Faroe Islands rephotography image registration dataset

Axel Schaffland; Julius Schöning

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2023.108979

Faroe Islands rephotography image registration dataset

Data Brief. 2023 Feb 13:47:108979. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.108979. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Axel Schaffland¹, Julius Schöning²

Affiliations

¹ Osnabrück University, Postfach 44 69, Osnabrück 49069, Germany.
² Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, Albrechtstr. 30, Osnabrück 49076, Germany.

Abstract

Over 200 georeferenced registered rephotographic compilations of the Faroe Islands are provided in this dataset. The position of each compilation is georeferenced and thus locatable on a map. Each compilation consists of a historical and a corresponding contemporary image showing the same scene. With steady object features, these two images of the same geolocation are aligned pixel accurately. In the summer of 2022, all contemporary images were photographed by A. Schaffland, while historical images were retrieved from the National Museum of Denmark collections. Images show Faroese landscape and cultural heritage sites, focusing on relevant areas when the historical images were taken, e.g., Kirkjubøur, Tórshavn, and Saksun. Historic images date from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. The historical images were taken by scientists, surveyors, archaeologists, and painters. All historical images are in the public domain, have no known rights, or are shared under a CC license. The contemporary images by A. Schaffland are released under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. The dataset is organized as a GIS project. Historic images, not already georeferenced, were referenced with street view services. All historical images were added to the GIS database, containing camera position, viewing direction, etc. Each compilation can be displayed as an arrow from the camera position along the view direction on a map. Contemporary images were registered to historical images using a specialized tool. None or only a suboptimal rephotograph could be taken for some historical images. These historical images are still added to the database together with all other original images, providing additional data for improvements in rephotography methods in the upcoming years. The resulting image pairs can be used in image registration, landscape change, urban development, and cultural heritage research. Further, the database can be used for public engagement in heritage and as a benchmark for further rephotography and time-series projects.

Keywords: Cultural heritage; Faroes; Landscape change; Multitemporal image registration; Rephotography; Then and now.