Aircraft Photography in the Service of Science

Abstract

AIRCRAFT photography as developed during the war possesses great potentialities as an instrument of scientific research. The value of the aeroplane in geographical and geological exploration has already been emphasised in these pages, and its employment in the reconnaissance of little-known countries need not be further mentioned; but if aeroplane exploration is valuable, its worth is greatly enhanced by systematic photographic work. For, while a trained observer notices many features, it is quite impossible for him to observe and note more than the salient points seen from a swiftly flying machine, while the camera instantly records every feature in the field of view. Again, from a safe height of, say, 10,000 ft. only the larger elevations or depressions are visible to the human eye, but if paired photographs are taken for the purpose of stereoscopic examination with a wide base of, perhaps, 500 yards, then the whole of the ground relief becomes visible in a most striking manner. But not only do photographs provide a means of obtaining and recording information; they also show the relative positions of objects, and, if taken on an organised system, provide a topographical survey for use in map construction.1 In addition, I was frequently struck with the value for scientific purposes of material obtained in the course of the R.A.F. work in Egypt and Palestine, and the purpose of this article is to indicate some types of information which may be furnished.