Flying a kite for aerial photogrammetry was difficult because Iceland has relatively unpredictable weather, including the wind. I was able to make a couple of flights in the northern part of Iceland near the Holuhraun lava flow, which finished erupting just a few months before our arrival. Most of our mapping work during this summer of 2015 field campaign was accomplished using DJI Phantom 3 Professional unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). You can see more details here at this website, including publication. Much of this work is still underway.
It takes a few people to make the camera system and the kite work together, especially the radio controlled gimbal.
Launching the kite in this area was challenging due to inconsistent winds and rocky terrain.
Here you can see that I have the rig holding the camera suspended from the kite line.
Once the kite and camera are up in the air with good wind, mapping is relatively simple. The camera takes images automatically at an interval I set, and my job is then to just fly it over areas of interest.
This image was taken from a radio-controlled gimbal attached to the kite. Here is a place where glacial, fluvial and volcanic processes all take place.
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