Aerial photography or satellite imagery?

Commercial Aerial Photography requires a still image of a subject or area at a particular point in time. There are many factors which can influence the choice between satellite imagery and that taken from a light aircraft such as the quality or resolution, time sensitivity, budget and size of site.

In the past vertical photography has always been available from both sources and as technology progresses the quality of satellite imagery has increased and the price has decreased making it a more viable alternative.

One of the major problems with satellite imagery is that it quickly becomes dated and many forms of aerial photography such as Progress Photography rely on up-to-date real time images to show the progress of building work.

Commercial Aerial Photography businesses also have an advantage over satellite imagery for Survey Photography which can be time sensitive to the minute. For example a traffic survey would need to be undertaken on a specific day of the week at a specific time of the day, not necessarily when a satellite is overhead.

Satellite imagery is also limited in aspect, only a true vertical orientation is available from satellites and often Oblique Aerial Photography is required for display purposes as it can be more aesthetically pleasing. Construction Photography will usually demand oblique images as it will show the vertical aspect of the buildings or construction work.

Keith McGregor is a partner of Strawberrysoup, a web design agency with offices in Chichester and Bournemouth. Strawberrysoup specialise in creative web design, content managed websites, search engine optimisation, search engine marketing and graphic design

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