干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

As part of the measurements of desert terrain characteristics in the United Arab Emirates, made in support of a study of airborne radar, close range vertical stereophotographs of various natural surfaces were taken with a pair of Hasselblad MK70 metric cameras. The technique is described and the constraints imposed by the ground conditions and the need for rapid measurements are explained. Various terrain types are illustrated and the method is described whereby variables summarising surface roughness and surface slope were generated from profiles of the microrelief. From a more general discussion of current equipment and geomorphological applications of close range photogrammetry, it is concluded that this flexible technique is presently underutilised by field scientists.