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Aerial Products specializes in low-altitude aerial imaging, from 50 feet to a few thousand feet. The Aerial Products' approach is a lot closer to the subject than satellite imagery or fly-by's from aircraft. With our systems you don't have to rely on months-old satellite passes, pay expensive flight-rates or costly maintenance for fixed-wing and rotorary wing aircraft. Using an aerostat is much more effective in protecting, observing, providing situational awareness and enabling a business like commercial photography.
The methods and products we provide range from special projects for the US Department of Defense to aerial photography systems for professional and commercial photographers and nearly everything in the middle. We have aerial balloon imaging systems for emergency first responders, law-enforcement SWAT units, high-value security details, border security agencies and even your local photogrammetry scientist.
Using aerostats, powered by Helium, not Jet-A, can achieve better results at a lower cost than traditional forms of aerial imaging. If you don't see a system that suits your project, contact us to discuss your requirements.
There are many uses for low altitude aerial imaging. These include:
• Aerial Surveillance, with an aerostat you get a persistent aerial surveillance capability for a lot less investment
• Aerial Photography for professional (News and Documentaries) and commercial purposes (real estate, industrial)
• Aerial Photography for research, archaeology, geology and global warming studies
• Oblique aerials for land planning and development
• Traffic management
• Accident investigation
• Crowd security, crowd control and management
• Roof inspections
• Construction site monitoring
• Environmental clean up site progress monitoring
• Aerial balloon photography recording of temporal changes in dynamic surficial environments
• Photogrammetry, see this example of 3d analysis of Dam blocks using a Nikon D300 aerial balloon system
There are many different methods and technologies for aerial imaging with most being specific to a given purpose. A realtor doesn't usually need a street-view photo of a property in the thermal spectrum. How much value is a digital SLR up on a balloon to a security detail on the ground? The point is, Aerial Products has a lot of capabilities and we strive to match our systems to customer needs. Sometimes there isn’t a match, and when that happens the customer is the first to know.
All of our methods are based on lighter-than-air balloons and pneumatic masts. For the balloons we use Helium in all cases. As a noble gas, Helium is inert and non-flammable. Further, all of our balloons are made of premium polyurethane (TPU) which is highly effective at retaining the very small Helium molecule.
When discussing an aerial imaging project, the first thing we do is determine what detector is suitable. A detector is like a camera but may not have on-board data storage and may see things that are not visible to the naked eye, which is why we call them detectors instead of just cameras. As the realtor and security detail examples illustrate, one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to detectors. The same is true for the means of getting data from the detector down to the ground. In some cases we transmit low-quality live video of what the detector sees. This is the method for aerial photography. In other cases we use a high-data rate digital transmission to show 16 million pixels every third of a second. This method is used for aerial surveillance.
Our transmission methods are as varied as the uses for aerial imaging. These include:
• Line transmission through a “smart” tether, analog or digital signal, including Kevlar reinforced fiber optic
• Line transmission using an ancillary data-only line attached to the tether, analog or digital using twisted-pair
• Wireless analog transmission, where video is sent and received similar to a TV signal
• Wireless digital transmission, where video can be sent as packets of data or as modulated signals similar to the new digital TV standards
Like the detector, we match the appropriate data transmission method with the customer’s requirements. In one recent project, due to frequency magnetic concerns, we employed four forms of digital transmission in the same system. This solution proved to be important since the customer’s experiment was affected by the high-powered radio. One form of line transmission was affected by ship’s power, and the remaining two provided the data rates required for the mission. We can design nearly anything to make our customers successful.
The final component to aerial imaging is the means of getting the payload in the air and retrieving it. There are options ranging from plastic cord winders and manual winches to electric-hydraulic winches with line levelers. These winches can operate from generators, line power and batteries. Generally we recommend the approach based on the size of the balloon, which is determined by the weight of the payload.
As a recap, with aerial imaging there are multiple facets to a system:
• The detector used to see the subject or experiment
• The transmission method for getting the detector’s image to the operator
• The balloon used to carry the detector
• The launcher used to manage the launch and recovery of the balloon
Getting back to the aerial sensor, detector or camera, light needs to bounce off of the subject for a visible light detector to work, and energy in the form of heat needs to be emitted for a thermal sensor to work. Energy, in the form of light, is the key. It is either emitted or reflected, and wavelength as measured in microns is how devices are categorized.
The next main point to understand is that visible light is cheap to capture, while thermal energy is expensive to capture. As you move from visible light wavelengths toward the infrared spectrum of thermal imaging, the cost increases exponentially. The inverse rule is true for resolution. Sensors for visible light can be high resolution, up to 16 megapixels, while sensors for thermal imaging are commonly at 300,000 pixels or less.
So what are these detectors used for? From a practical standpoint, visible light sensors are great for commercial photography and in many cases for surveillance. Thermal sensors are good for no light conditions like border surveillance and for energy loss applications like roofing inspections. Wavelengths are as varied as people. You can start at one end of the spectrum, visible light, and move toward the other end, thermal, in infinitely defined steps.
Let’s break it down to three main wavelengths, their equivalent detectors and how they are best used:
Visible light
- Photography
- Daytime surveillance
Near-infrared
- Archeology dig studies
- Geological observations
- Surveillance in low-light and no-light conditions (light amplification with IR illuminators)
Thermal-infrared
- No light surveillance (borders, combat theaters of operation)
- Energy loss detection and inspection (buildings, experiments)
- To put this in context, the Aerial Products’ aerial imaging systems are grouped in the same fashion as the main wavelengths.
• Commercial photography systems are visible light
• LTAS 100 is visible light and infrared augmented illumination (low LUX)
• LTAS 200 has a visible light detector and a separate thermal detector (on separate gimbal)
• LTAS 300 has a visible light detector and a thermal detector (on the same gimbal)
When you need a lighter-than-air imaging solution, Aerial Products has the expertise to help you determine the system that is right for you.
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