| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT
Multisensor Geophysical Fusion for Improved Sub-surface Imaging
at Camptown Cemetery, Brenham, Texas. (May 2014)
Tate Gregory Meehan
Department of Geology and Geophysics
Texas A&M University
Research Advisor: Dr. Mark E. Everett
Department of Geology and Geophysics
A non-invasive geophysical survey of the historic African American Camptown Cemetery in Brenham, Texas was undertaken to provide the local heritage museum staff with approximate locations, depths, and quantities of marked and unmarked burial sites. We constructed an intuitively understood map describing the uncertainty of our data interpretation. This map consists of three types of zones color-coded according to the confidence we ascribe to the location and depth of a grave site: red for “certain”, yellow for “unclear”, and green for “certainly not”. The completed work helps to define a current "state-of-the-practice" in 3-D historical cemetery geophysical mapping.
Three sub-surface geophysical techniques were used in the mapping of Camptown Cemetery: magnetics (MAG), electromagnetic induction (EMI), and ground penetrating radar (GPR). The approach is to combine, or fuse, the MAG, EMI, and GPR information, rendering a joint interpretation in which the confidence in the fused product is greater than the confidence in the product formed by using any one of the methods working alone.
Our goal was to identify burial sites within the cemetery and, wherever possible, corroborate with existing historical records and death certificates of the city of Brenham. This task is of cultural and historical importance to the families and relatives of those buried in Camptown as they seek to restore the lost African American heritage of their community. | en |
