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July 2018
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
with the condition of photogrammetry
products. Unfortunately, some negative
ground factors remained the same. Oc-
casional Bedouin destruction of ground
targets and survey markers along with
curious camels looking for a scratch-
ing post, made laying pre-marks more
difficult than normal. As a result, new
methods of ‘firming’ up survey control
on the ground were used.
In 2015, Aramco retired their aging
Leica RC30 film camera and the Cess-
na CJ2 for a brand new DMCII 230e
5-band digital camera, coupled with a
Trimble AX60i airborne LiDAR unit
in a new King Air 350 turboprop. This
combination was chosen to speed up
the process of creating accurate topo-
graphic maps, over areas of shifting
dunes, where vertical relief is difficult
to gauge. One of the first difficulties
was discovered during the calibration
of the new instruments. Curiously
there were occasional elevation busts
when creating digital surface models.
Side lap by adjacent flight strips were
discovering 2-meter vertical busts in
large random clusters, which occurred
sporadically and without a ready ex-
planation. Ironically it was a western
surveyor who realized that it was the
native Bedouin camel herds, continual-
ly on the look-out for greener pastures,
that were causing the issues. At nearly
two meters at the shoulder, the camels
appeared as rock outcroppings to the
LiDAR, but then would move to a new
location by the time the next parallel
flight was captured. Other unique is-
Figure 15. Oil Gas burning, photo from author.
sues included thick smoke plumes from
oil/gas separation, obscuring ground
targets, swarms of locusts, and blowing
sand covering panels.
While not as hazardous an active
combat zone, flying a reconnaissance
aircraft in the Middle East can be
challenging. This especially true when
documenting oil fields or projects close
to international boundaries, many
of whom are extremely touchy about
aerial photography in their areas of
control. Yemen, Iran, and Iraq are only
three of the more truculent neighbors.
To facilitate each Aramco aerial flight is
accompanied by a ‘military observer.’
As the world’s largest company, with
an estimated value of nearly a trillion
US Dollars, and over 66,000 employees,
Aramco is diligently moving forward
with each new step in data acquisi-
tion technology. In 2017 they acquired
their first Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
for imagery collection and they are
also investing in new low earth orbital
satellite platforms as well. While not
the most challenging environment to
perform surveying and photogrammetry
in the world, Saudi Arabia may be the
most unique. It will be interesting to
follow their progress in future years.
Author
Eric Stone III, CGeog, CP, GISP, RPP,
PLS is a Chartered Geographer of the
Royal Geographical Society of the United
Kingdom, a Licensed and Certified Pho-
togramemetrist,a Licensed Professional
Land Surveyor and a GIS Professional.
Eric worked and lived in the Middle East
and in particular the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, from 2010 thru 2017, where he
performed both aerial and land based sur-
veying including: terrestrial/airborne Li-
DAR, fixed wing imagery and Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles. While in the Kingdom he
authored two historical fiction novels on
the fascinating history of the region. Eric
currently lives in Washington State, and
is working for Space Flight Industries,
as a Customer Service Manager tasking
satellite imagery for clients in the Middle
East and North Africa.
Figure 14. Author with new King Air 350e
reconnaissance aircraft.
