Laser scanner and drone photogrammetry: A statistical comparison between 3-dimensional models and its impacts on outdoor crime scene registration

A review of the contributions of forensic archaeology and anthropology to the process of disaster victim identification

Forensic archaeology and anthropology have developed significantly over past decades and now provide considerable assistance to the investigation process of disaster victim recovery and identification. In what are often chaotic death and crime scenes, the formal process of utilizing archaeological methods can bring control, order, and ensure systematic search. Procedures assist in defining scene extent, locating victims and evidence, rule out areas for consideration, and provide standardized recording and quality assurance through dedicated use of standardized forms (pro formas). Combined archaeological and anthropological search methods maximize opportunities to recovery the missing through identifying remains, mapping distributions, and providing accounting of victims at the scene. Anthropological assistance in examinations contributes to individual assessment, resolving commingling and fragmentation issues, and utilizing DNA sampling methods and matching data to reassociate and account for the missing. Utilization of archaeology, anthropology, and DNA matching data provides scope to review crime scene recovery and determine requirements and potential for further survey and retrieval. Adopting the most suitable methods for a particular context can maximize recovery, efficiency, and resource use. Case studies demonstrate the utility of archaeological methods in a range of scenarios. They exemplify the success of multidisciplinary analysis in providing evidence of the sequence of events, the timing of events, the impact of taphonomic processes, the location and accounting of victims, and the demonstration of systematic scene search. The considerations provided in this article, utilizing archaeology and anthropology processes, may assist investigators in planning and implementing responses to mass fatalities.

Low-cost tools for virtual reconstruction of traffic accident scenarios

Investigations into traffic accidents that lead to the determination of their causes and consequences are useful to all interested parties, both in the public and private sectors. One of the phases of investigation is the capture of data enabling the complete reconstruction of the accident scene, which is usually the point at which a conflict arises between the slow process of information gathering and the need to restore normal traffic flow. To reduce to a minimum the time the traffic is halted, this paper follows a methodology to reconstruct traffic accidents and puts forward a series of procedures and tools that are applicable to both large and small scenarios. The methodology uses low-cost UAV-SfM in combination with UAS aerial image capture systems and inexpensive GNSS equipment costing less than €900. This paper describes numerous tests and assessments that were carried out on four potential work scenarios (E-1 and E-2 urban roads with several intersections; E-3, an urban crossing with medium slopes; and E-4, a complex road section with different land morphologies), assessing the impact of using simple or double strip flights and the number of GCPs, their spacing distance and different distribution patterns. From the different configurations tested, the best results were achieved in those offset-type distributions where the GCPs were placed on both sides of the working area and at each end, with a spacing between 100 and 50 m and using double strip flights. Our conclusion is that the application of this protocol would be highly efficient and economical in the reconstruction of traffic accidents, provide simplicity in implementation, speed of capture and data processing, and provide reliable results quite economically and with a high degree of accuracy with RMSE values below 5 cm.

Advances in Technologies in Crime Scene Investigation

Crime scene investigation (CSI) is the complex act of reconstructing the dynamics that led to a crime and the circumstances of its perpetration. Crystallizing the CSI is a difficult task for the forensic pathologist; however, it is often requested by the public prosecutor and many judicial cases remain unsolved precisely for this reason. Recent years have seen an improvement in the ability of 3D scanning technology to obtain dense surface scans of large-scale spaces, for surveying, engineering, archaeology, and medical purposes such as forensics. The applications of this new technology are growing every day: forensic measurement of wounds in clinical reports, for example, reconstruction of traffic accidents, bullet trajectory studies in gunshot wounds, and 3D bloodstain pattern analysis. A retrospective analysis was conducted across all crime scene investigations performed by the forensic staff of the Department of Forensic Pathology of the University of Catania from January 2019 to June 2022. Inclusion criteria were the use of a laser scanner (LS), the use of a camera, a full investigative scene, and collection of circumstantial data thanks to the help of the judicial police. Cases in which the LS was not used were excluded. Out of 200 CSIs, 5 were included in the present study. In case number 1, the use of the LS made it possible to create a complete scale plan of the crime scene in a few hours, allowing a ship to be quickly returned to the judicial police officer. In case 2 (fall from a height), the LS clarified the suicidal intent of the deceased. In case number 3 it was possible to reconstruct a crime scene after many years. In case 4, the LS provided a great contribution in making a differential diagnosis between suicide and homicide. In case 5, the LS was fundamental for the COVID team in planning the study of COVID-19 pathways and areas within a hospital with the aim of reduction of nosocomial transmission. In conclusion, the use of the LS allowed the forensic staff to crystallize the investigative scene, making it a useful tool.

Suitability Study of Using UAVs to Estimate Landfilled Fly Ash Stockpile

The decrease in fly ash production due to the shift in coal industries toward a green environment has impacted many concrete industries as fly ash is a significant component in cement and concrete. It is critical for concrete industries to identify the availability of fly ash in landfills to meet their demand if the supply decreases. This paper aims to analyze the suitability of UAVs in determining the fly ash stockpile volumes. A laboratory test is performed to validate the proposed UAV method. Then, a real quarry site is selected to demonstrate the suitability in a large scale. The results indicate that the UAVs estimate the most accurate volume of the stockpile when the flight height is about five times the stockpile height. A considerable range of 3.5-5 times the stockpile height is most suitable for quantity takeoff. The findings of this study provide a recommendation for choosing the most appropriate technology for the quantitative estimation of fly ash in existing landfills on a large scale.