The first step in mapping, GIS, and remote sensing is data acquisition. A multidisciplinary effort, data acquisition involves aviation, navigation, photography, both film and digital cameras, GPS systems, ground control, photogrammetry, and computerized systems. Above all else, successful data acquisition requires a full working knowledge of modern techniques and technologies.

Manual of Aerial Survey: Primary Data Acquisition is the second edition of what has become the definitive reference for aerial surveying. Eminently practical and authored by professionals with more than 90 years of combined experience in the field, this text covers all the essentials of aerial photography, with particular emphasis on the survey aspects of the subject. Using a fresh approach and a minimum of mathematics, the authors take you from basic camera requirements, film types, and processing, to step by step guidelines for mission planning and operational procedures. Their topics include differential GPS systems, survey flight management systems, modern film survey cameras, digital cameras, and laser profilers. Other leading-edge topics include laser profilers, airborne laser mapping, satellite systems, and soft-copy photogrammetry using desktop computer systems, film scanners, and digital camera inputs.

Military reconnaissance, aerial archaeology, remote sensing, surveillance, and a myriad of commercial and industrial applications all depend on aerial data acquisition. Designed to give fast answers to questions on aerial photography, Manual of Aerial Survey offers an expert, efficient introduction to the field and brings you quickly up to date on equipment and techniques.