Abstract

A Spreadsheet-based GIS Tool for Planning Aerial Photography
Track: Remote Sensing Imagery
Author(s): Patrick Clinton, David Young

The U.S.EPA's Pacific Coastal Ecology Branch has developed a tool which facilitates planning aerial photography missions. This tool is an Excel spreadsheet which accepts various input parameters such as desired photo-scale and boundary coordinates of the study area and compiles and executes an ArcGis vbscript or ArcInfo aml generating photocenter points, photo 'footprint' polygons and photocenter coordinate lists for constructing flight maps. A number of other output parameters such as total number of photos and the size of a photo when digitized are useful in interactive flight planning. The tool greatly reduces the amount of time it takes for Principal Investigators and GIS professionals to accurately plan aerial photo missions. The tool has been used successfully to plan aerial photography of all of the major estuaries in Oregon as well as Willapa Bay, WA. To fully utilize this tool, the user must have access to Excel 2003+ and ArcInfo v.9x.

Patrick Clinton
U.S.EPA NHEERL/ORD/WED/PCEB
2111 SE Marine Science Drive
Newport , Oregon 97365
United States
Phone: 541-867-5003
Fax: 541-867-4049
E-mail: clinton.pat@epa.gov

David Young
U.S.EPA NHEERL/ORD/WED/PCEB
2111 S.E. Marine Science Center Drive
Newport , Oregon 97265
United States
Phone: 541-867-4038
E-mail: young.david@epa.gov