Aerial survey company Bluesky has created three historically important aerial photomaps for the newly formed local councils in Cheshire. Using original films dating back to the early eighties, Bluesky has scanned, georeferenced and mosaiced nearly three thousand individual photographs to create the three high resolution, digital aerial datasets for use within the Councils’ geographical information system (GIS) and possible future use via the respective councils’ websites.

“When planning for the present and the future any authority needs to consider and understand the value of the past, especially the last ten to twenty years, and the value of temporal information held within historic datasets such as aerial photographs,” commented David Matthews, GIS Officer of Cheshire Shared Services. “Like many authorities we held older county wide aerial surveys in hard copy format stored in filing cabinets. Although consulted by a few specialist staff the real potential of the imagery could only be tapped if the images were converted to a digital format.”

The newly created digital datasets are being made available across the two Councils, Cheshire – West & Chester Council and Cheshire East Council – giving staff access to five different epochs of aerial imagery spanning more than sixty years.

Applications of the aerial photographic maps will include archaeological assessments of potential development sites and research by highways to investigate changes in the line and width of the highway to determine, for example, the extent of the highway that is maintainable at the public expense. It is hoped the imagery will also be put to use in public rights of way, land regeneration, enforcement, planning, contaminated land, change detection and legal applications.

The images will also be made available for purchase by members of the public, either directly from the Councils or from Bluesky’s online map shop (www.oldaerialphotos.com), for use in boundary disputes, planning applications and local area studies.

Aerial survey specialist Bluesky, based in Lecestershire, has created a highly detailed digital photomap of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in South Wales from archive survey images. Using original film rolls from the early 1990s Bluesky scanned and georeferenced more than 1,000 individual images to create the map-accurate dataset of the Gower Peninsula for the Central Register of Aerial Photography for Wales, part of the Welsh Assembly Government. The images are part of an archive of more than 500,000 historically important photographs, dating back to the 1960s and covering the whole of England, Wales and large parts of Scotland, which are exclusively available from Bluesky.   

The Central Register of Aerial Photography for Wales maintains information about all major aerial survey cover of Wales, as well as holding an extensive collection of aerial photographs dating back to the 1940s. The Central Register is a comprehensive source of information and advises all interested parties including divisions of the Government, public and private sector organisations and members of the public.

“This dataset will complement our existing digital collection as we already hold cover of this area from 2000 and 2006,” said Derek Elliott, Aerial Photographs Officer. “The digital dataset is easy to use and demonstrates the potential that exists both within this and other archive collections.”

The original images are part of a historical aerial photography collection housed and managed by Bluesky. Dating from the early 1960s the collection comprises over 360,000 individual frames stored on 2,000 rolls of film covering the whole of England and Wales and a large proportion of Scotland, at scales ranging from 1: 2,500 to 1:25,000, in black and white and also colour.

“This is the first time these images have been available in this form,” said James Eddy, Technical Director of Bluesky. “By using state-of-the-art technology we can produce 21st century solutions from 20th century images, creating a valuable, and irreplaceable, record of landscape change and providing a valuable tool for monitoring coastal erosion, land use change, boundary disputes, urban growth and rural decline as well as providing individuals with an historical record of their own property or neighbourhood.”

Bluesky is a UK-based specialist in aerial imaging and remote sensing data collection and processing.  An internationally recognised leader with projects extending around the globe, Bluesky has unrivalled expertise in the creation of seamless, digital aerial photography, 3D landscape/cityscape visualisations, and 3D prints.  Bluesky also runs a national mapping centre, providing digital maps, site plans, satellite imagery, aerial photography and ultra-high resolution imagery of cities and towns. 

Croydon Council has taken delivery of an historic photomap providing a snapshot of the South London borough shortly after the end of WWII. Created by aerial survey company Bluesky, the image database is produced from original aerial photographs captured by the RAF in the late 1940’s. Consisting of more than 300 unique images that have been scanned and georeferenced to create a seamless, digital, map accurate database, the Bluesky photomap will be used by various Council teams to support decision making with Building Control, Planning and the Pollution service, being initial users.  

The historic Bluesky photomap was created from more than 300 original aerial photographs, captured by the RAF between the period 1946 to 1948 as part of an effort to update the then out of date 1930’s Ordnance Survey maps and chart the reconstruction of post war Britain. Each image was scanned using high-end scanning machines, (Vexcel Ultrascan 5000 Photogrammetric Flatbed Scanners), to create digital image files which have high geometric accuracy and image quality. The images were georeferenced and mosaiced together to enable a seamless, map accurate image database.

“The post war period is significant for many reasons,” commented Les Haines, Survey and Mapping Officer at Croydon Council. “Like other parts of London, Croydon experienced considerable bomb damage during the war and this is evident in the Bluesky photomap. In addition July 1948 is an important date, as the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act came into effect, introducing the concept of Planning Permission and forming the foundation of modern planning policy. Consequently Planners still need, on occasion to establish what was on site at this time.”

Croydon Council has already introduced the Bluesky photomap within their Building Control division, in fact within days of taking delivery the image database was used to clarify issues being experienced on a site in Norbury. “The site developer and Building Control Officer were having trouble excavating the footings and were unable to find solid ground,” continued Les. “The house appeared to be pre-war, however a quick look at the Bluesky imagery showed in fact a derelict site, following bomb damage, proving the dwelling had been faithfully reconstructed on a foundation of rubble. Our World War Two bomb map had either not marked this incident or recorded the location incorrectly.”    

Bluesky is a UK-based specialist in aerial imaging and remote sensing data collection and processing.  An internationally recognised leader with projects expanding around the globe, Bluesky has unrivalled expertise in the creation of seamless, digital aerial photography, 3D landscape/cityscape visualisations, and 3D prints.  Bluesky also runs a national mapping centre, providing digital maps, site plans, satellite imagery, aerial photography and ultra-high resolution imagery of cities and towns.

Remote sensing and aerial survey specialist Bluesky has been awarded another project by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to create a digital archive of scientific images from the organisation’s Airborne Research and Survey Facility.

Bluesky will scan the new photographic images taken by NERC’s airborne survey unit, using state of the art hardware and software. The images will then be individually referenced for wider use by the Council, government, academia, other research agencies and commercial organisations. Bluesky has previously completed a contract on behalf NERC to scan more than 43,000 aerial images dating back more than 25 years.

The Bluesky team of experienced and dedicated personnel will scan the images, captured by the Airborne Research and Survey Facility (ARSF) during 2007 in a variety of locations throughout mainland Europe, Iceland, Greenland and the UK, using two high-end scanning machines, (Vexcel Ultrascan 5000 Photogrammetric Flatbed Scanners). Metadata (data about data) such as Project Name, Location, Film and Frame Number and the date, time and GPS position of the camera, will then be added to each digital file before the images are transferred to the NERC Earth Observation Data Centre (NEODC) archive at the CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Didcot.

“The images were collected for historical comparison with existing photographic records providing a valuable record of landscape and land use change,” said David Davies, Co-Pilot and Systems Engineer at the ARSF of NERC. “We can only undertake this analysis by comparing like with like and as Bluesky created our ‘master’ archive it was only natural to award them the contract for conversion and reference of this years images.”

Davies continued, “In addition the digital files will be used to assist in the production of highly detailed 3D height models (DEMs) and as the images cover a variety of terrains including forest, heathland, wetland and glaciers as well as industrial and urban centres, they will provide a valuable resource for additional fieldwork and investigations.”

The original project was commissioned by NEODC as part of their role in supporting the Council’s earth observation community in locating, accessing, interpreting and exploiting Earth Observation data and ensuring the long term integrity of Earth Observation datasets produced and acquired by NERC projects and programmes.  The aerial photo dataset is now one of the most used within NERC.

Bluesky is a UK based company specialising in aerial imaging, photography and remote sensing data collection and processing. With projects extending across the globe it has an international reputation for the creation of seamless digital aerial photography and 3d landscape and cityscape visualisations. Bluesky’s national mapping centre provides digital maps, site maps, satellite imagery, aerial photography and ultra-high resolution imagery of cities and towns.

Aerial survey specialist, Bluesky, has launched a brand new web service offering an online window to the largest collection of UK based historical aerial photographs. Visitors to www.oldaerialphotos.com can search through millions of aerial images dating back as far as the 1940s by simply entering a postcode, address or grid reference. Detailed search results, including the age and ground coverage, of every image that matches the search criteria are displayed and the visitor can choose to purchase either a hard copy print or digital image file. www.oldaerialphotos.com is a joint venture between Bluesky and air to ground oblique photography experts Skyscan.

“This is an important development for anyone with a personal or professional interest in the past,” said Rachel Tidmarsh, Managing Director of Bluesky. “By giving visitors to www.oldaerialphotos.com the ability to search through literally millions of images with just a few clicks of a mouse we are bringing together for the first time a valuable and comprehensive record of our past. Many of these images have previously only been available to archivists or those with specialist knowledge of how to find them, now it will be easy for everyone to search through these historic collections.”

Visitors to www.oldaerialphotos.com can search through a number of historically significant collections of both vertical and oblique aerial photography. Through an ambitious and ongoing acquisition programme and agreements with a number of historically important private, commercial and government organisations Bluesky has already secured, and will continue to do so, unrivalled access to a photographic record of the country’s past. Bluesky’s own team of photographic experts have collated and formatted information about every image creating a Master Aerial Database that powers the online service.

Images that are available to purchase from www.oldaerialphotos.com include some of the earliest commercial aerial survey images, military photography from World War II and one of the largest collections of oblique photography in the UK. Offering a record of most major UK cities and towns, transport and utility infrastructure and commercial property developments www.oldaerialphotos.com is an invaluable resource for anyone with a personal or professional interest in local studies, genealogy, boundary disputes, environmental land use research or town planning, for example.

www.oldaerialphotos.com is a joint venture between aerial imaging, remote sensing data collection and processing specialist Bluesky, and air to ground oblique photography experts Skyscan.

Aerial mapping company Bluesky has completed a project to create a digital map of Rutland County Council’s highway network. More than 400 individual paper maps, some over thirty years old, were scanned to create very high resolution digital image files, creating a seamless map of the whole County. The digital map base, which was georeferenced to match the Council’s current Ordnance Survey mapping, is already being used to improve the management of works on the highway and will form an essential source of information for a project to create a detailed highway asset inventory.

“The original maps provided an invaluable record of the Council’s highway network and related assets. Used on a daily basis to confirm the status and extent of the public highway, they were the first stop when dealing with enquiries or works related to the highway,” said Dave Brown, Acting Head of Highways. “By transforming the paper archive into an integrated digital map base we have increased both the efficiency and accuracy of our day-to-day operation, improved accessibility to a valuable information resource and ensured the long term security of the data.”

Bluesky, a specialist in aerial imaging and remote sensing data collection and processing, was awarded the Rutland contract based on technical merit and previous experience. The 450 individual highway maps were scanned at 600 dpi giving resulting images a final ground resolution of 12.5 cm equivalent to a map scale of 1:500. Each image was then geo-referenced to the Ordnance Survey National Grid and mosaiced together to produce a seamless map base of the whole county.

The digital map layer was supplied to Rutland Council in a compressed format (ECW) for use within the authority’s corporate geographical information system (GIS) from MapInfo where it will be used to assist with the day-to-day management of the highway and for long term strategic projects. “Now we have a digital record of our transport infrastructure we can begin the task of updating the base information and creating a detailed asset inventory for future management of highway network,” concluded Mr Brown. The data will also be accessed using the Council’s Intranet based mapping service providing desktop access to the valuable information resource to other departments such as planning and legal services.

Bluesky is a UK based company specialising in aerial imaging and remote sensing data collection and processing. With projects extending around the globe it has an international reputation for the creation of seamless, digital aerial photography and 3D landscape / cityscape visualisations. BlueSky’s national mapping centre provides digital mapping, site plans, satellite imagery and detailed aerial photography.