Air photos of local communities have been taken since the early part of the twentieth century. A Michigan company, Abrams Aerial Survey Corporation, pioneered the photo optical developments that made aerial photography practical. (Note: Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University is named after the company founder.) The archive of photographs taken from balloons during the Civil War and later from airplanes and satellites are available for the study of land use. The photos of Shelby Township, MI, used in this lesson are an example of the archival collection. In your community, the local courthouse, city hall, agricultural extension office, or Soil Conservation Service office may have early photo displays on exhibit.

The Role of Air Photos in Making

Land Use Decisions

People in communities make land use decisions every day. Look at areas surrounding large cities, in redeveloping downtown areas of older cities, and in the countryside, and you’ll see land use changes. The impact that humans have and continue to have on the land is a challenge to most communities, including urban, suburban, and rural communities. The issue they face is future growth and the land required for growth. How to plan for continued growth is a question facing many communities. Communities are searching for ways to accommodate growth as well as to avoid negative impacts on the environment (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 2005).

People should consider what factors are involved when they make various land use decisions. They should consider both present and future land use changes that may occur and suggest ways these changes may be implemented in order to reduce negative impacts on wildlife habitat, water quality, and quality of life (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 2005).

What Air Photos Show

Photographs of Earth taken from the air and from space show a great deal about landforms, vegetation, cities, farm fields, and resources. Known as remotely sensed images, air photos permit accurate mapping. Seasonal vegetation, contaminant discharges from rivers, and transportation developments can be studied by comparing images acquired at different times for the local region or community (U.S. Geological Survey, 1997).

“Aerial photographs are an important source of information for maps, especially land cover and land use maps. The amount of land used for a specific purpose may be determined from an air photo (e.g., measuring the area of land used for parks). In addition, a map showing general patterns may be easier to read and understand than a photograph” Environmental Systems Research Institute, 2003, p. 1). Lesson 2 features an air photo and a map of the same place to offset the greater complexity of the air photo and help with the air photo interpretation.

Air photos are often used to evaluate past land use changes and assess the impact of the changes on the land. Land uses in communities are recorded for posterity when a photo is taken. Historical collections of air photos may be compared with more recent ones and the changes are apparent, as it is with the two air photos of Shelby Township, MI.

The Science of Air Photo Use

Interpreting air photos is a fundamental skill of environmental scientists. It requires the use of visual and interpretive skills.

First, you must know the appropriate vocabulary for identifying what a photograph shows and classifying land use. This unit helps students experience these steps.

It is also important to identify detailed information from the air photo. For an urban air photo, a suitable site for a factory or a housing development could be identified. On air photos, the placement of traffic control measures, traffic problem areas, and various elements of the transport infrastructure may also be identified. Air photos have many applications to basic questions about land and how it is used.

Land use planners study the layout, the land use, and the presence of activities in a town or city. Photo interpretation of urban, suburban, and rural land use is a skill that students may apply years later when they make career choices (Skoool.ie, 2005).

How to Obtain Air Photos

Air photos are available for purchase, and sometimes free to schools. They can be obtained from most regional planning offices. Most offices have photos going back to the 1960s or 1970s as well as more recent air photos from the 1990s and later. Other sources of air photos are the county Land Conservation District or U.S. Department of Agriculture offices. There are many hundreds of air photos available from web sites, CDs and DVDs that are furnished by governmental and nongovernmental organizations (WI DNR, 2005).

If you would like to provide either preparatory or additional follow-up study of air photo perspectives, A Bird’s-eye View (Freeman, 1999) is a very appropriate resource. Students are often not experienced in viewing the ground from a vertical perspective. Looking out the window of a school two or three stories high or another tall building is a good way to introduce students to the vertical or bird’s eye perspective. The bird’s-eye view that students develop may be enhanced by viewing the photos in the Rand McNally Big Book, A Bird’s eye View, or by using air photos of the landmarks in the local community.