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Chapter 9 Remotely Sensed Images from Above
are now commonplace and it’s difficult to find a cell phone without a built-in
camera. In many ways, you can think of a camera as the original device for
remote sensing—it captures data from the reflection of visible light nearly
instantaneously from a distance away from the target.
Taking pictures of the ground with such an instrument started not
long after cameras became available, leading to the development of aerial
photography. Capturing images of the ground from the sky has been going
on for over 150 years—first using balloons and kites, then by utilizing aircraft and rockets, then using satellites to get images from space. When dealing with remote sensing in geospatial technologies, we’re concerned with
acquiring information from a platform on some type of aircraft or spacecraft.
Currently, these types of imagery are obtained in both the public and private
sector.
Whether the use has been for military reconnaissance, surveillance, studies of the landscape, planning purposes, or even the good old “hey, I can see
my house,” people have been acquiring images of Earth from above for a long
time. Today’s aerial photographs are used for all manner of applications—for
instance, aerial imagery serves as a base source for creation and updating of
geospatial data and maps (such as USGS topographic maps or road networks).
Some of the extremely crisp high-resolution imagery you see on Google Earth
is taken from aerial photography sources. In this chapter, we’ll focus on how
aerial images are captured and analyzed, as well as getting used to looking at
Earth from above.
How Did Aircraft Photography Develop?
A French photographer named Gaspar Felix Tournachon (also known as
“Nadar”) took the first aerial photograph in 1858. Tournachon captured an
image of the landscape outside Paris while tethered above the ground in a
balloon. This first aerial photograph no longer exists, but this was clearly
the beginning of something big. In 1860, aerial photographs were taken
of Boston from a photographer in a balloon above the city (Figure 9.1).
However, development times, problems with landing at the proper location,
and interference from the balloon’s gas with the photo plates all contributed to balloon photography not being the best medium for capturing aerial
photographs.
By the end of the nineteenth century, photographic equipment was attached to kites (or a series of kites) and used to remotely photograph the
landscape while the photographer was safely on the ground. A famous example of kite photography comes from 1906, when a photographer named
George Lawrence used a set of kites 1000 feet above San Francisco Bay to
capture an aerial image he termed “San Francisco in Ruins” which showed
the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake (Figure 9.2). These early uses of
taking images from the air set the stage for the use of aircraft to take aerial
photographs.
aerial photography
taking photographs of
objects on the ground
from an airborne
platform.
Chapter 9 Remotely Sensed Images from Above
are now commonplace and it’s difficult to find a cell phone without a built-in
camera. In many ways, you can think of a camera as the original device for
remote sensing—it captures data from the reflection of visible light nearly
instantaneously from a distance away from the target.
Taking pictures of the ground with such an instrument started not
long after cameras became available, leading to the development of aerial
photography. Capturing images of the ground from the sky has been going
on for over 150 years—first using balloons and kites, then by utilizing aircraft and rockets, then using satellites to get images from space. When dealing with remote sensing in geospatial technologies, we’re concerned with
acquiring information from a platform on some type of aircraft or spacecraft.
Currently, these types of imagery are obtained in both the public and private
sector.
Whether the use has been for military reconnaissance, surveillance, studies of the landscape, planning purposes, or even the good old “hey, I can see
my house,” people have been acquiring images of Earth from above for a long
time. Today’s aerial photographs are used for all manner of applications—for
instance, aerial imagery serves as a base source for creation and updating of
geospatial data and maps (such as USGS topographic maps or road networks).
Some of the extremely crisp high-resolution imagery you see on Google Earth
is taken from aerial photography sources. In this chapter, we’ll focus on how
aerial images are captured and analyzed, as well as getting used to looking at
Earth from above.
How Did Aircraft Photography Develop?
A French photographer named Gaspar Felix Tournachon (also known as
“Nadar”) took the first aerial photograph in 1858. Tournachon captured an
image of the landscape outside Paris while tethered above the ground in a
balloon. This first aerial photograph no longer exists, but this was clearly
the beginning of something big. In 1860, aerial photographs were taken
of Boston from a photographer in a balloon above the city (Figure 9.1).
However, development times, problems with landing at the proper location,
and interference from the balloon’s gas with the photo plates all contributed to balloon photography not being the best medium for capturing aerial
photographs.
By the end of the nineteenth century, photographic equipment was attached to kites (or a series of kites) and used to remotely photograph the
landscape while the photographer was safely on the ground. A famous example of kite photography comes from 1906, when a photographer named
George Lawrence used a set of kites 1000 feet above San Francisco Bay to
capture an aerial image he termed “San Francisco in Ruins” which showed
the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake (Figure 9.2). These early uses of
taking images from the air set the stage for the use of aircraft to take aerial
photographs.
aerial photography
taking photographs of
objects on the ground
from an airborne
platform.