Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) - a first outing.

[John Wells]

Here is what can be achieved by students flying a KAP kit for the first time, without anyone on site having any previous experience of KAP:
http://www.armadale.org.uk/snaps.htm#primary

(Dunhill Castle and the Anne Valley with the 5th year students from Stella Maris Secondary School, Tramore, Co Waterford, Ireland)

[Hamish]

Does the SNAPs scheme give students guidance/instruction on aerial photograph interpretation?

[John Wells]

Hi Hamish

In a word 'no'.
The initial message is simply that anyone can fly a camera on a kite line......even archaeologists ;o)

The kits go out to nursery schools (one so far), primary schools, secondary schools, community groups (archaeological, environmental, youth etc) university students, university staff (archaeological, geographical etc) and national bodies.
The age range is wide, from less than 5 years old to over 85, and the 'responsible' adults within the groups are more appropriate at giving instruction to meet the needs of their members and specific projects.
Interpretation is not a primary interest, as the aerial photography often just adds another dimension to well known locations. Skills of interpretation can follow from analysing photos of these know places and features.


For example, three kits have gone out this week. One to Heritagetogether.org, where they will be constructing virtual 3D models (which could then be printed into physical models!), one to a primary school, where they will be using it initially in an environmental context (rambling) and the other to the IT department of a secondary school, where the initial application is likely to be within the scope of the geography department.
Originally, the Scheme was all about providing kits for archaeology and heritage, but the diversity of proposed applications changed the remit. Others have included looking at erosion in sand dunes and the spread of invasive species of plants.

The best example of a comprehensive backup by teachers and a specialist, Kevin Barton, (including geophysics) is at Balla Secondary School. Members of our Group will be over at the school in a few weeks time.

We are always available to answer queries and there is always our Forum.

Interpretation will become more important in the new, Phase 2 of the Scheme, as we selectively hand out more near infra-red cameras.

It is now about a year since a primary school in the Scheme took this near infra-red image with a camera costing ~£40: