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Small-Format Aerial Photography and UAS Imagery

Principles, Techniques and Geoscience Applications

  • 2nd Edition - September 17, 2019
  • Latest edition
  • Authors: James S. Aber, Irene Marzolff, Johannes Ries, Susan Elizabeth Ward Aber
  • Language: English

Small Format Aerial Photography and UAS Imagery: Principles, Techniques and Geoscience Applications, Second Edition, provides basic and advanced principles and techniques for Small… Read more

Description

Small Format Aerial Photography and UAS Imagery: Principles, Techniques and Geoscience Applications, Second Edition, provides basic and advanced principles and techniques for Small Format Aerial Photography (SFAP), focusing on manned and unmanned aerial systems, including drones, kites, blimps, powered paragliders, and fixed wing and copter SFAP. The authors focus on everything from digital image processing and interpretation of data, to travel and setup for the best result, making this a comprehensive guide for any user. Nine case studies in a variety of environments, including gullies, high altitudes, wetlands and recreational architecture are included to enhance learning.

This new edition includes small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and discusses changes in legal practices across the globe. In addition, the book presents the history of SFAP, providing background and context for new developments.

Key features

  • Provides background and context for new developments in SFAP
  • Covers the legal implications for small format aerial systems in different countries
  • Discusses unmanned aerial systems (drones) and their applications
  • Features new case studies for different applications, including vineyard monitoring and impacts of wind energy

Readership

Graduate students, researchers and professionals in the areas of natural resource management, environmental management, ecology, agricultural science, environmental science, energy, urban planning, physical geography, remote sensing, geology, geomorphology

Table of contents

Part I. History and principles

Chapter 1: Introduction to small-format aerial photography 1-1. Overview 1-2. Brief history 1-3. Photography and imagery 1-4. Conventional aerial photography 1-5. Small-format aerial photography 1-6. Summary

Chapter 2: Basic principles of SFAP 2-1. Remote sensing 2-2. Common aspects of SFAP 2-3. Photographic storage 2-4. Summary

Chapter 3: Photogrammetry 3-1. Introduction 3-2. Geometry of single photographs 3-3. Geometry of stereophotographs 3-4. Quantitative analysis of photographs 3-5. Summary

Chapter 4: Lighting and atmospheric conditions 4-1. Introduction 4-2. Multiview-angle effects and bidirectional reflectance 4-3. Multispectral effects 4-4. Latitude and seasonal conditions 4-5. Clouds and atmospheric effects 4-6. Shadows 4-7. Summary

Chapter 5: Photographic composition 5-1. Introduction 5-2. Basic elements of photographic composition 5-3. Combining compositional elements 5-4. Photographs vs. human vision 5.5. Summary

Part II. SFAP techniques

Chapter 6: Cameras for SFAP 6-1. Introduction 6-2. Film camera basics 6-3. Digital camera basics 6-4. Camera geometry and light 6-5. Color-infrared photography 6-6. Camera capabilities for SFAP 6-7. Summary

Chapter 7: Manned and tethered platforms and mounts 7-1. Introduction 7-2. Manned aircraft 7-3. Blimp aerial photography 7-4. Kite aerial photography 7-5. Summary

Chapter 8: Unmanned aerial systems (UAS – drones) 8-1. Introduction 8-2. Fixed-wing UAS 8.3. Copter-type UAS 8-4. Powered paraglider8-5. Pros and cons of different platforms

Chapter 9: SFAP survey planning and implementation 9-1. Introduction 9-2. Travel, logistics and site accessibility 9-3. High-altitude SFAP 9-4. Ground control and flight planning 9-5. Flight planning example 9-6. Flight planning for oblique SFAP

Chapter 10: Legal issues 10.1. Introduction 10.2. German regulations 10.3. Regulations in the U.S. 10.4. Regulations in other selected countries 10.5. Insurance 10-6. Summary

Chapter 11. Image interpretation 11-1. Introduction 11-2. Image interpretability 11-3. SFAP interpretation 11-4. Summary

Chapter 12: Image processing and analysis 12-1. Introduction 12-2. Geometric correction and georeferencing 12-3. Image enhancement 12-4. Image transformation 12-5. Image classification 12-6. Stereoviewing and classical photogrammetric analysis 12-7. Structure from motion-photogrammetry 12-8. Software for SFAP analysis 12-9. Summary

Part III. Case studies

Chapter 13: Gully erosion monitoring 13-1. Introduction 13-2. Study sites and survey 13-3. Gully mapping and change analysis 13-4. Summary

Chapter 14: Wetland environments 14-1. OVERVIEW 14-2. RAISED BOGS, ESTONIA 14-3. PRAIRIE MARSHES AND PLAYAS, KANSAS 14-4. Biocontrol of salt cedar 14-5. SUMMARY

Chapter 15: Architecture, archaeology, and cemeteries 15-1. Introduction 15-2. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri 15-3. Santa Fe Trail, Great Plains, U.S.A. 15-4. Cemeteries, various 15-5. Summary

Chapter 16: Recreational property 16.1. Overview 16.2. Golf courses, Garden City, Kansas 16.3. Management issues, Lake Kahola, Kansas 16.4. Summary

Chapter 17. Vegetation and soils 17-1. Vegetation and erosion 17-2. Influence of grazing on vegetation cover17.3. Combating desertification and soil degradation 17-4. Soil mapping and soil erosion 17-5. Summary

Chapter 18. Wind energy 18-1. Introduction and issues 18-2. Kansas wind energy 18-3. Danish wind energy 18-4. Polish wind energy 18-5. Summary

Chapter 19. Vineyards 19-1. Introduction19-2. Rill erosion in vineyards of the Mosel Valley, Germany 19-3. Rill erosion in vineyards of the Archaquia, Spain19-4. Specific problems of steep-slope viticulture SFAP19-5. Grapes, wine, and climate change; Missouri wine district19-6. Summary

Chapter 20: Geomorphology 20-1. Introduction 20-2. Glacial landforms 20-3. River landforms; flooding 20-4. Coastal landforms 20-5. Mountain structures 20-6. Summary

Chapter 21: Emergence of SFAP 21.1. Historical perspective 21.2. Current status 21.3. Future of SFAP

Product details

  • Edition: 2
  • Latest edition
  • Published: September 17, 2019
  • Language: English

About the authors

JA

James S. Aber

Dr. Aber has a PhD in Geology from the University of Kansas. His interests and research experience are wide ranging in geology, tectonics, landscape evolution, wetland environments, remote sensing, aerial photography, and energy resources. He has conducted field investigations across the United States as well as Canada, Scandinavia, Central Europe and Japan. He is a distinguished professor at Emporia State University, Kansas.
Affiliations and expertise
Emporia State University, Kansas, USA

IM

Irene Marzolff

Dr. Marzoff is a physical geographer and remote sensing/GIS scientist holding a Ph.D. from Freiburg University, Germany. She has been working on high-resolution remote sensing methods for monitoring land degradation and erosion since 1995. She has been involved in designing and building several unmanned platforms for small-format aerial photography and has developed remote-sensing and photogrammetry-based methods for quantifying geomorphological processes in high temporal and spatial resolution. She has collaborated in numerous research projects with colleagues from Belgium, Germany, India, Morocco, Spain and the USA
Affiliations and expertise
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

JR

Johannes Ries

Dr. Ries holds a Ph.D. from Freiburg University, Germany. His research focusses on methodological questions regarding erosion, land degradation and desertification. His main expertise lies in experimental geomorphology, and small-format aerial and terrestrial photography has always been an integral part of his research concepts and projects. He has extensive international research cooperation and during recent years has conducted fieldwork mostly in semi-arid regions of Europe and Africa
Affiliations and expertise
Trier University, Trier, Germany

SA

Susan Elizabeth Ward Aber

Dr. Susan W. Aber is the Director of the Science and Math Education Center and Peterson Planetarium at Emporia State University (ESU), Emporia, Kansas USA. She is a geologist, graduate gemologist, map librarian, and university teacher. She taught in the Earth Science Department at ESU and was Federal Depository Map Librarian. She has taught LIS courses via distance education at San José State University and North Carolina Central University. Her LIS dissertation focused on the information needs and information-seeking behaviors of geoscience educators in the academic community. Her research interests are in information use and user studies, amber fossil resin, as well as the scientific visualization of information using kite aerial photography.
Affiliations and expertise
Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas, USA

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