Relying on Xi’an’s rich resources of large archaeological sites, the Xi’an Key Laboratory of Engineering Technology for Digital Protection of Large Archaeological Sites fully leverages the interdisciplinary advantages of resources and environmental sciences as well as cultural relic microbiology restoration. In collaboration with research institutes and high-tech enterprises, and utilizing advanced surveying and mapping technologies, the lab explores multidimensional technological innovations in artificial intelligence, big data, and the IoT. Its goal is to achieve breakthroughs in key techs for the protection of large archaeological sites and facilitate their implementation and transformation, thereby allowing digital tech to play a supporting and leading role in the protection of large sites and the development of related industries, and to cultivate new productive forces in the field of cultural heritage protection and inheritance.
The lab currently has 32 permanent staff members, including 13 with doctoral degrees and 13professors. Prof.Xia Bin, a doctoral supervisor at Peking University, has been specially appointed as Honorary Dean. Song Yuanlong from China Coal (Xi’an) Aerial Surveying and Remote Sensing Research Institute Co., Ltd., and Ma Zhuoqi from the Xi’an Branch of Guangzhou Southern Surveying and Mapping Technology Co., Ltd., have been appointed as university professors.
Since 2020, the lab has been approved for 29 projects at the national, provincial, and municipal levels in areas such as digital protection of cultural heritage and spatial data acquisition and analysis. These include one project funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and three science and technology awards at or above the municipal level. The total funding received amounts toover15millionyuan. The lab has published 20 high-impact representative papers, of whicheightare indexed in SCI. It has also been granted 17 patents and software copyrights, includingfivedesign patents.
The lab has established scientific and technological collaborations with universities and research institutions such as Shaanxi Normal University, the Earth and Satellite Big Data Research Center of the College of Geology Engineering and Geomatics at Chang'an University, and the Shaanxi Satellite Remote Sensing Technology Application Center for Natural Resources under the Shaanxi Institute of Geological Survey. It has also formed industry-universityresearch partnerships with more than ten leading enterprises in Xi’an, including Xi'an Yuntu Information Technology Co., Ltd., the Xi'an Branch of Beijing SuperMap Software Co., Ltd., the Xi'an Branch of Guangzhou Southern Surveying and Mapping Technology Co., Ltd., and China Coal (Xi’an) Aerial Surveying and Remote Sensing Research Institute Co., Ltd. In addition, the lab has established exchange and cooperation relationships with numerous overseas institutions in Australia, South Korea, Thailand, and other countries.
