A COMPARISON OF AERIAL FILMS IN THE STUDY OF THE BREIDAMERKUR GLACIER AREA, ICELAND

During the summer of 1965, colour, false colour, infra-red and panchromatic photography was flown of the Breidamerkur Glacier area in south-east Iceland. Subsequent comparative interpretation studies of the film types have indicated that colour photography is superior for the interpretation of glacierized? areas. This is attributed to brightness qualities and a continuous colour tone range, which, in this instance, closely matched visual representation of ground objects. The false colour film, due to the striking tonal qualities of vegetation and moisture, is considered best for studies involving the delimitation of these features. Panchromatic film appears to be satisfactory for general interpretation work, particularly where the utmost in definition is called for. The infra-red film, because of the dark tones produced by gravels and the subsequent high contrasts between ice and gravel debris on the ice surface, is considered a poor choice for the interpretation of glacierized areas.