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Basic Aerial Photograph Interpretation (API)

This document provides guidance on basic aerial photograph interpretation (API), including how to view stereopairs in 3D, factors that impact vertical exaggeration, techniques for API, and examples of API case studies. It explains that API is a useful skill for geologists and engineers to identify landslide risks and assess site development histories using overlapping aerial photographs from different time periods. The document also includes a stereovision assessment test and optional practical exercises analyzing landslides and terrain changes using aerial photos from various areas in Hong Kong from the 1950s to 1990s.

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john1668
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117 views

Basic Aerial Photograph Interpretation (API)

This document provides guidance on basic aerial photograph interpretation (API), including how to view stereopairs in 3D, factors that impact vertical exaggeration, techniques for API, and examples of API case studies. It explains that API is a useful skill for geologists and engineers to identify landslide risks and assess site development histories using overlapping aerial photographs from different time periods. The document also includes a stereovision assessment test and optional practical exercises analyzing landslides and terrain changes using aerial photos from various areas in Hong Kong from the 1950s to 1990s.

Uploaded by

john1668
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Basic Aerial Photograph Interpretation

(API)
Myth
• only geologists can / should do it

Fact
• anyone with fairly balanced eyesight who can see in 3D
can do it (quality of API = f (academic training,
experience, field checking, day-to-day knowledge of
environment under study))

Professional Skills / Duties


• all GEs should be able to do basic API as part of SI for
man-made features
• all EGs should be competent in API, including man-
made features and natural terrain
Basic API - Principles
3D images can be formed from any pair of vertical
aerial photographs (APs) (a ‘stereopair’) if:
• ground coverage overlaps (60%-70% ideal)
• geometric centres of APs not identical
• AP scales are equal

APs from different dates may also be viewed in 3D


– ‘false stereopair’. Other overlapping photographs (e.g.
oblique APs, taken from the ground, or a building) can
also be viewed in 3D
Aerial Photographs of HK
Dates
1924, 1945, 1949, occasional from 1950-1962, annually from
1963 onwards, except 1965, 1966 & 1971

Type
Pre-1994 – nearly all black & white
1994 onwards – mostly in colour

Availability
Prints & digital APs on sale to the public at LandsD
Prints on loan to government staff & consultants at GEO,
CEDD
Scale of Aerial Photographs

Most HK APs taken with 6” lens scale = flying height(ft) x 2


 typical scales 1:6,000 – 1:10,000 for flying heights 3,000-5,000ft.

Note: a man-made slope 10m long is only 1mm long on an AP at 1:10,000


scale!
Clients need to be realistic about level of detail possible with API.
Interpreters should use binoculars and a magnifying glass to assist in
viewing small features.
Information on Aerial Photographs
Vertical Exaggeration
VE means heights and slope angles exaggerated
– greater than true values

Most HK APs have VE


VE = f (lens focal length, image dimensions, flying height,
% overlap)

Commonly VE = x 4 if images 230 x 230mm in size, 152mm


lens, 60% overlap

But note a few HK APs have low VE, or even VE<1 (vertical
compression instead of exaggeration).
API Techniques - Selection of APs
API Techniques
Forming a 3D Image
1. Place consecutive AP pair under each mirror of
stereoscope, oriented similarly
2. Orient south facing away from you – helps 3D effect
3. Look straight down through lens or binoculars (3 x
binoculars common)
4. Select common feature in each AP (e.g. road junction,
building), move to centre of view under each mirror
5. Place fingers on same feature in both APs
6. Fuse fingers together  3D view. Practise – most
viewers can achieve quick improvement

Note: if inversion of relief occurs (‘upside down’ image), transpose the


APs (i.e. switch them LR and R  L)
Care of Aerial Photographs

• Never mark APs with permanent ink pens


• Use clear plastic overlays and ink pens, or
• Soft coloured pencils for direct marking, e.g.
– Ominichrom / Glasochrom (Staedtler)
– Dermatograph (Mitsubishi)
& remove marks by clean dry cloth or pencil eraser after
use
• Use light adhesive paper masking tape or clear medical tape
to hold APs in place, or to fix overlays on APs
Basic API for Man-made Slopes

Interpretation of site histories – key points to note:


• stages in site development
• infrastructure development
• cut, fill and reclamation
• changes to drainage patterns and ground cover
• previous slope instability and erosion
• major geological features
• ground stabilisation / protection measures
API – Practical Exercises

Stereovision Assessment Test

20 minute test of 3D viewing, with


interpretations of (i) relative height of 26
pairs of dots (A,A’Z,Z’) (ii) relative slope
gradient of 26 pairs of lines (a’-a’z-z’), in
an area near Clear Water Bay Road
(APs 1963)
API – Practical Exercises
Optional Exercises – 5 Case Histories

• Po Shan Road Landslide (APs 1967, 1972)


• Sau Mau Ping Landslides (APs 1967, 1976, 1980)
• Man-made Slopes, Chinese U (APs 1956, 1963,
1964, 1969, 1973, 1980, 1984, 1992)
• Natural and Disturbed Terrain, Tsuen Kam Au,
Route Twisk (APs 1963)
• Natural and Disturbed Terrain, Lung Shan, SE of
Fanling (APs 1963)
Stereovision Test Area
Clear Water Bay Road 1963
Mid-Levels Area 1967
Po Shan Road Landslide 1972
Sau Mau Ping Estate
Site Formation 1963
Sau Mau Ping Estate
After Landslides 1976
Chinese U Area Before Development 1963
Chinese U 1992
Natural & Disturbed Terrain
Tsuen Kam Au, Route Twisk, 1963
Natural & Disturbed Terrain
Lung Shan, SE of Fanling, 1963

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