The only way to obtain a clear and comprehensive view of what is happening
on farmland is to photograph it from an aerial viewpoint... that is, from
above. Some applications are as follows:
to monitor field experiments, such as crop trials and pasture improvement
schemes;
to study the incidence of pests and disease in crops;
to record the pattern of former creeks in reclaimed land;
the survey of whole farms or estates as an aid to farm management;
the systematic mapping of soils of different geological, topographical
and hydrological character.
Forestry
Although woodlands are more accessible than a field of growing crops, the
aerial viewpoint is still essential for studying the effects of drainage
and disease on the growth of trees.
For example, photographic surveys of newly afforested areas, made before
planting and after a season or two's growth, permit the success (or failure)
of the scheme to be critically assessed. Similarly in mature woodland,
the spread of fungal attack may be traced and analysed. Infra-red
photography is particularly useful in the analysis of agricultural conditions.
Using images obtained using infra-red film, the relative health of flora
is immediately apparent.
Ecology
Aerial surveys are of value for vegetation mapping of all kinds, but are
particularly useful for remote areas and for plant communities that favour
inaccessible environments such as salt-marshes and inland bogs. Censuses
of wild animals (e.g. seals, wildfowl) and grazing animals have been undertaken,
as well as various behavioural studies (ponies, sea-birds).
Earth Sciences
Air photographs assist geological field work, not only by providing data
for mapping geological features (topography), but in a very practical manner
by themselves serving as a map of the modern landscape in unimproved fields
and mountains, where conventional maps show little easily identifiable
detail.
Aerial photography repeated during the four seasons and over the years
is critically important in the study of natural features subject to change,
such as eroding cliffs, silting estuaries, growing sandpits, migrating
river meanders, or progressive landslips.
Surviving traces of the movement of ice-sheets and of the action of frost
in the extensive periglacial zone during the Quaternary period can be studied
particularly well from the air.
Archaeology and History
Aerial reconnaissance, supported by photography, has long been recognised
as a powerful means of archaeological discovery. Municipalities and developers
alike have found it benefitial to know the exact boundries of industrial
remains of the very recent past, such as former factories and disused disposal
areas.
Planning and Environmental Studies
For all aspects of planning, air photographs provide more complete and
up-to-date information than any map. e.g. The conflicts between amenity, conservation and the efficient
exploitation of natural resources presented by such things as development
and planning for new housing and schools, open-cast coal-workings, or the
siting of power stations; planning the reconditioning of land, monitoring
its progress, and documenting its successful completion.
Business - Planning, Promotion & Sales
Federal, State and local municipalities require documentation of planning
for new business locations that can be obtained in no more authoritive
way than through historical aerial photographs combined with overlays depicting
planned improvements. Promotion of business' including the products
and services provided are enhanced by easily readable location maps based
on actual images of the countryside.
Engineering
The aerial view is important for assessing the stability both of natural
slopes and embankments as well as the effects of man made changes in the
terrain (e.g. drainage): By overlaying historical images, small scale
earth-flows may be readily visible from the air when they can hardly be
detected on the ground.
Precision vertical photography is the standard means of preparing contoured
maps, a necessity for all major work of civil engineering, as well as many
other purposes.