support a mainly qualitative assessment regarding a possible relationship between micro-environmental variations and visually perceived degradation phenomena to provide a first indication of the conservation status of the investigated surfaces. The analyses were conducted through algorithms that, as such, are repeatable and objective. In addition, these processes, as they were applied to the models derived from the architectural survey, made it possible to make the most of these outputs. Therefore, by combining the algorithmic manipulation of the digital representations with the necessary critical interpretation of the data by the specialist, it was possible to address some actions of direct intervention and guide the most appropriate choices for subsequent in-depth diagnostics, more targeted, reducing the damage to the historical heritage.