5/4/2017 A Basic Kite Aerial Photography Kit

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John Scott-Railton
Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab working on threats to secure connectivity

Kite Aerial Photography Kit

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Sometimes the imagery collected during a KAP run is beautiful on its own

Is this a serious research tool?

Yes! How good is the imagery? Good. You can generatehigh resolution imagery that, with a scripted image processing workflow, will get you nice,
georeferenced and orthorectified, imagery that wont break your fieldwork budget, or consume the rest of your natural life in processing time. Some
researchers have even published papers using a KAP imagery platformthat can do vegetation quantifiactionby removing the infrared filtering from common

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digital cameras. You can also use the natural movement of a KAP platform for photogrammetry&3D terrain reconstruction. You can then supplementyour
existing raster imagery layersin common industry toolslikeENVI, ERDAS or ArcGIS.

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Here is a planar image of coastal erosion, orthorectified using a 3d image(3DTM) I created from the natural motion of a KAP rig between timed
exposures

Will it be replaced by UAVs?Could be. For nowyou can get altitudes and payloads that are hard to attain with other platforms, especially in high wind
areas. It excels in situations where you dont have the research resources to purchase satellite imagery or commission aerial photography. It is also
cheaper, has fewer moving parts, and doesnt require special batteries or charging (beyond camera and rig batteries.

Check out the scholarship on Google Scholar

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Here is an example of the end product of orthorectification and geo referencing a series of imagery. The imagery then behaves like a normal raster
layer in ArcGIS.

Here is an example of the same area with imagery imported into a GIS after being quickly orthorectified and georeferenced (note distortions at edges of
mosaicfrom the process).

Note

These notes reflect a basic research mapping setup that has worked for imaging runs in places where the winds are reasonably high much of the year, but
spare parts are scarce.

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Long-flooded areas, now abandoned, and given over to reeds

What Kite?

Depends on wind conditions in desired area. best all-round kite is a foil, however these need a minimum windspeed and require some finesse in launching
in light wind.

A foil (a variant on the flowform) for moderate winds.

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A kite for light winds is the FLED. This kite works well with light pressure but in heavy breeze will have very substantial pull and will be difficult to control.

Here is an illustration of what a single KAP image can tell you about how the residents of this neighborhood have created their own drainage
system.

Pin A Tail On It!

A must.Long tails with high drag substantially improve kite tracking.

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You should consider investing in a range of tails and experiment in the field and with the rig on the line. Consider investing in more than one fuzzy tailand
experiment with attachment points on your kite. A FLED, for example, will give you a single point while a flowform foil will allow you to create a U-loop
which can work well in some situations. Some FLEDS ship with a small drogue tail with a harness. You may find that this produces insufficient drag and
leads to a jumpy kite in irregular or high winds. It can be augmented with a fuzzy tail.

Camera

I use various PowerShot cameras, modified with CHDKto run custom shooting scripts and sequences. I pick light, used cannon PowerShots and then
modify if necessary. A good 100 dollar PowerShot gets good images and is nothing to cry over if lost.

CHDK: The Good Hack

The Cannon Hacker Development Kit (CHDK) is a fantastic way to pre-program your camera to perform a wide range of operations. It works by replacing
the firmware used by the camera (hence Hack!) with one that you store on your SD Card and is pretty user friendly.

Here is a CHDK getting started tutorial

Once you get started you maywant to customize the script for your purposes, or use a pre-written one from the CHDK Wiki. CHDK is easy to read and
script in.

Below isan example CHDKscriptfor timed interval with auto exposure from one of the forums(Credits: outslider,cyril42e &Pawel Tokarz)

--[[
@title Intervalometer with auto Tv

@param n NumofShots
@default n 1000

@param d Delay
@default d 60

@param s Delay step (ms)

@default s 500

@param l Bv96 correction @ Bv = -500

@default i 0

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@param h Bv96 correction @ Bv = +500

@default j 0

@param x Draw chart on screen? 0=No

@default x 1

@param p How many points?

@default p 100

--]]

--[[
This script is based on work of cyril42e (cyril42e@gmail.com)
http://crteknologies.fr/wiki/doku.php/photo:chdk-scripts#night_shot
(I used his way to calculate shutter time)
Changed to intervalometer and converted to Lua by Pawel Tokarz aka Outslider
Nice chart of brightness vs photo number added.
--]]

--initialize Bv chart
if (x ~= 0) then
NUMOF_POINTS=p
CHART_BV_STEP=1
CHART_BV={}
CHART_BV_LINE={}
CHART_X0=10
CHART_Y0=20
CHART_BV_MIN=nil
CHART_BV_MAX=nil
require "drawings"
draw.add("rectf",CHART_X0,CHART_Y0,CHART_X0+NUMOF_POINTS,CHART_Y0+50,"white","trans")
CHART_BV_MAX_LABEL=draw.add("string",CHART_X0,CHART_Y0-9,"minBV","white","black")
CHART_BV_MIN_LABEL=draw.add("string",CHART_X0,CHART_Y0+51,"maxBV","white","black")
i=0
for i=1, NUMOF_POINTS do
CHART_BV[i]=nil
CHART_BV_LINE[i]=draw.add("line",CHART_X0,CHART_Y0,CHART_X0,CHART_Y0,"blue")

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end
end

set_console_layout(0,0,25,5)
set_console_autoredraw(0)

A=h-l
B=(l+h)/2

TV_OSD_TIME = 0
TV_OSD_96 = 0
BV_OSD = nil
BV_COR = 0
DELAY_OSD = 0

function chart_update()
if (x~=0) then
if (CHART_BV_MIN==nil) then CHART_BV_MIN=BV_OSD end
if (CHART_BV_MAX==nil) then CHART_BV_MAX=BV_OSD end

if (BV_OSD<CHART_BV_MIN) then CHART_BV_MIN=BV_OSD end

if (BV_OSD>CHART_BV_MAX) then CHART_BV_MAX=BV_OSD end

draw.replace(CHART_BV_MAX_LABEL,"string",CHART_X0+2,CHART_Y0-11,"Bv max: "..CHART_BV_MAX,"white","black"

draw.replace(CHART_BV_MIN_LABEL,"string",CHART_X0+2,CHART_Y0+49,"Bv min: "..CHART_BV_MIN,"white","black"

CHART_BV[NUMOF_POINTS]=BV_OSD
for i=1, NUMOF_POINTS-1 do
CHART_BV[i]=CHART_BV[i+1]

if (CHART_BV[i] ~= nil ) then

y=CHART_Y0+50-((CHART_BV[i]-CHART_BV_MIN)*50/(CHART_BV_MAX-CHART_BV_MIN))
draw.replace(CHART_BV_LINE[i],"line",CHART_X0+i,y,CHART_X0+i,CHART_Y0+50,"white")
end
end
draw.overdraw()
end
end

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function OSD_update()
if (x ~= 0) then
draw.overdraw()
end
print("Brightness : "..BV_OSD)
print("Correction : "..BV_COR)
print("Tv : "..TV_OSD_TIME)
print("Tv (96) : "..TV_OSD_96)
print("Delay : "..DELAY_OSD)
end

shoots_done=0

repeat

loop_step_start_time=get_tick_count()

--Camera will get exposure parameters now

--This loop is complicated, since camera sometimes miss get_shooting.

--On my SX130 it happens once per a few thousands shots,
--but this is enough to break nice time-lapse video.

self_test=false
repeat
press("shoot_half") --we press shoot_half to get all exposure params
step=0
repeat
sleep(10)
if (get_shooting()) then --if we are lucky, camera can shoot now,
step=300 --so we set step>200 to leave safety loop
self_test=true --and set self_test to true to leave outside loop
end
step=step+1
until step>200
if(self_test==false) then --we had no luck this time, camera missed something,

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release("shoot_half") --so we release shoot_half and go back.

end
until self_test==true

--we read Bv (luminance), Sv (ISO), Av (aperture), Ev shift and current Tv (exposure time)
Bv=get_bv96()
Sv=get_sv96()
Av=get_av96()
Ev=get_prop(207)
Tv=get_tv96() --useless, but in a case to modify this script in future

--we calculate and set new Tv (from APEX definitions)

Tv_new=Bv+Sv-Av-Ev

BV_COR=Bv*A/1000+B

Tv_new=Tv_new-BV_COR

if(Tv_new<0) then TV_OSD_TIME=2^(-Tv_new/96) end

if(Tv_new>0) then TV_OSD_TIME="1/"..2^(Tv_new/96) end
TV_OSD_96=Tv_new
BV_OSD=Bv

chart_update()

set_tv96_direct(Tv_new)
sleep(100)
release("shoot_half")

OSD_update()
sleep(100)

--And propably the most important command in this script

shoot()

OSD_update()

--wait appropriate time

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repeat
time_to_wait=1000*d-get_tick_count()+loop_step_start_time
-- print("left: "..time_to_wait.." ms")
DELAY_OSD=time_to_wait/1000
OSD_update()
sleep(s)
until time_to_wait<s

--repeat for next shoot

shoots_done=shoots_done+1
until shoots_done==n

Camera mount

Using a PowerShot you canmount it on a variant of this mount designed for a Picavetharness

To limit chafing on the Picavetsuspension, I suggest you use something like these pulleys

Kite Line & Clips

For heavy winds and a generously weighted rig, I suggest using 200 lb test line like this.

Good clips that dont slip are a must-have if you are attaching your camera to the line on a rig that is suspended with more line (e.g. a picavet).

AdditionalStuff Checklist

Leather gloves.(2)
Carabiners (minimum of 2). They can be used as a ground attachment, or to hold and walk a taut line down under very high winds.
Sturdy belt. Hold up your pants and, in a pinch, serve as a ground or tree anchor.
Kit sack for non breakables
Hard box(es) with padding for camera and picavet
Kite repair tape (nylon / tent repair / ripstop)
Small kit with screws, drivers, extra material for rig, shims, duck tape or gaffing tape, spare line.

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Flooded area in Dakar, Senegal. Note blurring and distortion from lens. The image needs to be orthorectified. Click image for hires.

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