Using Enviro-Pod low altitude imagery to inventory building surface materials for an acid rain study - A Baltimore example

Low altitude, oblique and vertical color photography taken from EPA's Enviro-Pod Ka 85 camera system has provided the data for taking an inventory of building surface materials in a test area of downtown Baltimore. Photography was acquired from a gridded flight plan to provide views of all sides of buildings. Color, texture, and linear detail are employed in the photo interpretation aided by contextual reference to a classification of building construction type developed in an earlier study. The work could potentially support a materials inventory initiated by the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) by scientists from EPA, Geological Survey, and the Department of Energy. Initial results show the method to be viable. Discrete surface materials such as brick, both bare and painted, stone, and metal are identified.