Geospatial Digital Twins as a Framework for Monitoring, Conservation and Recovery of Cultural Heritage

Under wartime conditions, the preservation and future recovery of Ukraine’s architectural heritage have become particularly urgent. The large-scale damage and destruction of historic buildings require comprehensive strategies for their protection, conservation, and recovery based on accurate, integrated, and up-to-date spatial information. A precise geometric representation of a heritage object provides a fundamental basis for documenting its spatial characteristics, architectural form, and structural elements, thereby supporting restoration design, damage assessment, resource planning, and the reduction of errors during conservation and reconstruction works. In this context, the study examines the methodological foundations of using geospatial digital twins as a framework for the long-term monitoring, conservation, and recovery of cultural heritage objects. Unlike conventional three-dimensional models, a digital twin is considered an integrated information environment that combines geometric and spatial data with metadata, historical information, condition-monitoring results, and information on conservation and restoration measures. The proposed approach is illustrated by the digital documentation and BIM-based modeling of a historical architectural object using terrestrial SLAM/LiDAR scanning and point cloud data. The results demonstrate the potential of integrating point clouds, BIM, and geospatial data into digital twins that can serve as a digital information reserve for heritage preservation, damage assessment, emergency conservation, and future recovery.