Aerial photographs have been and are an integral part of engineering surveys and this is not likely to change any time soon. As a prospective property buyer you may wonder why your consultant engineer insists on using aerial photography during an engineering survey, when there are more affordable options such as satellite imaging technology.

Here are answers to two questions about aerial photography and engineering surveys. These answers should provide insights as to why you shouldn't have qualms about aerial photography for your engineering survey.

Why Aerial Photography And Not Satellite Imaging?

Because taking aerial photographs is likely to cost more than purchasing a satellite image of your property, you may wonder why it's necessary. However, aerial photography presents various advantages over satellite imagery when it comes to engineering surveys. These include, but they're not limited to, the following:

• The effect of weather conditions: Prevailing weather conditions can have a significant impact on the quality of satellite images. When there's excessive cloud cover, the clouds are likely to be a prominent feature of your satellite image. Such interference is less likely with aerial photography because aerial photographs are taken at a much lower altitude. In addition to this, aerial photography allows the engineer to delay the survey until after the cloud cover has reduced. This is often not possible with satellite imagery.
• Higher resolution: Aerial photographs also often have a higher resolution than satellite images. This is also partly because the photographs are taken from a lower altitude. Thus, the aerial photograph will give a more detailed representation of landscape features on your property.

Why Are Black And White Aerial Photographs Often Preferred Over Coloured Photographs?

Apart from insisting on aerial photographs, the consultant engineer might also insist that the aerial photographs should be black and white as opposed to being coloured. This might seem like the "old-fashioned" way of doing things considering the advancements that have been made in digital imaging today.

Before you raise an objection however, you might be pleased to know that black and white aerial photographs will cost you less than coloured photographs. You might also be pleased to know that the colour scheme on black and white aerial photos (white, black and grey) creates a higher degree of contrast in the image(s), which makes it easier to distinguish between different features on your landscape.

Aerial photography is the way to go. Wouldn't you agree?

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