Aerial remote sensing as a useful technique to obtain data on urban population

The aerial remote sensing data can be reliable source to obtain an estimate of urban population. A study was carried out in the city of Coimbatore (municipal area) using aerial photoghraphs of scale 1:4000 taken by a metric camera of 300 mm. focal length in the year 1979. The findings obtained by photo-interpretation compared very favourably with the interpolated population census figures for the year 1979, for the municipal area of the city Coimbatore. Dwelling units counted on the aerial photograph for different types of residential areas classified on the basis of size, shape and pattern are the physical indicators of population. Occupancy rate of dwelling units was determined by sampling survey carried out during field visit itself in this particular study.