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Aerial Photography
With the advent of low-cost aerial platforms like UAVs customers are
increasingly becoming interested in capturing their own aerial imagery for use ARCHIVES
with 3DM Analyst.
August 2012(1)
Aerial photography is most attractive in applications where the view from
April 2012(1)
above allows areas to be seen that are not visible from the ground such as
July 2011(1)
the inverted cone in the top of this stockpile:
April 2011(1)
February 2011(1)
January 2011(1)
December
2010(1)
October 2010(1)
September
2010(3)
August 2010(2)

In this post Ill cover the issues to be aware of based on my own experience
with aerial photographs captured both from UAVs and from conventional
aircraft.

Camera Orientation
The rst issue is the cameras orientation. For aerial projects we normally
need to do multiple strips of parallel images so we can cover a large area:
The most efcient way to do this (in terms of minimising the wasted pixels) is
to orient the camera vertically so its looking straight down at the ground.
(Oblique images can be used instead if necessary to capture the face of a
pit wall, for example but its harder to capture and process multiple strips of
images if the images are oblique.)

But what should the rotation of the camera be with respect to the ight
direction?

If youre using a high-end camera with forward motion compensation then it

must be oriented in the direction that the FMC mechanism operates in. Most
of those cameras have square sensors anyway, so it doesnt really matter.

But the digital cameras that most of us use have non-square sensors, so the
orientation of the camera does make a difference.

Consider a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with a 24 mm lens, for example. At an

altitude of 120 m/400 ft it has a footprint on the ground of 180 m 120 m. If
we orient it such that the ight direction is to the top of the camera (in other
words, the camera sees the ground moving down with respect to it) and use
the normal 60% overlap then the geometry of the rst two images would be
as follows:

(Blue represents the rst image, yellow the second, and green the area of
overlap.)

The model area is 72m 180m, so to capture an area of 1,000m 1,000m

with a 20% overlap between strips we would need a total of 147 images
arranged in seven strips of 21 images per strip. The base:height ratio is
1:2.50, and with an image accuracy of 0.5 pixels the expected planimetric
accuracy would be 1.6 cm and the expected height accuracy would be
4.0cm.

Now suppose we rotated the camera 90 degrees, so that the long axis of the
camera was in the ight direction (and the camera therefore sees the ground
moving sideways with respect to it):

Now the model area is 108 m 120 m, so to capture an area of 1,000 m

1,000 m with a 20% overlap between strips we would need a total of 154
images arranged in eleven strips of 14 images per strip. The base:height ratio
is 1:1.67, and with an image accuracy of 0.5 pixels the expected planimetric
accuracy would still be 1.6 cm (because the ground pixel size hasnt changed)
but the expected height accuracy has improved to 2.7 cm.

Normally aerial projects are planned based on a desired height accuracy,

because this will always be the least accurate co-ordinate. In the rst case
the height accuracy was 4 cm. In the second case the height accuracy
improved due to the base:height ratio change, but the number of images
increased slightly. What if we took advantage of the improved height
accuracy to y higher?

A quick calculation shows that we would achieve exactly the same height
accuracy as the rst example if we ew at an altitude of 180m. In this case
we would only need 63 images arranged in seven strips of nine images per
strip. The planimetric accuracy would be 2.4 cm while the height accuracy, as
suggested, would be 4.0 cm. The project is less than half the size and the
limiting accuracy the height accuracy is exactly the same!

For this reason we normally use the second camera orientation. To achieve
the same height accuracy with the rst orientation requires you to y lower,
capturing more images and creating more work for yourself.

Even worse, the rst option is more sensitive to any bumps or timing errors
that you might have because the tolerances are tighter.

The big downside to the second option is that more strips need to be own
and the distance between the strips is less. The more relaxed tolerances
along the ight path are traded off for tighter tolerances between strips. For a
UAV this isnt a big deal because ying time is very cheap and staying within
10 m of a ight line isnt a problem, but if youre using a conventional aircraft
own by a pilot, the extra ight time and the difculty in ying parallel, nearby
strips can be a problem.

A height accuracy of 0.1m is a very common specication for surveying. With

the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 24 mm lens using the rst option this is
achieved at a ying height of 300m (1,200ft) and a 2km 2km area would
need six strips of 17 images each for a total of 102 images. With the second
option it is achieved at a ying height of 450m and a 2km 2km area would
need six strips of seven images each for a total of 42 images.
Lens
In the above examples Ive used a 24mm lens throughout. The reason for this
is geometry: with strip photography, the base:height ratio is determined by the
focal length of the lens and the desired image overlap. In the image below,
you can see that with a ying height of 120m, the camera separation must be
72m in order to maintain the 60% image overlap (108m/180m):

This means the base:height ratio is 72:120 = 1:1.67, which means the height
accuracy will only be 1.67 times worse than the planimetric accuracy.

Longer focal length lenses necessarily require camera stations to be closer

together at the same ying height in order for the image overlap to be the
same because the image footprint on the ground is smaller. If the ying
height is increased to the point where the image footprint is the same as the
shorter focal length lens, the camera separation will also be the same. So,
with the same camera and image overlap as before but with a 50 mm lens,
we get the following geometry:

Now were ying at 250 m in order to get the same ground coverage and
same overlap, but our base:height ratio is 72:250 = 1:3.47, which means our
height accuracy will be 3.47 times worse than our planimetric accuracy.
In both of the examples above, the planimetric accuracy will be the same
because the ground pixel size is the same, but the height accuracy will be
twice as bad in the second case. Since height accuracy is normally what is
specied, it makes sense to prefer the shorter focal length lens. Its also more
resilient to bumpiness during ight because a small change in angle of the
camera will have less impact on the overlap than it would with a longer focal
length lens.

Conversely, if the original ying height of 120 m was maintained, then the
height accuracy would be the same, but the planimetric accuracy would
double and, in a multi-strip situation, over four times as many images would be
required!

The limit on how short the focal length can be is really lens quality. We use
the EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM lens, which is very expensive but has very good
image quality. We also have the cheaper version (EF 24mm f/2.8) and its
blurriness towards the edges of the image requires an aperture of about f/11
to eliminate, making it difcult to get a reasonable shutter speed. The 20mm
lens is even worse.

Camera Setup
Normally we advise customers to use the following image settings:

Aperture Priority mode

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

Aperture priority mode allows the camera to automatically determine the

shutter speed to obtain a correctly-exposed image while the aperture and ISO
settings are held xed.

This works well provided the shutter speed doesnt matter, and for normal
terrestrial photography it usually doesnt. (For long focal length lenses its a
good idea to use a tripod and a remote shutter release to avoid motion blur.)

With aerial photography the movement of the camera during the image
exposure places severe contraints on how slow the shutter speed can be. For
the 5D Mark II with 24 mm lens at 120 m, for example, one pixel on the
ground is 3.2cm and if the camera is moving at 5m/s (e.g. a UAV) then the
camera will move 1 cm during a 1/500 second exposure. In a conventional
helicopter travelling at 80 kts it will move 8 cm during a 1/500 second
exposure. Shutter speed is therefore very important and should be chosen to
ensure that at the intended ying speed the camera does not move more than
one-half or, better, one-third of a pixel during the exposure.

This, then, poses a problem: we need to ensure a reasonable shutter speed to

avoid motion blur, but at the same time we want the camera to be able to
adapt to changing light levels during a ight (because, for example, clouds
might be passing overhead, or there might be a wide range of albedos in the
terrain being own).

My personal preference is to continue using aperture priority mode (so the

camera can adjust shutter speed as required) but then choose an aperture
and ISO combination that ensures the shutter speed is high enough even with
the darkest terrain likely to be seen. To do this I look for dark terrain in the
vicinity, point the camera at it, and then press the shutter half-way down to
see what the camera says the shutter speed would be. If its not high enough,
I adjust ISO and/or aperture until the shutter speed is acceptable.

For example, with our UAV, I normally y at 5m/s and 120m altitude and like
to keep the shutter speed above 1/500 seconds. This is generally not
possible with the settings given above. The rst thing I change is the ISO,
from 100 to 200, because Ive tested the 5D Mark II and the level of noise this
introduces into the images is minimal. A good example of such an image can
be downloaded from our website. That particular image was captured by the
UAV with the aperture set to f/8 and the ISO set to 200 and the shutter speed
the camera used was 1/1250 seconds, well above my desired threshold.

If its still not fast enough either because the ground is particularly dark, or
the ambient lighting is low then follow the sequence below:

If it is still slower than 1/500, increase ISO to 320.

If it is still slower than 1/500, change aperture to f/7.1.

If it is still slower than 1/500, change ISO to 400.

If it is still slower than 1/500, change aperture to f/5.6. By this time the
terrain must be really dark or the light levels really low! Consider
scheduling the ights for between 10 am and 2 pm to maximise light
levels if you can.

Even with the good 24 mm lens mentioned above the nal step will introduce
some softness in the corners but wont affect the results too much.

One more tip: Ive found that the default exposure settings on the camera are
often a little bright, and can wash out the image in some areas excessively.
Adjusting the Exposure Compensation down 1/3 or 1/2 a stop will darken the
overall image, making it less likely that a bright area will be overexposed, and
also increasing the shutter speed. (Another option is to shoot in RAW mode
rather than JPEG, because RAW images usually have 24 times as much
dynamic range as JPEG images, but I prefer the convenience of JPEG.)

Focussing
Focus is obviously really important, and even more so with aerial photography
because the effort required to capture the images is higher than normal.
Never forget to ensure that the focus is correct before the ight!

I use the following procedure:

Switch the lens focussing control to MF (manual focus).

Switch to Live Preview mode by pressing the button to the left of the
viewnder.

Press the zoom-in button on the right (magnifying glass with + symbol)
twice to zoom in 10X on the live preview.

Rotate the manual focus ring until the image is sharp. Focus on an object
that is distant, at least 10 metres, preferably 20+ metres.

Tape the focal ring, being careful not to rotate it, to prevent it from being
adjusted again. Also tape the AF/MF switch to prevent that changing. We
use vinyl plastic electrical tape.

Take a photograph, then zoom into the image to check that the focus is
exactly right. Ideally copy the photograph to a laptop and zoom in,
otherwise zoom in using the display screen on the back of the camera.
(On Canon cameras this is done using the Magnify button to zoom in, and
multi-controller to pan the zoomed area.)

Use a tripod when photographing to ensure that camera movement doesnt

cause blur. Its a good idea to nd a very thin object in the scene to use for
checking the focus. I use some power lines across the street from our ofce
because theyre only about one pixel wide and if they are out-of-focus it is
very obvious.

Note that even after all this effort to x the focus, it is still possible for it to
change, unfortunately the modern lenses dont prevent the focus from
drifting even in manual mode and even with the focus ring taped. Its a good
idea to double-check the focus in the eld just before the ight using the
above procedure. Even in manual focus mode the camera should beep and
ash the little red boxes in the viewnder if the shutter is pressed halfway
down when looking at some distant objects and the camera is in focus.

Redundancy
In the above discussion Ive assumed an image overlap of 60%, and, indeed,
thats what we normally use when processing pairs of images. However, since
actually capturing images doesnt cost anything with a digital camera, it pays
to capture images more often than that to provide some redundancy.
Sometimes the aircraft ies through or above a cloud at exactly the wrong
time, or experiences a particularly nasty bump or a cross-wind gust just as its
capturing the image, making it blurry even with the carefully-chosen shutter
speed. Its nice to be able to throw the image away without having it affect the
results.

For this reason I normally use an 80% overlap, capturing images exactly twice
as often as needed for the 60% overlap case. (90% overlap would require
capturing images twice as often again.) This allows every second image to be
discarded without creating a hole in the DTM, and it requires three bad
images in a row before the DTM is missing data. In cases with infrastructure
obscuring the surface of interest, like conveyor belts over stockpiles, it also
helps to see the entire surface beneath the infrastructure because of the
many different vantage points.

Direction
What direction should you y in? This depends a little bit on your aircraft.

If you are using a large aircraft and you can rotate the camera so that it is
parallel to the ight direction even thought the aircraft itself is not (e.g. a
plane ying in a cross-wind), then the ight plan can be made in advance to
minimise the amount of ying required (e.g. plan the strips to be parallel to
the long axis of the area being captured).

If you are using a UAV, consider orienting the strips so you are ying directly
into and with the wind rather than at an angle to it. This may mean more ying
and more images to process, but it also makes it easier for the aircraft to
maintain heading and to stay on track.

With our UAV I normally decide which way Im going to go onsite. I wrote a
little program to generate ight plans on the y given the area to be mapped
and the desired ight direction. If prevailing winds are low enough I ignore
them and just use the optimal ight path for the geometry of the area to be
captured; if they are higher then I try to y with them.

More Information
If you need any advice please dont hesitate to contact us or ask a question
below so everyone can see it!

This entry was posted on 18th January, 2011, 3:04 pm and is led under FAQs, Tips. You can
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3 Comments (and one trackback)

#1 by Brent on 23rd February, 2012 - 7:00 am

 Good article. Do you know of any software that will
use the position and orientation of aerial images and
plot the ground track and footprint? Preferably it would
do it in batch mode, reading all les in a folder.
Thanks

#2 by Jason on 15th March, 2012 - 11:03 am

Hi Brent,

Sorry, not off the top of my head. In 3DM

CalibCam you could load in the merged DTM and
view the cameras in relation to it, like
http://www.adamtech.com.au/FlightLines.jpg, but it doesnt
show you the image boundary on the ground itself.

Cheers,
Jason.

#3 by Jenna on 16th April, 2012 - 6:36 am

That was a great info. well discussed article and Ive

really learned a lot about it. I just only know basics
camera shoot but with your article I learned about
Aerial Photography. Thanks. :D

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