The document provides information about mapping areas that have been impacted by wildfires from aerial photos taken by planes. It discusses how to lay out grids on maps, estimate the areas burned using different shapes, and calculate fire damage percentages. It also covers topics like digital camera resolution, pixel dimensions, lens angles, and how to determine the proper flying height to obtain clear aerial photos with a certain pixel resolution on the ground. The overall aim is to help map and analyze wildfire impacts to aid community risk assessment and resource planning.

1. Where’s The Fire
by
Larry Rice
All

2. Introduction
As a Cartographer you will be making maps
from photos taken by satellite and airplane so
that you can:
• name specific locations on the map,
• estimate how much of the ground area has
been burnt by fire (or where there is
fire), and
• plan how you will fly your plane closer to
the ground to take multiple smaller photos
that will combine to show more detail.
• Fly the plan, take the photos
• Your work will be used by the community to
estimate risk to residents, where to fight the
fire, and to plan the recovery of natural
resources.
All

3. Topics Covered
Mapping Basics Unit conversions
Estimating Map Areas Compass Directions
Digital Camera Basics Flight Algorithm
Aerial Photos Flight Plan

4. Mapping Basics
All

5. Lines for A Grid
A vertical A map grid is made up
Line is of multiple vertical
up-down lines, equally spaced
(parallel)
And multiple
A horizontal line equally-spaced
is left-right horizontal lines
(parallel)
When combined, these are perpendicular
4th
Hands-on: make vertical, horizontal, parallel, and perpendicular lines on paper Grade

6. Labels on a Map
And a map may have
titles explaining areas
or points of interest
Notice that our map,
as with most all
maps, has several
labels and symbols...
The Compass Rose shows
which way is north,
always up on maps, and
it sometimes shows
other directions: south,
west, east. The scale shows us how
far a distance on a map
There are many other is, in this case, 2.5 Km
types of compass rose, (Kilometer) is as far as
for example... the white line is long...
All
Hands-on: Draw map labels and titles on photos or in GIS software

7. How Big is the Photo
Before we draw our grid,
we need to pick an origin,
the starting point,
and determine the This is 20
dimensions (width and Km high
height) of our photo-map, 8 x 2.5km
using the scale.
Km is Kilometer
This is 30
Km wide
The Origin is often the 12 x 2.5km
bottom left corner
All
Hands-on: use scale on map to determine dimensions or distance between things

8. A quick Check on Terminology
A E __ Vertical Line
__ Horizontal Line
__ Compass Rose
G __ Scale
F
__ Label
D
__ Perpendicular
B C __ Parallel
All
Hands-on: Identify on an actual map

9. Laying out a Grid
We can now draw different grids.
(Remember, this photo map is 20Km high by 30Km wide)
A large grid has A medium grid has A small grid has
3 horizontal, 4 vertical lines 3 horizontal, 7 vertical lines 9 horizontal, 13 vertical lines
(10Km apart) (5Km apart) (2.5Km apart)
You should note that each area drawn is a square, all sides are of equal
length and are perpendicular, since all grid lines are equally spaced.
All
Hands-on: Draw differing grids on actual maps

10. Coordinates for the Grid
We will now select our Origin to be the upper left corner
Numbers
So we can now use
letters going down
to label the 1 2 3
vertical direction,
numbers going left
The Grid
to label the A A1 A2 A3
location name
horizontal
becomes the
direction, these
letter-number
can be shown on B B1 B2 B3
combination
two sides or all
four sides
Letters
All

11. Can you Label a
Different Sized Grid ?
_ _
_ __ Using the
same
__ method,
type in the
__ label and
each grid
_ __
location
All
Hands-on: add labels on grids created previously

12. Estimating Map Areas
All

13. Estimating Fire Damage
To estimate how much forest
is damaged by fire, we will
use different shapes that
each have an area of 10
square miles
Use any number of shapes to
cover all the areas in the
photo map that are dark red.
You can rotate the shape to The area burned is about
complete the puzzle. Once all 150 square miles
dark red is covered, count how (15 shape x 10 square miles each)
many shapes have been used,
did you get 15 to 20 ?
4th
Hands-on: Complete area estimate on actual maps / photos with cut-out shapes Grade

14. Chart the Areas
You have made pie charts before, can
you complete this chart, showing how
much area is burned (dark red), forest
(green), rock (dark brown), and other.
________ ______
Fire Damage
_______ 4th
Hands-on: Draw Pie chart on paper Grade

15. Estimating Fire Damage
To estimate how much
forest is damaged by fire,
we will count the number Mostly
of squares that include all dark red
mostly bright red areas
(3 here), then divide it by
the total squares in the
grid, in this case 6 Three of the six squares
2/6=1/3
If the photo map is 20Km
by 30Km, then the area 33% of the area is burned
covered by the map is is our estimate, this is about
the product of these, or 200 Square Km (Km2)
600 Square Km
7th Grade,
High School

16. Estimating Fire Damage
We can get a more
detailed, or more
accurate, estimate by
using a smaller grid, in
this case our grid with
8 vertical labels and
12 horizontal labels, 27 of the 96 squares
this map has 8 x 12 27 / 96 =
squares, 96 total 28% of the area is burned
is our estimate here, a little less
than 33% from before
7th Grade,
High School
Hands-on: On paper grids made previously

17. Can you complete an
Estimate of the Fire Damage
Given this grid,
what is your
estimate of the
fire-damaged area?
Is it close to the
previous estimates?
__ of the 24 squares
__ / 24 =
__% of the area is burned,
this is __ Km2
7th Grade,
Hands-on: On paper grids made previously High School

18. Digital Camera Basics
7th Grade,
High School

19. Photo & Viewing Sizes
Photos, TVs, DVDs and other
displays are generally not square Media Horz Vert
in size, they all have a specific
ratio, horizontal to vertical,
sometimes called an aspect ratio.
This is noted as a ratio, DVDs 16 9
Horizontal:Vertical
Digital Photos usually have a 35mm Camera 3 2
4:3 ratio
Digital Cameras,
Vertical 4 3
Monitors, TVs
Horizontal 7th Grade,
Hands-on: Measure distances on TV, computer monitor, DVD being played High School

20. Pixel Resolution
Camera Horz Vert
The MegaPixel (MP) rating on a
digital camera is a specification
Rating Pixels Pixels
of the number of pixels created /
captured by the camera, Mega 12 MP 4000 3000
referring to 106
With the aspect ratio at 4:3, the
pixel dimension of the longest
6 MP 2828 2121
side of a digital photo is
4 3 MP 2048 1536
3 * MP
Please note, a doubling of the MP rating only
results in a 40% increase in pixels (resolution)
7th Grade,
Hands-on: make calculations with calculator High School

21. Check your
Understanding
What are the pixel dimensions of an 8
MegaPixel digital camera?
_____ X _____
7th Grade,
Hands-on: make calculations with calculator High School

22. Camera Lenses
Area in Photo
Lense Angle
Film or
CCDs
The angle of
photo captured The digital
from a camera is camera we will
dependent upon Some example angles by lense size include: use changes
the length of lense length
the lense focal Lense Size (mm) 20 35 45 50 55 100 through zoom,
length, measured from 45mm to
Horizontal Angle 83 53 45 39 36 20 55mm, we will
in mm
use 50mm for
Reference: Lense angle chart this activity, a
common sized
lense.
Hands-on: for multiple zoom settings on the digital camera, measure 7th Grade,
multiple distances and photo width, calculate angles, make summary High School

23. Aerial Photo Resolution
In order to see fire areas in a photo, endangered Camera Horz Vert
species, or invasive species, we need to create aerial Rating Pixels Pixels
photos with a minimum resolution. There should be at
least one pixel for every foot on the ground. It would 12 MP 4000 3000
be best if we have photos that have 10 or more pixels
per foot. The MP resolution of the camera effects this, 6 MP 2828 2121
remember the table we had before.
3 MP 2048 1536
Pixels
Horz Vert
per
In order to determine how high to fly our plane with Distance Distance
foot
the digital camera, we need to determine how much
area should be covered by the camera on the ground. 1 4000 ft 3000 ft
If we use a 12 MP camera, there are 4000 x 3000
4 1000 750
pixels captured, if we need 1 pixel per foot, then the
area on the ground should be 4000 ft x 3000 ft, easy
yes? How about four pixels per foot (divide distance by 12 333 250
4), twelve pixels per foot (divide distance by 12), what
7th Grade,
is the ground area for these?
High School

24. Aerial Photo Resolution
Camera Horz Vert
Rating Pixels Pixels
Can you complete a table for a 3 MP camera ?
12 MP 4000 3000
6 MP 2828 2121
Pixels 3 MP 2048 1536
Horz Vert
per
Distance Distance
foot
1
4
12
7th Grade,
High School

25. Flying Height Calculations
Given the table you completed for a 3 MP Trig provides several functions to help in
camera with a 50 mm lense. We will determining the length of sides on a right
calculate the distance above the ground triangle, given an internal angle is known.
the Plane needs to fly in order to get 12 So we create a right triangle between the
Pixels per foot resolution. This will take camera and the ground. This bisects the
some Trigonometry...specifically Tangent lense angle (39/2) and the width of the
photo area on the ground (512/2).
Tan (19.50) = 256 / Height
390
19.50
Height 256 ft Height =
256 /Tan-1(19.50) =
Height 240 Feet
Please note, since two internal angles are known for this
right triangle, the third angle can be found, all three
angles in a triangle sum to 180. That angle is 70.50.
512 Ft
Hands-on: make calculations with calculator, Sine, Cosine, and Tangent High School

26. A Check on Understanding
Can you calculate the
height above ground for
this 3 MP camera with a Pixels Height
50 mm lense, given pixel Horz Vert
per above
resolutions of 4 per foot Distance Distance
foot Ground
and 1 per foot.
1 2048 1536 2891
4 1024 768 722
12 512 384 240
Hands-on: make calculations with calculator (TI83 or HP50, for example) High School

27. Unit Conversions
7th Grade,
High School

28. Units and Conversions
Unit conversions can be
So far we have used made within the English or
several types of unit metric systems:
measurements: KiloMeters,
Milimeters, Feet, and 1000 meters = 1Km
Pixels. We will also be 1000 mm = 1 Meter
using Miles, so we need to In these cases, move the Show some
review how to make decimal three places. example
distance unit conversions conversions and
between Metric (meters, Within the English system have student
Km, mm) and English it is a bit more difficult, complete some
(Miles, feet). conversion factors must be conversions.
used, for distance
5280 ft = 1 mile, use the
conversion factor of 5280
ft/Mi.
References: Unit Conversion, Metric
prefixes and Metric Conversions 7th Grade,
High School

29. Aerial Photos
All

30. Photo RC Plane Flight Plan
To plan a flight path of an RC plane we will first
assume a 3MP camera with a 50mm lense, this is a
common digital camera you can buy in most any
electronics store.
We require a resolution of 3 pixels per foot on the
ground so that we have photos with sufficient detail
for analysis (10X the detail of satellite photos).
This means we must fly the RC plane 250 feet above
the ground while taking the photos. The photos will
therefore cover a path of about 500ft wide by 375ft.
We will be flying over two new areas: Bone Creek
Reservoir and Crawford Wildlife area. Both satellite
photos are 1 mile in one dimension, about 5000 feet. On
one we will calculate the area of water and on the
other the forested area (no fires in either).
Above numbers are rounded for ease of calculation.
All

31. What is an Array
The map grid we completed
previously can also be
thought of as an array.
3
An array is pattern of
shapes (squares in this case),
number of shapes high by
wide: A 2 x 3 Array
Our RC plane photos are
rectangles, not squares. The 2
ratio of width to height is
4:3. We will create an array
of photos using these
rectangles.
All

32. What is the Flight
Path? 375’
500’
Can you create an RC Plane
array of photos over this area?
You can fly the plane in two
directions, one up / down
3750’
(North / South), the other left
/ right (West / East).
The full area needs to be
covered, so the photo array
from the plane would be
10 x 10 or 8 x 14
5000’ Which is better (less photos,
less flying, more accurate) ?
Hands-on: Grade 4 - place photo-sized cutouts in two patterns over the All
photo map. Grade 7, High School - measure photo map and calculate array.

33. How much area is
covered by forest ?
66 photos x 500’ x 375’
= 12.4 Million Sq. Ft.
10 x 10
(100 Photos)
(Best)
8 x 14
(112 Photos) All

34. What is the Best Flight
Path?
375
500
5000’
Can you determine how
many photos need to be
taken for this area, to
determine the area of
water at the reservoir?
6700’
10 x 18 (180 photos ) (west <-> East Flight Path)
or
14 x 14 (196 Photos) (South <-> North Flight Path)
All

35. Compass Direction
All

36. Angles on a Compass
3600 / 00 Example: ENE
Zero is at the “East North East”
top, angles in at 150 increments
3150 NNW N 450
degrees going NNE
clockwise, 360
NW NE
degrees total
WNW
ENE
2700 W E 900
WSW ESE
SW SE
225 0 SSW S SSE
1350
4th Grade?
7th Grade,
1800 High School

37. How about another Direction?
How about flying at a diagonal,
5000’ could this require less photos,
flying, and be more efficient ?
What angle (or compass
direction) would be best?
6700’ Can you do better than 6 paths,
72 photos, at 75 degrees, ENE ?
4th Grade?
Hands-on: Grade 4 - place photo-sized cutouts in a pattern, at an 7th Grade,
angle. Measure the angle. Convert the angle to compass direction. High School

38. Flight Algorithm
7th Grade,
High School

39. What is the Flight
Algorithm?
An algorithm is a specific
set of instructions for
carrying out a procedure
or solving a problem,
sometimes named a
method, procedure, or
technique (Wolfram).
As you can see from the last two examples, the method to create the smallest
flight array could be on the longest or shortest dimension, dependent upon the
product of the array dimensions. And the number of photos needs to cover an equal
or greater area, not less (round up of the number).
So how would you explain the steps?
7th Grade,
Hands-on: Can this be done electronically? Possibly only on paper? High School

40. Your Procedure ?
Step 1: divide Ls by Lp, round up answers to
the nearest integer. Divide Ws by Wp, round
up the answer to the nearest integer.
Ws
Step 2: State the Array ratio.
Step 3: Reverse the calculations (Ls / Wp
and Wz / Lp), a flight path perpendicular to
Ls the first calculation.
Step 4: Select the lowest product of each,
lowest total number of photos.
Wp
Lp
7th Grade,
Hands-on: Can this be done electronically? Possibly only on paper? High School

41. Flight Plan
7th Grade,
High School

42. Flying the RC Plane
The final calculations to be made for the flight
plan are time required to fly one path, all paths,
with turns and time between photos. We will
assume the RC plane flys at 15 MPH and a single-
3750’ engine plane flys at 75 MPH (5X faster).
5000’ Unit conversions will be required to find travel
times. 5280 ft/mi and 3600 s/hr (60 s/min X 60
min/hr) are to be used.
15 MPH x 5280 ft/mi = 22 ft/s, RC Plane
3600 s/hr
5000’
75 MPH x 5280 ft/mi = 110 ft/s, Plane
3600 s/hr
6700’
375
7th Grade,
500 High School

43. Flying the RC Plane
To fly 3750’
- The RC plane would take
3750 ft / 22 ft/s = 170 sec = 2.8 minutes to fly one
pass. With 10 paths, this would take 28 minutes to
fly (not counting the turns). Photos would need to
3750’ be taken every 375 feet, or every 17 seconds (375
ft / 22 ft/s).
5000’ - The single-engine plane would take
3750 ft / 110 ft/s = 34 sec = 0.57 minutes to fly
one path. With 10 paths, this would take 5.7
minutes to fly (not counting turns). Photos would
need to be taken every 375 feet, or every 3.4
seconds (374 ft / 110 ft/s).
7th Grade,
High School

44. Flying the RC Plane
When we include the turns, 9 total, we need to
determine the distance for the turn. Assuming it is
circular, the diameter is 500 ft, Circumference =
diameter x pie, 1/2 the circumference is used for
3750’ the turn, so the turn is 250 ft x Pie = 785 ft, for 9
turns, 785 ft x 9 = 7070 ft total distance in turns.
5000’ For the RC plane (22 ft/s), the turns will add 320
seconds (7070/22) or 5 minutes. Total time is 28 +
5, 33 minutes total flying time (check the RC
battery).
Turn
For the plane (110 ft/s), the turns will add 64
seconds, or 1.1 minute. Total flying time is 5.7 + 1.1,
500’ or 6.8 minutes total.
7th Grade,
High School

45. Check your Calculations
Can you determine the
total flying time for this
photo, both the RC plane
and single-engine plane.
5000’
How many seconds
between photos?
6700’
375
500
7th Grade,
High School

46. Topics Covered
Mapping Basics Unit conversions
Estimating Map Areas Compass Directions
Digital Camera Basics Flight Algorithm
Aerial Photos Flying Plan

47. Final Project 12 Miles
For the satellite photo of Pittsburg,
determine the following RC plane plan
details, given a 12MP camera with a
55mm lense and 12 pixels per foot 8 Miles
resolution:
Grade 4
- Create labels for the photo
- If the RC plane flys over the area
and takes a photo 1 square mile, what Grade 7 & High School
is the minimum number of photos - Determine minimum photos to be taken
required for the full photo. (array) for the full area, just the city, flying
-Show the path you would fly to direction, % area is city (buildings and houses),
cover just the city area with pictures farming, size of the city, total flight times.
- How big is Pittsburg in square miles High School
- Draw a pie chart of the types of - How high should you fly the RC plane
areas in the map (City - How often, number of seconds, should you
(buildings/houses), farming, forest) take photos over the area
- Total flight time for RC and single-engine
Hands-on: Assemble and fly the RC plane over an area, take photos by plan (camera
MP and lense, flight direction, height, time between photos, distance between paths)

48. Summary
As a Cartographer you are now able to make
maps from photos taken by satellite and
airplane to:
• name specific locations on the map,
• estimate how much of the ground area has
been burnt by fire (or where there is
fire), and
• plan how you will fly your plane closer to
the ground to take multiple smaller photos
that will combine to show more detail.
• Fly the plan, take the photos
• Your work will be used by the community to
estimate risk to residents, where to fight the
fire, and to plan the recovery of natural
resources.
All

49. Where’s The Fire
by
Larry Rice
All