Single-image rectification technique in forensic science

Many researchers have been working in Spain to document the communal graves of those assassinated during the Spanish Civil War. This article shows the results obtained with two low-cost photogrammetric techniques for the basic documentation of forensic studies. These low-cost techniques are based on single-image rectification and the correction of the original photo displacement due to the projection and perspective distortions introduced by the lens of the camera. The capability of image rectification is tested in an excavation in the village of Loma de Montija (Burgos, Spain). The results of both techniques are compared with the more accurate data obtained from a laser scanner system RIEGL LMS-Z390i to evaluate the error in the lengths. The first technique uses a camera situated on a triangle-shaped pole at a height of 5 m and the second positions the camera over the grave using a linearly actuated device. The first technique shows measurement errors less than 6%, whereas the second shows greater errors (between 8% and 14%) owing to the positioning of the carbon-fiber cross on an uneven surface.