Aerial Photography as an Aid in Map Making, with Special Reference to Water Power Surveys

The purpose of this paper is to hring to the attention of the Profession a method of utilizing aerial photographs in the preparation of maps, which has been used with considerable success in a recent survey of the Tennessee River. The method appears to be well adapted for use in water power surveys, irrigation surveys, city planning, and the location of highways. It utilizes to the fullest possible extent the information furnished by the photographs, and eliminates the necessity of providing triangulation or other costly forms of ground control. In this respect, it departs not only from ordinary survey methods, but also from most of the systems of aerial mapping evolved to the present time.