QImagery FAQs

Owned by MUTTON Rebecca, created
Last updated: 31, Aug, 2022 by Lauren Ravizzotti
3 min read

Camera Calibration

Camera calibration and focal length reports are available for historical photos and can be supplied for free if you only need one or two. Please send us the Film and Frame number.

If you require a large number of reports then a cost would be involved for the time taken to collate and scan the information.  

 

Film references and symbols

The table below explains what the film reference/symbols mean

Symbol

Meaning

1A, 1B, 3W, 3E

Re‐flys or part runs

ET, WT, CT

Tie Runs

Obl, LOB, SEA

Oblique photography, Left Oblique, View towards Sea

QAP, DIG

Departments and Authorities under the control of the Queensland Government. The only negatives held in storage by the department and to which Crown Copyright applies.

CAB/CABC/CABG

Films flown for and retained by AUSLIG.       

SVY, MAP

Films flown for and retained by the RAAF.

SO, SOC

Films flown for and retained by AUSLIG.       

BCC

Films flown for and retained by the Brisbane City Council.

 

The coordinates are displaying incorrectly

The images in QImagery have been approximately geo-located via an algorithm that rotates and scales each photograph to approximate size, based on the recorded geographical position of the photograph’s centroid (central point). The centroids may have been digitised direct from key diagrams that may have been incorrectly produced in the first instance, or hand-drawn to varying levels of accuracy. On occasion this could result in photographs being displayed in QImagery out of position, or rotated and scaled incorrectly.

As well as these variables, one has to consider that the centroids were essentially produced to provide a means to locate the photos. 

The provision of these centroid values to users was customer driven, ie "why can't we have the coordinates so we can put them our GIS software?"  If they are not orthorectified images, they will not be suitable for overlaying other spatial datasets correctly.  The customer has the option to rubber sheet the images, but these also won't be suitable because of the camera distortions, variations in terrain height and orientation of the airplane at the time of exposure.

 

How do I report misaligned imagery?

Imagery that is misaligned up to a couple of hundred meters is considered within tolerance. If you find any imagery that requires rotating or is profoundly mislocated, please provide us with the following information via our online form.

  • Issue with image: (E.g., Scale, alignment, position, etc)

  • Film number

  • Frame number

  • Run number

  • Capture date

 

Can I make corrections to the images?

Currently, all corrections to the imagery need to be completed in-house. In the future, we may investigate crowdsourcing for image alignment corrections.

 

Imagery Quality

The image preview displays as black frames

While the preview images are black, the image is fine when downloaded.

The downloaded image displays with foggy lines through it

The foggy lines could be caused by glare from the dials on the side of the frame or a deterioration of the film. It is likely that they would have occurred at the time of capture.

Imagery Sources

Are all images of Queensland available?

QImagery displays images where the department is the custodian. The Commonwealth Government (Geoscience Australia) are custodians of the Commonwealth aerial film photography (SVY ,CAB, RAAF, MAP prefixes) and have an access pathway already established through a company in Melbourne that are able to provide high/low resolution scans from the original film. For more information visit their website: https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/earth-obs/accessing-satellite-imagery/aerial-photography  

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