Aerial cameras are highly specialized instruments developed to enable

accurate and consistent imagery of the earth to be obtained from an aircraft or

aerial vehicle, they are also referred as “passive sensors” in that the detect and
capture the natural light reflected from objects. It is also a mechanical optical
instrument with automatic and electronic element, it is designed for obtaining
aerial photographs of the earth from an aerial vehicle.
An aerial camera comprises of these basic parts
I. The body; The body has the following constituent parts: Filter, Front lens,
shutter, diaphragm and rear.
II. A cone: The cone is intermediate part of the camera which keep the camera
body and magazine at a definite distance from each other
III. Magazine; The magazine has three constituents: Supply reel/spool, take up
reel/spool and platen.
Functioning: when the camera is focused at infinity, the lens gathers light rays
from the object and transmits them in an orderly fashion to the light-sensitive area
known as the film. The shutter serves to regulate the amount and duration of light
reaching the film. When making an exposure and it has a millimeter opening which
overcomes the jerks and blurring caused by the moving aerial vehicle and to
capture the whole picture.
There are various types of aerial cameras but most commonly used are
single lens camera. Aerial cameras can be classified in a number of ways
i. By lens types: single lens and the multiple lenses.
ii. By angular field: normal angle up to 750, wide angle up to 750 to 1000 super
wide angle 1000 and above.
iii. By focal lens: short up to 6inches, normal 6 to 12inches.
iv. By use: reconnaissance, mapping and special.
The selection of any camera would depend upon the need and use. For instance,
the camera used for low altitude high-speed photography must have wide angle
lenses, faster shutter, image motion compensation magazine and short circle times
on the other hand, for higher altitude photography long focal lens cameras are used
to provide a reasonable scale and resolution.
Types of aerial camera
There are various types of aerial camera and they are:
1. Aerial mapping camera (single lens)
Most commonly used cameras in photogrammetry are the aerial and terrestrial
cameras photographs taken with these are mostly used for topographic mapping
and other engineering applications. Cameras used in these applications are termed
metric cameras. A metric camera is one in which the focal length and internal
dimensions are exactly known or can be determined through calibration.
The aerial survey camera has all the features of the convention camera. However, it
is much bigger, it is automatic and it has been adapted for its specific task. Because
of the size of the camera because of the fact that orientation of photos is important,
the camera is mounted on an aircraft. The movement of the camera is mechanically
or electrically achieved.

2. Reconnaissance camera
Aerial reconnaissance cameras are special, medium of large-format camera used
for photogrammetric survey or military purposes like reconnaissance or air combat
documentation. It is usually mounted under a remote-controlled aircraft model or
in a small rocket. Professional/military reconnaissance aerial cameras, especially of
the larger types, are usually mounted firmly into the plane’s airframe (vertically or
oblique) to ensure that image angles are consistent for the photo run. Smaller
cameras were used handheld, or fastened on machine gun mouths. Many aerial
reconnaissance cameras are of fixed a fixed focused (set on infinity) design, or
have lenses with ultra-wide angles (such as metrogo)

3. Strip camera
Strip aerial camera is a camera with a long focal length and wide-angle lens. It can
be used to capture images from above, or it can be used in conjunction with other
types of cameras to capture multiple perspectives at once. Photographs obtained
from strip aerial cameras are called strip aerial photographs.
This technique was first developed by French photographer Paul Ronis in 1910,
who used it to take photos from airplanes flying over Paris during World War I.
Since then, strip aerial photography has been used for both military purposes (such
as reconnaissance) and civilian applications like mapping land areas for
construction projects or real estate sales listings.
Setting Up the Camera for Strip Aerial Photography

When you’re setting up your camera, there are a few things to keep in mind. First,
make sure that it’s mounted securely on the drone. You don’t want it falling off
and crashing into something! Next, frame up your shot using the drone’s FPV (first
person view) system or by looking through its monitor–you can even use both at
once if you want.

Finally, focus on an object in the distance and adjust accordingly until everything
looks sharp and crisp before taking off!

Capturing Strips of Aerial Photographs

To capture strips of aerial photographs, you need to have a clear idea of how the
images will be sequenced and overlap.

This can be done in a few different ways:

Sequencing: The most common method is to shoot one strip at a time, moving the
camera from side-to-side across your subject. This allows you to capture each strip
as it passes through your field of view (FOV). However, this can result in gaps
between individual strips where no photos are taken because they were shot at
different times or locations within your FOV; if this happens then there will be
holes in your final composite image.

Overlapping: To avoid gaps between strips when shooting them sequentially

during flight operations (i.e., moving from left to right), overlap each strip by
approximately 20% so that its edge overlaps with those from other adjacent strips
before or after it was taken–this ensures continuity between individual frames
when composited together later on during post production processing stages such
as stitching multiple images together into one large panorama format file format
(.jpg/.png/.tiff).
4. Panoramic camera

A panoramic camera is a high-resolution stereo imager used to image the surface

and surroundings from a lander or rover. Two camera heads are spatially separated
and typically mounted on top of a mast (a kind of scanning platform), allowing for
an elevated view. A mechanism with two degrees of freedom permits the cameras
to rotate by 360° azimuth to obtain a panoramic view and provides pointing at
various elevations.
Images can be used to create 3-D maps of the area where, for example, the rover
has to navigate. Mechanical filter wheels in the optical path, or fixed linear or
interference filters directly mounted in front of the detector, offer multispectral
imaging capabilities and color imaging. Images taken at various wavelengths are
used to study mineralogical composition of interesting rocks and soils. Examples
for such systems are on the Mars rovers Pathfinder, Spirit, and Opportunity
(e.g., Bell et al., 2006), as well as on the Rosetta lander Philae (e.g., Willnecker et
al., 2006).
A difficulty, however, arises from the large volume of data and the associated
limitations given by the proximity link via an orbiting relay spacecraft. In most of
the cases, a direct data transfer to Earth from the surface element is not possible.

5. Multi lens camera

Multi-lens camera systems integrate different lens types into smartphones,

such as telephoto, wide-angle, and ultra-wide-angle lenses. These complex
systems have become an industry standard for flagship and mid-range phones. The
number of lenses in these systems is ever-increasing, and so are mobile
photography possibilities.

Although multi-lens cameras are now a hot feature, they first hit the market quite a
while back, but weren't received with much excitement. The innovation debuted in
2011, with the HTC Evo 3D and LG Optimus 3D smartphones. As the product
names make obvious, the dual-lens design was developed to create 3D images that
could be viewed on 3D-compatible displays. However, with meager 2 megapixels
that made for a serious lack of sharpness, there was no way that these models
would change the market at the time. Fast-forward a few years, though, and multi-
lens camera system technology has evolved with a primary focus other than 3D
imaging.

Multi-lens cameras combine not only lenses of different types, but also with
different aperture values. A camera system can, then, cater to different situations,
adapting to the setting and the user's needs. The varying apertures of multi-lens
camera systems allow for more elements to fit into a shot and for sharper images,
even taken from afar, in low-light environments. Multi-lens cameras can also
create depth maps to enhance augmented reality experiences. Furthermore, the
images captured by each lens may be overlayed, making it possible to soften the
background without the need for post-processing (the popular bokeh effect, a
game-changer for selfie enthusiasts).

Multi-lens cameras bring about more market revenue and exciting features for
users. Still, manufacturers also face difficulties, as they must try to merge, for
example, a zoom lens, different sensors, and the slim design expected by
smartphone users (especially when it comes to flagship models). Were it not for
these obstacles, multi-lens smartphone cameras would likely be equipped with
even further-reaching optical zoom. Other challenges are the additional processing
power required by these advanced photography systems and the fact that lenses
and sensors must be perfectly synchronized to avoid motion blur.

6. Multiband aerial camera

uses multi-lens systems with different film-filter combinations to acquire photos
simultaneously in a number of different spectral ranges. The advantage of these
types of cameras is their ability to record reflected energy separately in discrete
wavelength ranges, thus providing potentially better separation and identification
of various features. However, simultaneous analysis of these multiple photographs
can be problematic
7.Digital camera
Digital camera is a small format camera that can be used to acquire aerial
photograph (non-metric imagery). This paper discusses about the experience of
processing aerial photograph which is acquired using a high resolution SLR digital
camera and a digital photogrammetric system. In photogrammetry, digital camera
can be categorized as non-metric camera since it was not designed for
photogrammetric purposes. Some of the characteristics of digital cameras are there
is no fiducial mark in the digital images, the camera calibration parameters are not
stable, small format and others. The digital camera can also be categorized as (i)
“Single Lens Reflex” (SLR) (i.e the lens of the camera is focusable and
changeable) and (ii) compact. For SLR digital camera, the user has the full control
on the camera such as controlling the focus, aperture and shutter speed. For
compact digital camera, it uses the concept of point and shoot and it has the zoom
facility.
Digital cameras are produced with different sensor sizes and resolutions. Sensor
size can be defined as the dimension of width and height of sensor array in
millimeter or inches. Sensor resolution can be defined as the number of horizontal
pixel multiplied by vertical pixel. A digital camera could further be categorized as
low resolution (if the number of pixels is less than 500, 000), medium resolution
(number of pixel between 500, 000 to1.5 million) and high resolution (number of
pixel is beyond 1.5 million) (Shortis and Beyer, 1996). In this study, a digital
cameras known as CANON SLR was used. This digital camera can be categorized
as high resolution (Resolution (Raw) = 2160 x 1440 pixels or 3.1 Megapixels in
grayscale or 9.3 Megapixels in colour). Figure 1 shows the Canon EOS D30 SLR
digital camera (produced in 2000/01).