Infrared vision inspection of cultural heritage objects from the city of L’Aquila, Italy and its surroundings

The city of L'Aquila, Italy has a long history of catastrophic earthquakes. The most recent devastating earthquake that caused enormous damage hit the city in April 2009. The city is also the home of a rich collection of artworks from the Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance periods. Cultural heritage in L'Aquila is undeniable, and the use of nondestructive testing techniques is fundamental for assuring the integrity of these valuable objects. The goal of this study was to assess the performance of infrared vision techniques for the inspection of cultural heritage objects from L'Aquila. Furthermore, processing techniques were also employed for image segmentation.