Türkiye çimento sektörünün lideri Akçansa, dünya kalite standartlarına uygun ürünleri, İstanbul Sanayi Odası tarafından ödüllendirilen doğa dostluğu, Sabancı güvencesi taşıyan üstün hizmet anlayışı ve yüksek teknoloji donanımlı tesisleriyle, Türkiye çimento ihtiyacının % 12′ini karşılamaktan büyük onur duyuyor.

Temelleri 1967 yılında Akçimento ile atılan ve 1996 yılında Çanakkale Çimento ile birleşmesi sonucunda Türkiye’nin en büıük çimento şirketi konumuna gelen Akçansa, bir Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding A.Ş. ve HeidelbergCement Mediterranean Basin Holdings, S.L. ortak kuruluşudur. Şirketin % 79.4 hissesine Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding ve HeidelbergCement Mediterranean Basin Holdings, S.L. eşit oranda sahiptir, kalan % 20.57′si halka açıktır.

Çimento ve hazırbeton üretiminde Marmara, Ege ve Karadeniz bölgelerinde faaliyet gösteren Akçansa’nın, İstanbul, Çanakkale’de ve Samsun’un Ladik ilçesinde kurulu üç çimento fabrikası ile Ambarlı, Aliağa ve Yalova’da üç çimento terminali bulunmaktadır. İştiraki olan Betonsa şirketi ile 1998 yılında birleşmesi sonucunda, Marmara ve Ege bölgelerine yayılmış 30′nin üzerinde hazırbeton tesisinde “Betonsa” markasıyla hizmet vermektedir. Diğer bir iştiraki olan Agregasa Agrega San.ve Tic.A.Ş. ile 2002 yılında birleşmiş ve agrega üretim faaliyetini “Agregasa” markası altında İstanbul’ da kurulu üç tesisi ile sürdürmektedir. Akçansa; hem yurt içindeki müşterilerin hem de yurtdışındaki müşterilerin taleplerini karşılamak ve farklılıkların zor algılandığı bu sektörde fiyat unsurunun da ötesinde rekabet edebilmek amacıyla “üretim ve hizmette en kaliteli” olmayı hedeflemiştir.

Airplane Windows

Avoid shooting through any windows. Windows are made of Plexiglas and, even if perfectly clean and polished, are not flat. With telephoto lenses they often will distort and make the image wavy as if you were looking through waves on an ocean. This is not much of a problem with wide lenses.

Ideally just open the window. On many small planes people rig them to open all the way. On C-150/152s and C-172s the windows usually open half way.

These Cessna windows can be made to open fully in flight with the permission of the owner and pilot by simply removing a small Philips head screw at the front retaining bracket while on the ground.  Then, when in flight, first stow all papers and light weight items and open the window holding on to the latch until fully open.  A good pair of ear-plugs is great to have with an open window. The wind will keep the window propped open in flight.

Hang on to that screw and replace it when back on the ground.  You might ask the FBO that provides the plane to have one of their mechanics remove it for the flight.  That will meet with varying degrees of enthusiasm.  A small Philips screw, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, can be a huge thing to the FAA.

Finding a Plane and Pilot

This is easy. Pilots look for excuses to fly. They love it. We talk about “$100 hamburgers” because many flights are simply to fly to the next airport just for lunch. Most planes are flown because pilots love flying for its own sake. It’s unlike many people who drive cars only because they have to.

PHOTO TECHNIQUE

Basics

Aerial photography has two technical issues. These are:

1.) Vibration. This comes from the airplane, its engine and air turbulence. Small planes bounce around a lot, unlike big boring jetliners. Fast lenses which are sharp at large apertures are a big help.

2.) Haze and any other obscuring phenomenon.

Conquering Vibration

This is easy: use a fast shutter speed and always hand-hold your camera. Don’t rest any part of it on the airplane. Keep every part of your arms elbows off any part of the plane. Ideally have your butt as your only point of contact.

You can use very large apertures since there is no need for depth of field. Experiment to learn the largest aperture at which your lens is sharp and use that.

Experiment and learn the highest ISO at which your digital camera makes clean images and use that.

Once you’ve set ISO and f/stop use whatever fast shutter speed you get. The faster the better.

If I use a shutter speed of 8x (eight times) the focal length I always get sharp results.

Gyro Stabilizers

I’ve never used one. I’m too cheap. I use short shutter speeds in good light.

You can rent or buy ones like the Kenyon Laboratories gyro. They help you make long exposures in crummy light. These are great for longer exposures with larger format cameras and in fading evening light. If you can get one go for it, but you don’t need it in daylight with a modern digital SLR.

Basic Elements of Air Photo Interpretation

Novice photo interpreters often encounter difficulties when presented with their first aerial photograph. Aerial photographs are different from “regular” photos in at least three important ways:

• objects are portrayed from an overhead (and unfamiliar) position.
• very often, infrared wavelengths are recorded, and
• photos are taken at scales most people are unaccustomed to seeing

These “basic elements” can aid in identifying objects on aerial photographs.

• Tone (also called Hue or Color) — Tone refers to the relative brightness or color of elements on a photograph. It is, perhaps, the most basic of the interpretive elements because without tonal differences none of the other elements could be discerned.
• Size — The size of objects must be considered in the context of the scale of a photograph. The scale will help you determine if an object is a stock pond or Lake Minnetonka.
• Shape — refers to the general outline of objects. Regular geometric shapes are usually indicators of human presence and use. Some objects can be identified almost solely on the basis of their shapes.
• the Pentagon Building
• (American) football fields
• cloverleaf highway interchanges
• Texture — The impression of “smoothness” or “roughness” of image features is caused by the frequency of change of tone in photographs. It is produced by a set of features too small to identify individually. Grass, cement, and water generally appear “smooth”, while a forest canopy may appear “rough”.
• Pattern (spatial arrangement) — The patterns formed by objects in a photo can be diagnostic. Consider the difference between (1) the random pattern formed by an unmanaged area of trees and (2) the evenly spaced rows formed by an orchard.
• Shadow — Shadows aid interpreters in determining the height of objects in aerial photographs. However, they also obscure objects lying within them.
• Site — refers to topographic or geographic location. This characteristic of photographs is especially important in identifying vegetation types and landforms. For example, large circular depressions in the ground are readily identified as sinkholes in central Florida, where the bedrock consists of limestone. This identification would make little sense, however, if the site were underlain by granite.
• Association — Some objects are always found in association with other objects. The context of an object can provide insight into what it is. For instance, a nuclear power plant is not (generally) going to be found in the midst of single-family housing.

AIRCRAFT and FLYING

Planes and Helicopters

You don’t need a helicopter or fancy plane. An ordinary Cessna single engine, high wing plane is probably the most effective. My mom learned on a Piper Cub J-3; these are so slow and have doors that open so these are even better. Of course Piper Cubs are antiques today so you won’t find them everywhere; they were just the cheap alternative back in the old days.

You want windows that open. Slower planes are more likely to have this than your dad’s corporate Gulfstream.

I’ve never felt the need to pull off a door. I’m just fine shooting out an open window, and this way you don’t get blown all over traveling to and from your target.

I’ve also never cut a hole in the bottom of a perfectly good airplane. Shooting straight down is done for mapping and surveying, but makes boring photos. You can pull these sorts of shots off the internet if you just want to look in your neighbor’s back yard. I prefer shots made at a more natural angle, which you get from shooting out a window.

Aerial photography has two uses that are of interest within the context of this course: (1) Cartographers and planners take detailed measurements from aerial photos in the preparation of maps. (2) Trained interpreters utilize arial photos to determine land-use and environmental conditions, among other things.

Although both maps and aerial photos present a “bird’s-eye” view of the earth, aerial photographs are NOT maps. Maps are orthogonal representations of the earth’s surface, meaning that they are directionally and geometrically accurate (at least within the limitations imposed by projecting a 3-dimensional object onto 2 dimensions). Aerial photos, on the other hand, display a high degree of radial distortion. That is, the topography is distorted, and until corrections are made for the distortion, measurements made from a photograph are not accurate. Nevertheless, aerial photographs are a powerful tool for studying the earth’s environment.

Because most GISs can correct for radial distortion, aerial photographs are an excellent data source for many types of projects, especially those that require spatial data from the same location at periodic intervals over a length of time. Typical applications include land-use surveys and habitat analysis.

This unit discusses benefits of aerial photography, applications, the different types of photography, and the integration of aerial photographs into GISs.

Choose the Right Period

The landscape can look completely different depending on the season. Spring and autumn usually offer the most colourful pictures. They are the perfect time to capture fields in flower or orange-coloured forests…

Winter is interesting if you have the chance to fly around a mountainous area. However, any plain under snow can look even more flat and monotonous.

It is also important to choose the right time of the day and, more specifically, to check the position of the sun in the sky. Because of the altitude, the risk of dazzle increases in late afternoon when the sun is low in the horizon. The sunset can offer spectacular views but with extreme contrasts between the sky and the land making it very difficult to capture. If you’re flying when the sun is low, if possible choose the seat opposite to the sun.