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FAIR and Open CHERISH: data and outputs from terrestrial laser scanning and uncrewed aerial vehicle digital photogrammetry surveys of coastal heritage sites in Ireland (Data paper)Open Data

Lesley Davidson, Anthony Corns, Edward Pollard and Robert Shaw

Cite this as: Davidson, L., Corns, A., Pollard, E. and Shaw, R. 2026 FAIR and Open CHERISH: data and outputs from terrestrial laser scanning and uncrewed aerial vehicle digital photogrammetry surveys of coastal heritage sites in Ireland (Data Paper), Internet Archaeology 71. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.12

Summary

This data paper presents the CHERISH (Climate Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) Project collection, deposited in the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI). The collection comprises terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) digital photogrammetry datasets, created to establish baseline 3D records of coastal archaeological sites and monuments threatened by climate change. Spanning five Irish study areas across counties Dublin, Wexford, Waterford and Kerry, the collection documents over 30 sites ranging from prehistoric remains to modern military structures. More than 20,000 digital objects drawn from 20 TLS and 34 UAV surveys have been published to date. All datasets are openly accessible, FAIR-compliant and assigned DOIs, with significant reuse potential for research, heritage management, education, public engagement and more. Beyond their original purpose of documenting heritage at risk, these datasets can be leveraged for a variety of applications, including 3D modelling, change detection analysis, virtual reality, and historic buildings information modelling (HBIM).

  • Google Scholar
  • Keywords: CHERISH, terrestrial laser scanning, UAV digital photogrammetry, FAIR data, open data, coastal heritage, climate change, Ireland
  • Accepted: Sept 2025. Published: June 2026
  • Funding: This article was funded by the Ireland-Wales Territorial Co-operation Programme 2014–2020 and the Heritage Council.

Corresponding author: Lesley DavidsonORCID logo
[email protected]
The Discovery Programme ROR logo

Anthony CornsORCID logo
The Discovery Programme

Edward PollardORCID logo
The Discovery Programme

Robert ShawORCID logo
The Discovery Programme

Full text

Figure 1: Representative structure of the CHERISH Project collection in the DRI.

Figure 2: Interactive web map of the CHERISH Irish sites with links to the relevant sub-collections in the DRI.

Table 1: Terrestrial laser scanning sub-collections including corresponding DOIs. [Download as XLSX]

Table 2: UAV digital photogrammetry sub-collections including corresponding DOIs. [Download as XLSX]

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