History The Chinese are reputed to have been the first to use kites for purposes other than sport. History of Kite Flying and History of Kites. The most famous successful use of kites for scientific purposes was by Benjamin Franklin.(Brands, H. W. The First Amercian: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, Doubleday, 2000). In 1752 Franklin used a kite to demonstrate that lightning is a form of electricity. This was the basis for his invention of the lightning rod. He was soon awarded the M.A. degree by Harvard and Yale, was elected a member of the Royal Society, and awarded its Coply Medal. Later he was awarded doctorates in England and Scotland and was elected both a Fellow of the Royal Society and member of the French Academy of Science. The prestige associated with his scientific accomplishments enabled him in 1776 to obtain French support for the War of Independence. The arrival of a French fleet carrying troops forced the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown.

In 1858 Tournachon (known as Nadar) made the first aerial photographs from a balloon (See Aber et al. below). British meteorologist, E. D. Archibald, was the first to use kites for aerial photography (1887).

Aerial Photography The US Government has made impressive use of large format aerial photography, with programs that acquire images from heights of several thousand meters obtaining resolutions of 1 to 4 meters. Governments worldwide have contracted with commercial operators to carry out similar programs in their own countries. In many countries such large-scale imagery is restricted to government and military users and is not available to the general public. While large-scale photography uses 9.5 X 9.5 inch (240 X 240 mm) film, small-format aerial photography (SFAP) uses film formats of 6 X 6 cm or 35 mm. "SFAP is typically acquired at low height (few 100 m), which results in high-resolution and large-scale images while sacrificing broad areal coverage." Aber, J. S., Aber, S. W., and Pavri, F. Unmanned Small-Format Aerial Photography from Kites for Acquiring Large-Scale High, Resolution, Multiview-Angle Imagery, Pecora 15/Land Satellite Information IV/ISPRS Commission I/FIEOS 2002 Conference Proceedings. Download paper as PDF file.

SFAP Platforms Small-format aerial photography platforms are both manned and unmanned. Small aircraft, helicopters, ultra-lights and hot-air balloons are manned platforms. Helium balloons, blimps, model aircraft, and kites are used as umanned platforms. (See Aber et al. above.) Kites and tethered balloons/blimps may be considered complementary since balloons and blimps are suited to light winds, while kites may be used with stronger winds. The size of the platform and the strength of the wind are the main factors determining lift. A medium size blimp or a medium size kite can lift a small format camera rig of one to two kilograms, including radio-controlled devices for horizontal and vertical aiming and shutter release.

Kite Aerial Photography Kite aerial photography (KAP) has several attractive features. The kite as a platform is relatively low cost and is easily transported. While it is possible for one person to manage the entire process, an assistant makes a project more manageable, as demonstrated by Carl Bigras who used KAP to survey a fossil forest in the Canadian Arctic, (Bigras, C. Kite Aerial Photography of the Axel Heilberg Island Fossil Forest, Proceedings of the First North American Symposium on Small format Aerial Photography, 1997.) For many years James and Susan Aber have been developing and applying KAP to earth science studies and training students in KAP techniques, (Great Plains Aerial Photography). Brooks Leffler, doyen of KAP, has inspired a whole generation of KAP enthusiasts. Kyteman's website. Charles Benton, Professor of Architecture, University of California at Berkeley, provides a wealth of information including links to The Aerial Eye, a KAP journal now defunct.

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