ES 555 Announcements

Announcements
ES 555 Small Format
Aerial Photography

June 29: The final exam is now available. Please follow instructions for turning in your answers by July 3rd.
June 26: Several reminders: project reports are due tomorrow. The final exam will be placed online Sunday evening--check announcements or schedule. Lab 5 and lab 6 are both due next week. The last reading assignemt deals with lighting as well as more case studies: sfap09.pdf and sfap10.pdf.
June 23: Summer is officially underway as we enter the fourth week of the course. Your reading assignment covers platforms & mounts as well as sfap07.pdf, sfap08.pdf, and comics4.pdf.
Lab exercise 4 is due at this time, and your short report is due by the end of the week. Begin working on lab 5. Note: your final, take-home exam is coming up next week, June 30-July 3. All course materials must be submitted by July 3rd.
June 16: This week marks the half way point in the course. The focus is digital imagery; see also sfap05.pdf, sfap06.pdf, and comics3.pdf. Labs 2 and 3 are due at this time; begin working on lab 4. Students also should start preparing individual reports on a field experience (see below).
June 12: All picture files from our two field trips are now available at the course FTP site. You will find folders for each camera: Canon Elph, S70 and Rebel, as well as Tetracam ADC. Files are identified as "chey" and "nelson" for the two sites. Most are kite aerial photographs, although a few ground photos are also included.

Sample video of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Windows Media Player

Photo Story 3 for Windows

Enhance digital image files and save at high resolution, ~2400 columns wide, which allows for panning and zooming on small portions of the images.
Provide suitable titles, and narration can be added also.
Take care to use non-copyrighted music, such as classical music composed prior to 1900.
Total video length should be only a few minutes to minimize video file size (<10 MB).
Save video (wmv) file at relatively low resolution (640x480) to minimize file size.

June 11: Under clear sunny sky, our field trip to Kansas City was a success, in spite of somewhat erratic urban wind conditions. See sample pictures below. Because of variable wind conditions, we were not able to fly the heavier camera rigs.

Canon S70 camera -- wide-angle view
Overview of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art with the downtown Kansas City, Missouri skyline in the background. Main building in center and new Bloch addition to right. View directly to north.
View toward northeast showing most of the Block building. Much of this building is underground with grass on the roof.

**Canon S70 camera -- wide-angle view**
	Overview of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art with the downtown Kansas City, Missouri skyline in the background. Main building in center and new Bloch addition to right. View directly to north.
	View toward northeast showing most of the Block building. Much of this building is underground with grass on the roof.

Canon Elph (SD600) camera -- standard view
South facade of the main building, steps and terraces, sculpture garden, and the Bloch building to right.
Overview of the Bloch building. Note multiple levels and sections. A sidewalk encircles the building, partly on the roof.
Closeup view of the sculpture garden on the south side of the main building. Note bronze "people" standing next to the wall in lower center of scene.
Vertical view of recumbent sculpture on the terrace in front (south) of the main building. Photographers to lower right side of scene.
Vertical view of The Thinker, a large bronze sculpture on the southern side of the main building, and two people walking by.

**Canon Elph (SD600) camera -- standard view**
	South facade of the main building, steps and terraces, sculpture garden, and the Bloch building to right.
	Overview of the Bloch building. Note multiple levels and sections. A sidewalk encircles the building, partly on the roof.
	Closeup view of the sculpture garden on the south side of the main building. Note bronze "people" standing next to the wall in lower center of scene.
	Vertical view of recumbent sculpture on the terrace in front (south) of the main building. Photographers to lower right side of scene.
	Vertical view of The Thinker, a large bronze sculpture on the southern side of the main building, and two people walking by.

Weather conditions for the remainder of the week look unsuitable for further field trips; strong wind, clouds and rain are forecast today through Friday. So, we are finished with class field trips, having conducted two excellent SFAP sessions in rural and urban settings. All digital image files from the two trips will be placed online for FTP soon.

June 9: We will take our second field trip on Tuesday to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Our goal is to photograph the completed Bloch addition that was under construction three years ago. Meet at ESU north parking lot at 9:00 am for the trip. As before, bring a lunch and beverage. A third field trip seems unlikely at this time based on weather forecast for later this week.
Otherwise, the first lab exercise is due and you should start working on lab 2. Reading this week includes image interpretation and photogrammetry, as well as sfap03.pdf, sfap04.pdf, and comics2.pdf.
Reminder: please return the questionnaire that was sent via email last week.

June 8: The best chances for field trips this coming week look to be Tuesday and Wednesday. Check announcements Monday morning for trip schedule.

We had nearly perfect weather for kite aerial photography at Cheyenne Bottoms on Friday. Thanks to all students who assisted with this venture; see below for sample pictures.

Canon Elph (SD600) camera -- standard view
Upon launching the Canon Elph camera rig, the crew takes a self portrait.
View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the west-northwest. The city of Hoisington is visible in the right background, and Blood Creek can be seen in the left background.
View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the northeast. The small delta of Deception Creek is marked by the white asterisk.

**Canon Elph (SD600) camera -- standard view**
	Upon launching the Canon Elph camera rig, the crew takes a self portrait.
	View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the west-northwest. The city of Hoisington is visible in the right background, and Blood Creek can be seen in the left background.
	View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the northeast. The small delta of Deception Creek is marked by the white asterisk.

Canon S70 camera -- wide-angle view
View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the west-northwest. The pool at scene center appears in several examples. It contains relatively clear water compared with muddy water in the foreground. Compare with examples above and below.
View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the northeast including Deception Creek. Note the expanded field of view compared with above.

**Canon S70 camera -- wide-angle view**
	View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the west-northwest. The pool at scene center appears in several examples. It contains relatively clear water compared with muddy water in the foreground. Compare with examples above and below.
	View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the northeast including Deception Creek. Note the expanded field of view compared with above.

Canon Rebel (SLR) camera -- superwide-angle view
View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the northeast including Deception Creek (upper left) and the nature trail (lower right). Note still wider field of view compared with examples above.
View over Nature Conservancy marsh in the foreground looking toward the southeast. Flooded marshes of the state wildlife area can be seen in the far distance.
Hauling down the giant delta kite and camera rig. From left to right: Preston Johnson, Juli Matthews, Matt Unruh, and Lida Buster.

**Canon Rebel (SLR) camera -- superwide-angle view**
	View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the northeast including Deception Creek (upper left) and the nature trail (lower right). Note still wider field of view compared with examples above.
	View over Nature Conservancy marsh in the foreground looking toward the southeast. Flooded marshes of the state wildlife area can be seen in the far distance.
	Hauling down the giant delta kite and camera rig. From left to right: Preston Johnson, Juli Matthews, Matt Unruh, and Lida Buster.

Tetracam ADC camera -- color-infrared images
Upon launching the Tetracam ADC camera rig, the crew takes a self portrait. Blue light is excluded, so shadows are much darker than normal. Active vegetation appears in pink and red colors; vegetation is highly reflective for near-infrared, so is much brighter than normal and appears somewhat fuzzy. Note that vehicles and fence poles are sharply defined.
View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the west-northwest. Compare with normal-color examples above. Water bodies are quite dark in color-infrared format, regardless of water depth or content of suspended sediment, although some sun glint is visible
View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the northeast including Deception Creek. Compare with normal-color examples above.

**Tetracam ADC camera -- color-infrared images**
	Upon launching the Tetracam ADC camera rig, the crew takes a self portrait. Blue light is excluded, so shadows are much darker than normal. Active vegetation appears in pink and red colors; vegetation is highly reflective for near-infrared, so is much brighter than normal and appears somewhat fuzzy. Note that vehicles and fence poles are sharply defined.
	View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the west-northwest. Compare with normal-color examples above. Water bodies are quite dark in color-infrared format, regardless of water depth or content of suspended sediment, although some sun glint is visible
	View over Nature Conservancy marsh toward the northeast including Deception Creek. Compare with normal-color examples above.

Note: All pictures taken during our field trip will be placed on the FTP server for students to download during the coming week.

June 5: Weather forecast for Cheyenne Bottoms tomorrow looks excellent--mostly sunny, wind 10-15 mph, and high temp in low 80s. Meet in ESU north parking lot at 7:30 am. Bring your lunch and beverage. Review previous SFAP at the Nature Conservancy land in Cheyenne Bottoms--see overview and remote sensing.
Note: There are no facilities at our CB study site. Weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday has deteriorated with strong wind and a chance for thunderstorms in eastern Kansas, so no field trip this weekend. Continue to check announcements for updates.
June 2: Unstable weather continues with chances for rain, cloudy sky and strong wind. The field trips are postponed until Friday and Saturday. Most likely we would go to Cheyenne Bottoms on Friday (7:30 am) and Ross Reservation on Saturday (9:00 am). Check here Thursday to confirm final schedule. Your instructor will be available on campus Monday-Thursday afternoons to assist students with lab exercises.
In the mean time, begin introduction to SFAP and basics of photography. Additional readings include NCGIA GPS and USGS UTM. See also handout files: sfap01.pdf, sfap02.pdf, and comics1.pdf (via FTP).
Our first lab exercise involves basic photo enhancement using Adobe Photoshop or similar software. Those students who are not familiar with Idrisi Andes should work through the beginning few tutorials at this time (not graded).

Student roster (ver. 1.0).

May 30: Based on the long-range weather forecast, here is our tentative schedule for the early part of next week. See below for further details about field trips.
- Monday -- possible rain. Your instructor will be available on campus in the afternoon to help students get started on exercises in the GSA lab.
- Tuesday -- mostly sunny, south wind 10-15 mph, high temp upper 80s. Field trip to ESU's Ross Reservation. Meet in north parking lot 9 am.
- Wednesday -- mostly sunny, northeast wind 10-15 mph, high temp mid-80s. Field trip to Nature Conservancy's Cheyenne Bottoms. Meet at north parking lot 7:30 am.
Check announcements again Sunday pm or Monday am to confirm final schedule. At this time, all students should be in contact with your instructor via email.

May 27: The class begins next week. We meet only for field trips, which depend on suitable weather conditons. Check this site by end of week for final decision about date for our first trip to ESU's Ross Reservation.

For each trip, students should meet in the ESU north parking lot next to practice football field. Students may park "free" in the gray zone during summer. We will travel in a large van pulling a small trailer with equipment. Bring a lunch/beverage, and wear appropriate clothing and footgear for outdoor activity. Be prepared for lots of sun and insects.

Further ground testing of the new Tetracam ADC camera in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southern Colorado. Adjustment of camera lens proved to be a laborious trial-and-error procedure to achieve a suitable field of view and proper focus.

Normal-color photograph of mountain scene at Cuchara, Colorado. Taken in late May with active grass and conifer shrubs and trees (pine & spruce); aspen trees have not leafed out yet.
Tetracam ADC color-infrared photograph of approximately same scene as above. Active vegetation appears in pink and red colors in this standard false-color format.
Normal-color photograph of ghost town at La Veta Pass with Mount Maestas in the background. Taken in late May with active grass and conifer trees (pine & spruce).
Tetracam ADC color-infrared photograph of approximately same scene as above. Grass is more reflective in near-infrared (pink) compared with conifer trees (red) in this standard false-color format.

Note: course requirements and schedule have been updated.

May 16: Well, the spring '08 semester is history now. The new Tetracam ADC camera has arrived and ground testing has begun (see below). At this time, your instructor is building a radio-controlled rig to operate the camera from a kite or blimp, which we hope to employ on a course field trip in June.

Normal-color photograph of a backyard garden scene in the Kansas City vicinity. Taken in mid-May with many types of active vegetation.
Tetracam ADC color-infrared photograph of approximately same scene as above. Active vegetation appears in pink and red colors in this standard false-color format.

Note: Your instructor will be out of town and away from email until Memorial Day. Check announcements after Memorial Day for updates about ES 555, which begins June 2nd--see course schedule.

April 9: Your instructor recently received an institutional grant to purchase a digital color-infrared camera--see Tetracam ADC. The camera records green, red, and near-infrared bands for color-infrared imagery and vegetation indices. The intention is to acquire the camera and build a radio-controlled rig for kite aerial photography in time for the course field trips in June.

Feb. 27: See Columbia News Service press release about kite aerial photography. Your instructor is quoted toward the bottom of the article in connection with our work at Cheyenne Bottoms, a wetland in central Kansas. This is one of the sites we may visit during the course.

Welcome! ES 555 Small Format Aerial Photography will be taught during the summer session, 2008. The course combines web lectures, lab exercises, and field trips. Students will gain experience with kite and blimp aerial photography, as methods of small-format aerial photography--see Great Plains aerial photography. The course is available for both on-campus and distance-learning students.

Field trips will be scheduled during the weeks of June 2nd and 9th, depending on suitable (fair) weather. Students located in eastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri are expected to participate in field trips. Other students should consult with your instructor for individual arrangements.

Check here again for more information about the course or
contact the instructor, J.S. Aber, jaber@emporia.edu.

	Normal-color photograph of mountain scene at Cuchara, Colorado. Taken in late May with active grass and conifer shrubs and trees (pine & spruce); aspen trees have not leafed out yet.
	Tetracam ADC color-infrared photograph of approximately same scene as above. Active vegetation appears in pink and red colors in this standard false-color format.
	Normal-color photograph of ghost town at La Veta Pass with Mount Maestas in the background. Taken in late May with active grass and conifer trees (pine & spruce).
	Tetracam ADC color-infrared photograph of approximately same scene as above. Grass is more reflective in near-infrared (pink) compared with conifer trees (red) in this standard false-color format.