Eva Matoušková

A rapid and spatially explicit assessment of structural damage is essential following major disasters, particularly where access to the field is limited and reliable information on damage is scarce. This study evaluates how semantic segmentation architecture, temporal input design, and class formulation influence the detection of collapsed buildings in very high-resolution Pléiades imagery from Jindires, Syria, following the earthquakes of 6 February 2023. The U-Net, SegNet, DeepLabv3+, and fully convolutional network (FCN) models were compared together with a reference random forest model. Methodologically, this study employs a controlled factorial experiment designed to isolate the effects of using either post-event images alone or a combination of pre- and post-event imagery, across both class-based and binary label formulations. Performance was evaluated in a spatially separate validation region using Dice loss, overall accuracy, and pixel-level F1-score, supplemented by location-level evaluation for 102 visually interpreted sites of collapsed buildings. The FCN with multitemporal binary input achieved the highest F1-score at the pixel level (79.1%), followed by the U-Net network with multitemporal three-class input (76.0%) and post-event binary input (74.8%). At the site level, both the U-Net network with post-event binary input and the FCN with multitemporal binary input achieved an F1-score of 73.0%; the U-Net network prioritized recall, while the FCN prioritized precision. The results reveal that the optimal configuration depends heavily on the chosen architecture’s inductive biases. Therefore, these findings highlight the importance of selecting not only the right architecture, but also the appropriate temporal input and class formulation. The results provide reproducible information for screening; although they do not constitute a definitive inventory of damage, they offer a truly independent perspective on the consequences of the earthquake in a region from which verified data cannot be obtained.

Marlstone, widely used in Romanesque and Gothic architecture across Central Europe, is a common component of heritage structures whose post-fire behavior is critical for preservation. This study examines fire-induced changes in marlstone to support post-fire assessment and conservation. Cylindrical specimens (35 mm diameter, 70 mm height) were heated to 620 °C, 870 °C, and 1100 °C, then subjected to uniaxial compression tests to determine residual strength, strain, and Young’s modulus compared with unheated controls. Both natural and quenched cooling regimes were evaluated. Complementary XRF and petrographic analyses identified mineralogical and microstructural changes, while CIELab color measurements quantified temperature-induced visual alterations. Results show temperature-dependent changes in mechanical performance, accompanied by transformations in silica and calcite phases, along with measurable color changes. Variability in response reflects the inherent heterogeneity and anisotropy of marlstone. These findings provide essential insight into the thermal vulnerability of historic marlstone masonry and offer practical guidance for conservation, restoration, and post-fire evaluation of heritage stone structures.

Within the research of historical stone monuments and artefacts we often encounter the question of determining the original material provenance. The answer to this question is often very complicated due to the frequent impossibility of taking samples for petrographic analysis, which in many cases cannot fully identify the place of origin. It is therefore necessary to pay attention to non-destructive survey methods applicable in the field. For the purpose of non-destructive stone provenance determination, the method of reflectance spectroscopy in the near and mid-infrared spectrum (1000–2500 nm) can be used. It is a very simple and effective method that can be implemented in-situ. This method is based on Earth remote sensing methods and is commonly used for the identification of minerals and soils, but it can also be used for the identification of rocks with a certain experimental set-up and a suitably chosen algorithm for the evaluation of the measured data. For each material, a unique spectral reflectance curve can be defined, which expresses the dependence between reflectance percentage and wavelength. The curve can then be compared with known spectra in a pre-prepared database to find the one that is most similar to the one under study and thus identify the material. The applicability of the method was verified, among other things, in the context of a survey of the historic stone masonry of the southern staircase of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic. Obtained results confirm the high potential of this method.

In contemporary times, technology has dramatically simplified the process of documenting cultural heritage objects. This paper aims to illustrate modern methodologies for documenting historical monuments by applying advanced technologies, as these case studies show. Two technologies were used: laser scanning and digital photogrammetry. The first subject of our study was a historically significant 16th-century building located in Jachymov, situated in the North-West region of the Czech Republic. The object was documented by laser scanning (BLK360) and using a standard digital camera Canon Powershot SX230 HS. The laser scanning data were post-processed using Cyclone Register 360 Plus, while photogrammetric point clouds were generated with Agisoft Metashape. The second objects were a building and a sculpture in the historical UNESCO city of Telč; here laser scanning instruments, digital photogrammetry and a new one low-cost ViDoc documentation system were use. Our study is focused on analyzing the sets of point clouds obtained from the data processing, conducted using CloudCompare to draw insights and conclusions. It turns out that the rapid development of techniques and technology makes it possible to use low-cost devices for sufficiently accurate and fast documentation; however, the mentioned ViDOC device can only be used for very close and small objects up to about 5 meters. For the documentation of sculptures, classic close-range photogrammetry is especially appropriate; for the documentation of buildings, laser scanners are suitable; the problem here is with hidden spaces and it is often necessary to use either a platform or a combination with photogrammetry using a drone, especially for the upper parts of the object.

The accuracy of artificial intelligence techniques in estimating air quality is contingent upon a multitude of influencing factors. Unlike our previous study that examined PM2.5 over whole Europe using unbalanced spatial-temporal data, the focus of this study was on estimating PM2.5 specifically over the Czech Republic using more balanced dataset to train and evaluate the model. Moreover, the spatial autocorrelation between the ground-based station was taken into consideration while building the model. The feature importance while developing the Extra Trees model revealed that spatial autocorrelation had greater significance in comparison to commonly used inputs such as elevation and NDVI. We found that R2 of the 10-CV for the new model was 16% higher than the previous one. R2 reached 0.85 when predicting unseen data in new locations. The developed spatiotemporal model was employed to generate comprehensive daily maps covering the entire study area throughout the 2018–2020 years. The temporal analysis showed that the levels of PM2.5 exceeded recommended limits of 20 µg/m3 during the year 2018 in many regions. The eastern part of the country suffered from the highest concentrations especially over Zlín and Moravian-Silesian Regions where in the 2018 winter, the values reached risky average concentrations of 30 µg/m3 and 35 µg/m3 respectively. Air quality improved during the next two years in all regions reaching promising levels in 2020 where almost all regions had average concentrations less than 20 µg/m3. The generated dataset will be available for other future air quality studies.

This contribution focuses on a comparison of modern geomatics technologies for the derivation of growth parameters in forest management. The present text summarizes the results of our measurements over the last five years. As a case project, a mountain spruce forest with planned forest logging was selected. In this locality, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and terrestrial and drone close-range photogrammetry were experimentally used, as was the use of PLS mobile technology (personal laser scanning) and ALS (aerial laser scanning). Results from the data joining, usability, and economics of all technologies for forest management and ecology were discussed. ALS is expensive for small areas and the results were not suitable for a detailed parameter derivation. The RPAS (remotely piloted aircraft systems, known as “drones”) method of data acquisition combines the benefits of close-range and aerial photogrammetry. If the approximate height and number of the trees are known, one can approximately calculate the extracted cubage of wood mass before forest logging. The use of conventional terrestrial close-range photogrammetry and TLS proved to be inappropriate and practically unusable in our case, and also in standard forestry practice after consultation with forestry workers. On the other hand, the use of PLS is very simple and allows you to quickly define ordered parameters and further calculate, for example, the cubic volume of wood stockpiles. The results from our research into forestry show that drones can be used to estimate quantities (wood cubature) and inspect the health status of spruce forests, However, PLS seems, nowadays, to be the best solution in forest management for deriving forest parameters. Our results are mainly oriented to practice and in no way diminish the general research in this area.

Traces of stone working are an integral part of natural stone objects and artefacts of historical value. Each preserved trace does not only carry a value in determining the type of tool used, but also provides information about the historic stonemason’s work process and technology. For this reason, it is desirable to assess the restoration method’s influence on the change in surface topography. The effect of restoration interventions was investigated on five stone artefacts, three of ‘opuka’, one of sandstone and one of limestone, four of which showed historic working traces. For this purpose, selected restoration methods—chemical, mechanical and laser—were used. The examined artefacts were accurately photogrammetrically captured before and after the restoration interventions in order to assess and evaluate changes in the degree of preservation of the traces. Fine results using common tools were achieved in terms of geometric quality, level of detail and the documentation’s predictive power. The models’ geometric accuracy is in the single tenths of mm, as well as the matching of the two datasets (before and after).

Stone monuments maintenance requires the systematic approach which should be based on the cooperation among specialist through more branches, especially from humanities, natural and technical sciences. The main aim of this article is to present the benefit of the cooperation among geologists and civil engineers and share preliminary results of the Czech Ministry of Culture project DG20P02OVV021 “Stone surface topography and its application in stone element restoration field”. Historic stone surfaces often contain stonemasons tool traces as an undoubtable part of historical monument value. The study and protection of the testimony of past is therefore very important. As a part of our project, we are conducting field and laboratory research of historic stone surfaces bearing the original tool traces. The studied area is the Prague urban conservation zone for its stone monuments richness from Romanesque to present days. First, the geological research of the stone masonry surface is conducted in the cooperation with archaeologists. The tool traces are documented, and the state of stone is described. Because of the negative influence of weathering processes on the stone durability, respectively tool traces, we decided to monitor the chosen historical stone surface using the hyperspectral analysis. Based on the analysis results we will be able to better understand the behaviour of stone surface and traces on it during the time.

Historic object analysis and the knowledge of composition play an important role in restoration processes. Based on this information, restoration works are conducted. This paper introduces a non-invasive technique of plaster and mortar material decomposition using reflectance spectroscopy. For this purpose, a NIRQuest512-2,5 from Ocean Optics^®/Ocean Insight^®, is used to create a unique spectral library consisting of various materials. They were carefully selected to include those that were and still are commonly used for a plaster and mortar production. Each material of the spectral library was mapped in detail, verified using scanning electronic microscope (SEM) data, and the results were compared to a previously determined spectral signature. The new spectral library was then tested on 11 unknown plaster and mortar samples and verified using a scanning electronic microscope. It was found that reflectance spectroscopy provides a powerful tool for plaster and mortar material decomposition, although at the moment it cannot fully replace invasive techniques like chemical analyses or other invasive techniques. It provides relevant information that can be used for restoration works.

This article seeks to highlight the vanished and not-so-well-known material culture of historical southern Moroccan Jewry. Jewish settlements could be found practically in the whole of North Africa before the Second World War; however, afterwards, it almost completely disappeared due to the political changes in the region and the establishment of the state of Israel. In southern Morocco, the last Jewish communities were present until the 1950s. Thanks to the interest of the Moroccan authorities, an effort has been made to restore some monuments and keep them as part of the cultural heritage that has attracted foreign tourists for the last few years. As part of the expeditionary research of Charles University and the Czech Technical University in Prague, several documentation projects were carried out in 2020, some of the results of which are described in this paper. Modern automatic methods of geomatics, such as easy to use laser scanning, mobile laser scanning in PLS modification (personal laser scanning), and close-range photogrammetry were used. The results of documentation were processed in the form of 3D models and basic plans, which are used mainly for analyzing residential zones of the Jewish population, the so-called mellahs. In this article, two case projects are described. In both cases, all the mentioned documentation methods were used. The technologies used were analyzed in terms of data collection speed, price, transport, and possible difficulties in use. The PLS technology is relatively new and still under development, such as miniaturising of other measuring instruments. Accuracy testing and usability of above-mentioned technology in cultural heritage documentation real practice is the benefit of this research. Finally, a second aim was to provide information of abandoned cultural places and constructions, which are on the edge of interest and endangered by destruction. It clearly shows that PLS technology is very fast and suitable for these types of objects.