What Is Aerial Photography and Its Interpretation?

As the name suggests, aerial photography means capturing photos from that air. It is one of the most common, versatile, and economic forms of remote sensing. It is a way of fixing the time within the framework of space. It is one of the first methods of remote sensing and is even used nowadays in the time of satellites and electronic sensors.

Aerial photographs were first taken as early as the 1800s using balloons and kites. In 1858, Gasper Felix Tournachon took the first aerial photograph using a captive balloon from an altitude of 1,200 feet in Paris. These photos can be captured using any camera.

However, the study of large areas requires high geometric and radiometric accuracy that can only be achieved using cameras that are specially built. An object looks even smaller on a smaller scale photograph as compared to a larger-scale photograph. Large-scale aerial photographs provide a high-resolution view of a smaller area. Applications of aerial photography are wide including geological mapping, archaeology, and species habitat mapping.

What are the characteristics of aerial photography?

Synoptic viewpoint

Aerial photography provides a bird's eye view of a large area and allows us to see surface features as per their spatial context. It enables the detection of tiny features and spatial relations that cannot be possible otherwise.

The ability of freezing time

Aerial photographs are like permanent records of current scenarios of the Earth’s surface and they can also be used as historical documents.

Ability to stop action

They provide us with a stop-action view of dynamic conditions and are useful for studying dynamic phenomena such as flooding, moving wildlife, oil spills, forest fires, and traffic.

3D perspective

Aerial photography allows us to get a stereoscopic view of the Earth’s surface. It makes it possible to take horizontal as well as vertical measurements. This characteristic lack in most of the remotely sensed data.

Spectral and spatial resolution

These photographs are sensitive to radiations in wavelength that are outside of the spectral sensitivity of the human eye. Apart from that, aerial photographs are sensitive to objects outside the spatial resolving power of the human eye.

Availability

Aerial photographs are easily available at a range of scales for most of us.

Affordability

Aerial photographs are much more affordable than field surveys and maps. Moreover, they are often considered more accurate than maps.

What is aerial photograph interpretation?

Aerial photography interpretation is known as the act of examining photographs to identify objects and determine their significance.

During the process of aerial photography interpretation, the interpreters generally make use of the following tasks:

·         Detection

·         Recognition as well as identification

·         Analysis

·         Classification

·         Idealization 

·         Accuracy determination

In a nutshell 

The process of studying and gathering the information that is required to identify several cultural and natural features is known as aerial photography interpretation. Careful interpretation makes these photos an excellent source of spatial data for studying and Earth’s environment. With this, we are ending this blog. If you have any queries, feel free to contact the experts.