Mapping with strings attached: Kite aerial photography of Durai Island, Anambas Islands, Indonesia

Abstract

A 1:2,000 scale orthophoto map of the southern coast of Durai Island, Indonesia, was created using kite aerial photography and computer vision software. Photographs were taken using a consumer-grade digital camera suspended from the line of a kite that was towed by boat along Durai's coastline. Three hundred and fifty-seven aerial photographs were combined into a mosaic, orthorectified and georeferenced using Agisoft PhotoScan software with ground control points collected via a GPS field survey. The map was created in conjunction with underwater ecological surveys of the coral reefs surrounding the island, and it supports ongoing monitoring and educational outreach efforts. Kite aerial photography provides a low-cost, portable, and technologically straightforward means of collecting large-scale aerial imagery in situations where a conventional, aircraft-based photographic survey is not practical.