Photoair Ltd

• Reference:GB 551 NCAP/8/1/14
• Dates of Creation:1992 - 2001
• Language of Material:English
• Physical Description:
  36 550 aerial photographs

• Scope and Content

  Vertical and oblique aerial photography covering national scenic areas of Scotland. Associated sortie plots held.

• Administrative / Biographical History

  Photoair Ltd was an aerial survey firm based in Peterborough, UK, which undertook aerial survey contracts until liquidation in 2001.

  Scottish Natural Heritage commissioned Photoair Ltd to take aerial photography of specific areas of interest from 1992 to 2001. This was taken for monitoring and management purposes and in response to specific survey requests as part of site investigations. As a monitoring aid, aerial photography has long been used to provide evidence of site condition at a specific date. The effects of management practices can also be determined and any significant change to habitats can be quantified by comparison of photography from different years. Increasing public debate following the passage of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) and wider environmental issues exposed a gap in basic information and knowledge about the nature and scale of change in the countryside such as covering land use, landscape, land cover and habitat issues.

• Access Information

  Closed. No finding aids available. Imagery can only currently be located with knowledge of exact photograph references - no searches for a geographical location currently possible.

• Other Finding Aids

  No finding aids are available.

• Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

  70mm colour film, contact prints and paper sortie plots.

• Conditions Governing Use

  Crown Copyright and standard licence terms for use apply.

• Custodial History

  A set of prints, contact prints and sortie plots were held from creation by Scottish Natural Heritage for areas covered under its contracts. The negatives for all of the Photoair imagery of Scotland, apart from that commissioned by Solway Heritage, were bought from Photoair by RCAHMS in 2002. Scottish Natural Heritage transferred ownership of the contact prints and sortie plots to RCAHMS in 2006, retaining a set of prints at SNH regional offices. The locations of prints and sortie plots created for other Photoair customers are not known.

• Accruals

  No further accruals expected.