Masses of heritage data giving you a headache? Want to use lidar data but don’t know where to start? How about dipping your toe into the world of open-source GIS?

Here at PTS we can bring our data management expertise to your workplace. Our tried and tested training workshops let you get “hands on” from the get go. We recognise that a one-shot training session often doesn’t quite hit the spot, so if you like what you get up to in the workshop and want to take the plunge, our mentor-led approach will help you transition your workflows without losing sleep.

Rebecca has a wealth of experience working with heritage professionals and students in the UK and abroad, and particularly enjoys working with local community groups engaging in landscape research to help them access the latest techniques and technology. We work hard to ensure that the software and workshop materials are as accessible as possible, hence the use of open-source Quantum GIS as our software of choice for training.

Below are some of the example services we can offer – but remember we’ll go the extra mile to make our work fit your needs, so if you don’t see just what you want below why not contact us for a chat?

With over a decade’s experience in commissioning, visualising and processing lidar data for archaeological landscape analysis, we can provide advice and support to help you get the best from your data including:

  • Specifying a bespoke lidar acquisition – everything you need to know when acquiring data (or submitting an application for funding to acquire data), from point density to sensor type and delivery formats.
  • Understanding archive data – how to order and work with archive terrain model from suppliers such as the Environment Agency
  • Training for everyone – whether you’re looking for lunchtime intro talk or a 2-day advanced processing and visualisation workshop, we can deliver accessible training, tailored to your needs
  • Advanced visualisation techniques – understanding and creating visualisations such as local relief model, sky-view factor and openness
  • Integrating lidar data into your workflow – how to map and combine the results of lidar analysis with other resources from HER data to aerial photography
  • Getting out in the field – as incredible as lidar models are they can’t give us the whole picture and field survey is often overlooked. We have a wealth of experience training professionals and volunteers in the art of identifying and recording field observations to complement the lidar survey transcriptions.

Rebecca has led and supported a number of community lidar projects in West Sussex, South Gloucestershire, Gwent, Kent, Surrey and Dorset. Bringing technical expertise and a passion for engagement we build interactive platforms to map potential features from the lidar and support the projects with digital and in person training to help the community see their landscape in a new light and actively contribute to it’s presentation. You can check out some of the projects we’ve worked with below.

  • Living Levels (2018-2022) Working with the RSPB we supported this project in the delivery of historic census location, historic farmstead and ownership geolocation, oral history location and lidar transcription. The results are available on the project website including a summary story map showcasing the work of the community.
  • Kent Lidar Portal (2020-) Working with the Darent Valley LSP we have developed and delivered a community lidar portal starting with a high resolution bespoke lidar acquisition. The team has aspirations to expand coverage of specialist visualisations and mapping to the whole county in 2023 with the Environment Agency 1m data.
  • Surrey Lidar Portal (2021-) Working with Surrey Archaeological Society, we developed and delivered a community portal using the 0.5m Environment Agency Data and an archive collection of 0.5m data from Surrey Heath.
  • Cranborne Chase Lidar Portal (2023-) working with Chase and Chalke LSP we have delivered a community lidar portal with accompanying online training course. Volunteers are supported by monthly online catch ups and in-person training in field observation techniques.

Rebecca has extensive experience in geo-spatial and heritage data management, including all aspects of Historic Environment Record data, large-scale airborne remote sensing survey data and all day-to-day GIS work.

  • Data Management Troubleshooting – working with you to identify problems and solutions for your data management workflow
  • Making the most of your data – innovative ways to get more out of your data, particularly if you would like to involve local communities / volunteers in your work
  • Innovative Platforms – we are able to provide advice on using the excellent HEROS software with INKGIS module. This sophisticated and flexible solution for heritage data management has been developed the Welsh Archaeological Trusts on an not-for-profit basis over the last 10 years. HEROS has all the MIDAS standard functionality you’d expect from a HER and much, much more, all underpinned by a fully integrated MySQL geospatial database. HEROS also integrates with QField for on site data collection, and has the ability to handle and interrogate 3D terrain models as derived from lidar natively within the browser. Check out the case studies on the HEROS website for more information.

All our training is done using open source GIS platforms and we have a wealth of experience in using open-source solutions. We provide in-person CIfA Approved training for both groups and 1-2-1, and a complete online training course via our sister site www.learnlidar.com

  • Try something new – if you’d like an opportunity to expand your professional skills we can offer introductory workshops. No previous GIS experience required we’ll start from the beginning but if you’re already a whizz you’ll see just how good QGIS is at tackling the bigger stuff too.
  • Workflow transition – we know that transferring your established  workflows to new software can be daunting. We can help by providing transition training tailored to your needs and ongoing mentoring to ensure any niggles can be ironed out.

What our clients say…

“Rebecca’s training and in-depth knowledge was essential to our company’s transition to QGIS from AutoCad. It provided a sound basis for our development of new workflows and GIS products and equipped us to confidently take our specialist mapping business into the future. With manuals and instruction specific to our needs, the training was professional, effective and supportive.”

Chris Cox, Director, Air Photo Services

LiDAR is increasingly becoming a major tool in our investigation of the potential of sites to contain extant earthwork remains, and highlighting areas of specific interest for further ground investigation. The training provided by Dr Bennett and her team certainly showed us how to make the most of the LiDAR for identification of sites, and also gave hints as to how it may be used to give an indication of threats, such as animal burrowing.”

Dan Bashford, Project Officer, Oxford Archaeology