Paloma Merello

Microclimate monitoring of Ariadne’s house (Pompeii, Italy) for preventive conservation of fresco paintings

BackgroundAriadne’s house, located at the city center of ancient Pompeii, is of great archaeological value due to the fresco paintings decorating several rooms. In order to assess the risks for long-term conservation affecting the valuable mural paintings, 26 temperature data-loggers and 26 relative humidity data-loggers were located in four rooms of the house for the monitoring of ambient conditions.ResultsData recorded during 372 days were analyzed by means of graphical descriptive methods and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results revealed an effect of the roof type and number of walls of the room. Excessive temperatures were observed during the summer in rooms covered with transparent roofs, and corrective actions were taken. Moreover, higher humidity values were recorded by sensors on the floor level.ConclusionsThe present work provides guidelines about the type, number, calibration and position of thermohygrometric sensors recommended for the microclimate monitoring of mural paintings in outdoor or semi-confined environments.

Diagnosis of abnormal patterns in multivariate microclimate monitoring: a case study of an open-air archaeological site in Pompeii (Italy).

Chemometrics has been applied successfully since the 1990s for the multivariate statistical control of industrial processes. A new area of interest for these tools is the microclimatic monitoring of cultural heritage. Sensors record climatic parameters over time and statistical data analysis is performed to obtain valuable information for preventive conservation. A case study of an open-air archaeological site is presented here. A set of 26 temperature and relative humidity data-loggers was installed in four rooms of Ariadnes house (Pompeii). If climatic values are recorded versus time at different positions, the resulting data structure is equivalent to records of physical parameters registered at several points of a continuous chemical process. However, there is an important difference in this case: continuous processes are controlled to reach a steady state, whilst open-air sites undergo tremendous fluctuations. Although data from continuous processes are usually column-centred prior to applying principal components analysis, it turned out that another pre-treatment (row-centred data) was more convenient for the interpretation of components and to identify abnormal patterns. The detection of typical trajectories was more straightforward by dividing the whole monitored period into several sub-periods, because the marked climatic fluctuations throughout the year affect the correlation structures. The proposed statistical methodology is of interest for the microclimatic monitoring of cultural heritage, particularly in the case of open-air or semi-confined archaeological sites.

Study of the effect of the strategy of heating on the mudejar church of santa maria in ateca (Spain) for preventive conservation of the altarpiece surroundings

The mudéjar church of Santa María (Ateca) is valuable for its architecture and the altarpiece contained inside. Ateca is a village with continental climate characterized by cold winters and hot summers. In this paper we are interested in analysing the effect of temperature and relative humidity (RH) changes produced by the heating system on the altarpiece. Therefore, a monitoring system of 15 temperature and 15 relative humidity sensors was installed with a recording frequency of a data point per minute. The main contribution of this paper is the quantitative study of the effect of the heating system on the thermo-hygrometric parameters using statistical techniques such as ANOVA, mean daily trajectories or bivariate plots, and the proposal of an innovative dynamic contour plot. As results, the heating system produces a substantial increase (decrease) of temperature (RH) causing an hourly variation of these physical parameters detrimental to the conservation of the altarpiece, especially in its higher areas.

Multivariate Thermo-Hygrometric Characterisation of the Archaeological Site of Plaza de l'Almoina (Valencia, Spain) for Preventive Conservation

Preventive conservation requires monitoring and control of the parameters involved in the deterioration process, mainly temperature and relative humidity. It is important to characterise an archaeological site prior to carrying out comparative studies in the future for preventive conservation, either by regular studies to verify whether the conditions are constant, or occasional ones when the boundary conditions are altered. There are numerous covered archaeological sites, but few preventive conservation works that give special attention to the type of cover installed. In particular, there is no background of microclimatic studies in sites that are in the ground and, as in the Plaza de l’Almoina (Valencia, Spain), are buried and partially covered by a transparent roof. A large effect of the transparent cover was found by the sensors located below this area, with substantial increases in temperature and a decrease in the relative humidity during the day. Surrounding zones also have values above the recommended temperature values. On the other hand, the influence of a buried water drainage line near the site is notable, causing an increase in relative humidity levels in the surrounding areas. Multivariate statistical analyses enabled us to characterise the microclimate of the archaeological site, allowing future testing to determine whether the conservation conditions have been altered.

Design of a Hybrid (Wired/Wireless) Acquisition Data System for Monitoring of Cultural Heritage Physical Parameters in Smart Cities

Preventive conservation represents a working method and combination of techniques which helps in determining and controlling the deterioration process of cultural heritage in order to take the necessary actions before it occurs. It is acknowledged as important, both in terms of preserving and also reducing the cost of future conservation measures. Therefore, long-term monitoring of physical parameters influencing cultural heritage is necessary. In the context of Smart Cities, monitoring of cultural heritage is of interest in order to perform future comparative studies and load information into the cloud that will be useful for the conservation of other heritage sites. In this paper the development of an economical and appropriate acquisition data system combining wired and wireless communication, as well as third party hardware for increased versatility, is presented. The device allows monitoring a complex network of points with high sampling frequency, with wired sensors in a 1-wire bus and a wireless centralized system recording data for monitoring of physical parameters, as well as the future possibility of attaching an alarm system or sending data over the Internet. This has been possible with the development of three board’s designs and more than 5000 algorithm lines. System tests have shown an adequate system operation.

Software for storage and management of microclimatic data for preventive conservation of cultural heritage.

Cultural Heritage preventive conservation requires the monitoring of the parameters involved in the process of deterioration of artworks. Thus, both long-term monitoring of the environmental parameters as well as further analysis of the recorded data are necessary. The long-term monitoring at frequencies higher than 1 data point/day generates large volumes of data that are difficult to store, manage and analyze. This paper presents software which uses a free open source database engine that allows managing and interacting with huge amounts of data from environmental monitoring of cultural heritage sites. It is of simple operation and offers multiple capabilities, such as detection of anomalous data, inquiries, graph plotting and mean trajectories. It is also possible to export the data to a spreadsheet for analyses with more advanced statistical methods (principal component analysis, ANOVA, linear regression, etc.). This paper also deals with a practical application developed for the Renaissance frescoes of the Cathedral of Valencia. The results suggest infiltration of rainwater in the vault and weekly relative humidity changes related with the religious service schedules.

Evaluation of corrective measures implemented for the preventive conservation of fresco paintings in Ariadne’s house (Pompeii, Italy)

BackgroundA microclimate monitoring study was conducted in 2008 aimed at assessing the conservation risks affecting the valuable wall paintings decorating Ariadne’s House (Pompeii, Italy). It was found that thermohygrometric conditions were very unfavorable for the conservation of frescoes. As a result, it was decided to implement corrective measures, and the transparent polycarbonate sheets covering three rooms (one of them delimited by four walls and the others composed of three walls) were replaced by opaque roofs. In order to examine the effectiveness of this measure, the same monitoring system comprised by 26 thermohygrometric probes was installed again in summer 2010. Data recorded in 2008 and 2010 were compared.ResultsMicroclimate conditions were also monitored in a control room with the same roof in both years. The average temperature in this room was lower in 2010, and it was decided to consider a time frame of 18 summer days with the same mean temperature in both years. In the rooms with three walls, the statistical analysis revealed that the diurnal maximum temperature decreased about 3.5°C due to the roof change, and the minimum temperature increased 0.5°C. As a result, the daily thermohygrometric variations resulted less pronounced in 2010, with a reduction of approximately 4°C, which is favorable for the preservation of mural paintings. In the room with four walls, the daily fluctuations also decreased about 4°C. Based on the results, other alternative actions are discussed aimed at improving the conservation conditions of wall paintings.ConclusionsThe roof change has reduced the most unfavorable thermohygrometric conditions affecting the mural paintings, but additional actions should be adopted for a long term preservation of Pompeian frescoes.

Statistical Tools Applied in the Characterisation and Evaluation of a Thermo-Hygrometric Corrective Action Carried out at the Noheda Archaeological Site (Noheda, Spain)

The Noheda archaeological site is unique and exceptional for its size, and the quality and conservation condition of the Roman mosaic pavement covering its urban pars. In 2008 a tent was installed as protection from rain and sun. Being of interest to characterise the microclimate of the remains, six probes with relative humidity and temperature sensors were installed in 2013 for this purpose. Microclimate monitoring allowed us to check relative humidity differences resulting from the groundwater level, as well as inner sensors reaching maximum temperatures higher than the outdoors ones as a consequence of the non-ventilated tent covering the archaeological site. Microclimatic conditions in the archaeological site were deemed detrimental for the conservation of the mosaics. Thus, in summer 2013, expanded clay and geotextile were installed over the mosaics as a corrective action. The outcomes of this study have proven the effectiveness of this solution to control temperature and relative humidity, helping to configure a more stable microclimate suitable for preservation of the mosaic.

Array of Hall Effect Sensors for Linear Positioning of a Magnet Independently of Its Strength Variation. A Case Study: Monitoring Milk Yield during Milking in Goats

In this study we propose an electronic system for linear positioning of a magnet independent of its modulus, which could vary because of aging, different fabrication process, etc. The system comprises a linear array of 24 Hall Effect sensors of proportional response. The data from all sensors are subject to a pretreatment (normalization) by row (position) making them independent on the temporary variation of its magnetic field strength. We analyze the particular case of the individual flow in milking of goats. The multiple regression analysis allowed us to calibrate the electronic system with a percentage of explanation R2 = 99.96%. In our case, the uncertainty in the linear position of the magnet is 0.51 mm that represents 0.019 L of goat milk. The test in farm compared the results obtained by direct reading of the volume with those obtained by the proposed electronic calibrated system, achieving a percentage of explanation of 99.05%.

High Frequency Data Acquisition System for Modelling the Impact of Visitors on the Thermo-Hygrometric Conditions of Archaeological Sites: A Casa di Diana (Ostia Antica, Italy) Case Study

The characterization of the microclimatic conditions is fundamental for the preventive conservation of archaeological sites. In this context, the identification of the factors that influence the thermo-hygrometric equilibrium is key to determine the causes of cultural heritage deterioration. In this work, a characterization of the thermo-hygrometric conditions of Casa di Diana (Ostia Antica, Italy) is carried out analyzing the data of temperature and relative humidity recorded by a system of sensors with high monitoring frequency. Sensors are installed in parallel, calibrated and synchronized with a microcontroller. A data set of 793,620 data, arranged in a matrix with 66,135 rows and 12 columns, was used. Furthermore, the influence of human impact (visitors) is evaluated through a multiple linear regression model and a logistic regression model. The visitors do not affect the environmental humidity as it is very high and constant all the year. The results show a significant influence of the visitors in the upset of the thermal balance. When a tourist guide takes place, the probability that the hourly temperature variation reaches values higher than its monthly average is 10.64 times higher than it remains equal or less to its monthly average. The analysis of the regression residuals shows the influence of outdoor climatic variables in the thermal balance, such as solar radiation or ventilation.