BlueSky's historic aerial views of Britain

11 December 2006, 12:19pm

Aerial mapping company BlueSky has signed an exclusive agreement with Infoterra to store, process and market a collection of aerial survey images dating back to the 1960's.

Part of London Docklands from the air in 1970 and today.

Over 360,000 original photographs covering the whole of England, Wales and large parts of Scotland will be stored at BlueSky's secure archive facility at the company's headquarters in Coalville, Leicestershire. BlueSky has also announced an ambitious project to photogrammetrically scan the original films in order to create a series of seamless historical photomaps.

Once processed the imagery will be available in a variety of formats including hard copy prints, map accurate digital datasets and online. Offering a unique record of landscape change over the past forty years, the imagery will be a valuable tool for monitoring coastal erosion, land use change, boundary disputes, urban growth and rural decline as well as providing individuals with an historical record of their own property or neighbourhood.

"This unique collection of early aerial photography is the perfect complement to our modern national GeoPerspectives™ coverage. Using specialistt equipment and experienced staff we can make this imagery available to professional users and private individuals and groups," said Rachel Eddy, Managing Director of BlueSky. "We also have access to other historical archives, including photography captured in the 1940's. This combination of up to date and historical imagery gives a virtually continuous record of the changing landscape over the past 60 years."

The historical aerial photography collection housed and managed by BlueSky dates from the early 1960's and includes images captured by early aerial survey companies including Geonex, Jasphot and Air Reconnaissance. Over 360,000 individual frames stored on 2,000 rolls of film cover the whole of England and Wales and a large proportion of Scotland at scales ranging from 1:3,000 to 1:25,000 in black and white and colour.

BlueSky are UK based specialists in aerial imaging and remote sensing data collection and processing. With projects extending from New York to Paris they have an international reputation for the creation of seamless, digital aerial photography and 3D landscape / cityscape visualisations. BlueSky also runs a national mapping centre, providing digital maps, site plans, satellite imagery, aerial photography and ultra-high resolution imagery of cities and towns.

www.bluesky-world.com

Robert Peel

BlueSky PR