New aerial images of Maltese islands added to Mepa archives

The extensive aerial photographic records at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) have been beefed up with detailed and definitive aerial imagery of the Maltese islands, Mepa said yesterday.

This will make it possible for Mepa to offer the public and its customers an up-to-date information and quality service.

The latest aerial photography was carried out last May at two different scales: a low flight at 1:4,000 scale and a higher flight at a scale of 1:10,000.

Metric aerial photographic surveys are carried out by specialist companies using dedicated cameras following predetermined flight-plans.

The photography can only be taken when the right atmospheric, solar and weather conditions provide clear and optimum quality images.

The latest series was shot by Compagnia Generale Ripreseaeree spa, which is a subsidiary of the Blom Group, the largest company in Europe for the airborne collection of geographic information.

The new imagery is already being used at Mepa's Mapping Unit. The larger scale photography is being used to update the topographic map which is a digital, large scale database of the topographic landscape of Malta.

The smaller scale imagery will be used to create an orthophoto map, a mosaic of photographs geometrically corrected to provide a high resolution and accurate representation of the land.

This is the sixth aerial survey commissioned by the Mapping Unit since it was first set up in 1988. Mepa's archive of aerial photography, being Malta's National Mapping Agency, spans over 60 years with the oldest photography dating back to 1943, originally contracted by the Survey Directorate Allied Forces Headquarters. Besides their use as the principal source of information for map-making, aerial photography is a primary and definitive document of what's on the ground.

Aerial photography provides a time-stamped snapshot of the landscape of the Maltese islands. This makes the authority's archive an invaluable record of the development and change in the country's rural and urban environment over the last few decades.

The aerial photography archive is available for reference with the public being able to view and consult the images and order prints. Further information can be obtained by calling 2290 1007 or via mappingshop@mepa.org.mt.