AUTOMATION IN PHOTO INTERPRETATION 
by 
* 
Anthony F. DiPentima 
It should be evident to all members, visitors and guests of 
this Eleventh International Congress for Photogrammetry that photo 
interpretation, while definable as the act of examining photographic 
images for the purpose of identifying objects and judging their signi- 
(1 
ficance, ) can and does mean different tasks or functions to different 
people. This is evidenced even today by the various papers and reports 
being presented at this Congress that concern photogrammetry and photo 
interpretation and by the excellent array of equipment to facilitate such 
technologies currently on display in the Exhibition Hall. 
That photo interpretation does mean different things to dif- 
ferent people is, of course, not unusual since all of the various disciplines 
within the broad field of photogrammetry use the techniques and principles 
of photo interpretation to one degree or another irrespective of their 
final product or output. In many cases, correlation between the art of 
photo interpretation and the output product is relatively easy. This is 
particularly true in the natural sciences such as geology and forestry, 
archeology, and military intelligence where the entire effort of the 
photographic task from the choice of a film to the planning of flight lines 
is directed towards obtaining useful and interpretable photographic imagery. 
Correlation between other disciplines and photo interpretation, 
however, is not quite as evident even though the major functional output 
of the discipline cannot be accomplished without some measure of photo 
(1) Manual of Photographic Interpretation, American Society of Photogrammetry, 
6269 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, Virginia, 1960. 
Vice President, CBS Laboratories, Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A. 
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