The Broad View

High Altitude Aerial Photography

High altitude photography allows coverage of vast areas on a single frame. Large-scale structures and landmarks can be quickly and conveniently scanned, mapped, or surveyed.

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Cape Cod, Massachusetts from 19,800 meters (65,000 feet).
NASA Photograph

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Ascension Parish, Louisiana from 12,200 meters (40,000 feet).
Courtesy of National High Altitude Photography Program, EROS Data Center, U.S. Geological Survey

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Furnas County, Nebraska from 12,200 meters (40,000 feet).
Courtesy of National High Altitude Photography Program, EROS Data Center, U.S. Geological Survey

High Resolution Aerial Photography

High resolution photography provides coverage of large areas without loss of fine detail. Both a broad regional overview and a detailed local survey can be combined in one photo.

Photographs courtesy of Raytheon Systems Company.


44k JPG High resolution view of New Orleans from about 13,000 meters (42,000 feet).		61k JPG The same scene enlarged 12 times.		62k JPG The same scene enlarged 24 times.

Airborne Radar

Airborne radar provides the capability to study geologic structures and terrain characteristics as they extend over large areas. Because radar "sees" through clouds, imagery is available in all kinds of weather. Radar images have useful applications in the fields of mineral resource exploration and ground-water analysis.

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Side-looking Airborne Radar image of the De Long Mountains region in Alaska. The "smiling face" is in reality a geologic structure of folded rocks called a syncline.
Courtesy of EROS Data Center, U.S. Geological Survey

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Side-looking Airborne Radar image of the Ugashik region of Alaska.
Courtesy of EROS Data Center, U.S. Geological Survey

Environment

Photo Interpretation