8/17/2021 History of Photogrammetry: Four Phases of Photogrammetry (Early History, World War I, Development, Commercial Aerial Photogra…

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History of Photogrammetry: Four Phases of Photogrammetry (Early History, World War I,
Development, Commercial Aerial Photography) (Especially for GATE-Geospatial 2022)
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Photogrammetry is, according to Bonneval, the technique that has the aim to study and to provide a precise definition of the
shape, the dimensions and the position in the space of an object by using, essentially, measurements taken at a single or at
multiple photos. Etymologically, the word “Photogrammetry” refers to the metrics of what is written by using light.

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It is, at its core, the science used by photography to take measurements, and its application is extended to many fields of
knowledge. Photogrammetry could be defined as the science that elaborates maps or planes on the basis of photos taken
under certain specific determinants.

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The most widespread of its possible branches is Aerial Photogrammetry (which, drawing from aerial photos taken under
geometrical determinants, allows maps to be created accurately and with agility. For rustic lands, the profitability limit to
choose between a photogrammetric project and a GPS one could be of approximately 200 ha.

In the case of urban land, the profitability limit would decrease substantially. However, it depends on the scale, accuracy and
characteristics of the land in question.

Early History
Aerial photography was first practised by the French photographer and balloonist Gaspard-Felix Tournachon, known as
“Nadar” , in 1858 over Paris, France. Kite aerial photography was pioneered by British meteorologist E. D. Archibald in 1882.
He used an explosive charge on a timer to take photographs from the air.

Frenchman Arthur Batut began using kites for photography in 1888 and wrote a book on his methods in 1890. Samuel
Franklin Cody developed his advanced ‘Man-lifter War Kite’ and succeeded in interesting the British War Office with its
capabilities.

World War I
The use of aerial photography rapidly matured during the war, as reconnaissance aircraft were equipped with cameras to record
enemy movements and defences. At the start of the conflict, the usefulness of aerial photography was not fully appreciated.

Development
Germany adopted the first aerial camera, a Gorz, in 1913. Frederick Charles Victor Laws started aerial photography
experiments in 1912 with No. 1 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (later No. -1 Squadron RAF) taking photographs from the
British dirigible Beta.

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The Royal Flying Corps recon pilots began to use cameras for recording their observations in 1914 and by the Battle of Neuve
Chapelle in 1915, the entire system of German trenches was being photographed. In 1916 the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
made vertical camera axis aerial photos above Italy for map-making. By the end of the war aerial cameras had dramatically
increased in size and focal power and were used increasingly frequently as they proved their pivotal military worth; by 1918
both sides were photographing the entire front twice a day and had taken over half a million photos since the beginning of the
conflict in January 1918.

Commercial Aerial Photography

The first commercial aerial photography company in the UK was Aero films Ltd, founded by World War I veterans Francis
Wills and Claude Graham White in 1919.

From 1921, Aero films carried out vertical photography for survey and mapping purposes. During the 1930s, the company
pioneered the science of photogrammetry (mapping from aerial photographs) , with the Ordnance Survey amongst the
company՚s clients.

Another successful pioneer of the commercial use of aerial photography was the American Sherman Fairchild who started his
own aircraft firm Fairchild Aircraft to develop and build specialized aircraft for high altitude aerial survey missions in World
War.

In 1939 Sidney Cotton and Flying Officer Maurice Longbottom of the RAF were among the first to propose the use of Spitfires
with their armament and radios removed and replaced with extra fuel and cameras. They suggest that airborne
reconnaissance may be a Cask better suited to fast, small aircraft which would use their speed and high service ceiling to
avoid detection and interception. Although this seems obvious now, with modern reconnaissance tasks performed by fast,
high flying aircraft, at the time it was radical thinking.

Development
This led to the development of the Spitfire PR variants. Spitfires proved to be extremely successful in their reconnaissance role
and there were many variants built specifically for that purpose. They served initially with what later became No. 1
Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) . In 1928, the RAF developed an electric heating system for the aerial camera. This
allowed reconnaissance aircraft to take pictures from very high altitudes without the camera parts freezing. Based at RAF
Medmenham, the collection and interpretation of such photographs became a considerable enterprise.

Four Phases of Photogrammetry

So overall four phases of photogrammetry can be described which are directly related to the on-going advances in technology
throughout the years especially with aeroplanes, electronics, computers and software.

The first generation was the invention of photography. The commencement of this exciting new invention followed many
years of experiments and investigations, which led to the next phase.

The second generation was the era of Analog Photogrammetry. In this phase, the analogue rectification and the
stereoplotting instruments were invented. Aeroplanes and cameras were now being used for the two World Wars. Within this
time frame, Aerial survey techniques were established and continue to be the fundamentals on which the Photogrammetry is
based on today. Photogrammetry became a reputable and popular surveying and mapping method.

In the 1950s the third generation was born with the invention of the computer. This phase was the Analytical
photogrammetry generation. It was in this phase where serious attempts were made on applying adjustment theories to
photogrammetric measurements. Block adjustment programs were developed and aerial triangulation was improved greatly.
The analytical plotter was also developed in this phase but was only made available in the 1970s.

The fourth generation in photogrammetry is the current phase, called digital photogrammetry. In this phase, the
transition from analogue to digital began. Photography is transformed into digital data and photogrammetric processes are
done by specialized software on computers. Digital cameras are now used, thus the photography is already in digital format
and therefore there is no need for scanning. The main reason behind the push to extend analogue and analytical
photogrammetry into the digital realm is for the expectations of huge cost savings in producing typical photogrammetric
outputs and the new ability for using this digital output as an input into other analysis systems. The implementation of
automated data input, compilation and output should lessen the time needed to produce a given quantity of Photogrammetric
output, like planimetric and topographic maps which will, in turn, have a direct effect on reducing the costs of that output.

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