Great Plains Aerial Photography homepage

James S. and Susan W. Aber

**Table of Contents**
Introduction to KAP	Fundamentals of KAP
Gallery of photographs	Applications of KAP
KAP equipment	KAP camera rigs
Weather and lighting	High-altitude KAP
More information on KAP	KAP consulting

Recent additions

San Luis Valley, CO/NM (June 2017).
Emporia, Kansas (June 2017).

Introduction to Kite Aerial Photography

Kite aerial photography (KAP) is a form of remote sensing—collecting information about an object from a distance. Aerial photography from kites is, in fact, one of the oldest forms of remote sensing of the Earth's surface. Kites were utilized to take aerial photographs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for many purposes—military reconnaissance, disaster assessment, scientific surveys, etc. KAP images from above the surface gave new perspectives for how people visualized the world, both from practical as well as aesthetic points of view. The development of powered flight gradually put an end to the golden age of kite aerial photography by the 1930s.

More on KAP history.

Early aerial view of Rome, Italy.

During the past two decades, kite aerial photography has experienced a renaissance for commercial, scientific, and popular purposes. The rebirth of kite aerial photography is based on several factors.

Increasing popularity of high-performance sport and technical kite flying.
Development of low-cost, light-weight, automatic cameras of high quality, particularly digital cameras.
Need for low-altitude observations in situations where manned aircraft could not operate effectively.
Low-cost alternative to conventional airplane or helicopter aerial photography.

Kite (English), vlieger (Dutch), latawiec (Polish), lohe (Estonian)
Aquiloni (Italian), cerf-volant (French), cometa (Spanish)
Drachen (German), drage (Danish), drake (Norwegian)

Selected aerial photographs
View over the city of Skagen, northern Denmark. The historical lighthouse, "Hvide Fyr" (white light), appears in lower right corner. Note typical red tile roofs of Danish buildings.
Small town of Liebenthal in the prairie of west-central Kansas. St. Joseph's Church (right) is built of native chalk stone. Water supply tower to lower left; sewage treatment ponds upper left. Trees in the background follow Big Timber Creek, a tributary of the Smoky Hills River.
Closeup view of the dam, outlet gates, and spillway at Fall River Reservoir, southeastern Kansas. Constructed and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and recreational purposes.
Vertical shot of tennis players, Loose Park, Kansas City, Missouri. Numerous tennis balls are scattered about the court.
Fishing camp set up on the beach of Padre Island, Texas. Various tents, vehicles, small boats, and fishing equipment. Preparing for a major fishing tournament.
Superwide-angle overview of Lake Wabaunsee in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. Taken from a helium blimp.

**Selected aerial photographs**
	View over the city of Skagen, northern Denmark. The historical lighthouse, "Hvide Fyr" (white light), appears in lower right corner. Note typical red tile roofs of Danish buildings.
	Small town of Liebenthal in the prairie of west-central Kansas. St. Joseph's Church (right) is built of native chalk stone. Water supply tower to lower left; sewage treatment ponds upper left. Trees in the background follow Big Timber Creek, a tributary of the Smoky Hills River.
	Closeup view of the dam, outlet gates, and spillway at Fall River Reservoir, southeastern Kansas. Constructed and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and recreational purposes.
	Vertical shot of tennis players, Loose Park, Kansas City, Missouri. Numerous tennis balls are scattered about the court.
	Fishing camp set up on the beach of Padre Island, Texas. Various tents, vehicles, small boats, and fishing equipment. Preparing for a major fishing tournament.
	Superwide-angle overview of Lake Wabaunsee in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. Taken from a helium blimp.

Home states in which we do most of our aerial photography.
Other states where we have conducted aerial photography.

Beyond the United States, we have acquired aerial photography in Saskatchewan,
Canada as well as Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Norway, Poland and Slovakia.

Map composed with source code by Ben Markowitz at Stately
with assistance from Jeremy Aber while at ESU (now at MTSU).

The Great Plains aerial photography is presented for general public access by James S. and Susan W. Aber.
All rights reserved; text and images © by the authors (1996-2017). For more information, contact J.S. Aber.

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This webpage was established at its present URL in March 2002.
Last update: June 2017.