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(702) 
military services to their civilian pursuits!?). Many of these, especially in 
England and the United States, have returned to the universities where they are 
teaching photo interpretation as a technique of their particular field of science 
or engineering. 
Scientific research based upon photo interpretation is increasing annually, 
especially in the universities. There are numerous reasons for this, aside from 
the many young scientists who received World War II training in the basic 
technique. At present aerial photography is available from the Production and 
Marketing Administration of the U. S. Department of Agriculture for almost 
any portion of the United States. A considerable amount of aerial photo- 
graphy of the United States and of foreign areas is available from other 
sources !!). In addition, Smith (1944, p. 729) and others have demonstrated that 
where precision is not required, anyone possessing a 35-mm camera, such as 
a Leica or its equal, can hire a small aircraft and produce his own aerial photo- 
graphy. 
Other reasons for the upswing in scientific photo interpretation include 
the large amount of literature now available, currently amounting to thousands 
of individual references '?) and the financial support given to the research staffs 
of universities, scientific organizations and commercial companies by various 
state and federal government agencies. At the present time photo interpretation 
is being used as the principal technique in a wide variety of research projects 
involving several scientific disciplines !?). 
While photo interpretation itself is not a field of science, the number of 
scientific personnel in the United States who are actively interested in photo 
reading or photo interpretation number in the thousands. This number is equal 
or superior to the number of professional personnel engaged in any one of 
several of the scientific disciplines.’*) Some of the principal differences between 
10) For example, one group of veterans who were young geologists formed an organization 
which offers petroleum companies a petroleum prospecting research service by airphoto inter- 
pretation on a consulting basis. The company has been an outstanding success, increasing its 
employees from four to more than 70 during its first five years of operation. 
11) U.S. Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Air 
Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the governments of many foreign coun- 
tries and the commercial aerial survey companies. 
12) See the Bibliography of Photo Interpretation Bibliographies, appended hereto. 
13) Some of these are: 
  
  
Principal 
Type Study School Dept. Investigator 
Vegetation Analyisis Boston U. Geography Dr. Ericksen 
Vegetation Analyisis Catholic U. Botany Fr. O’Neill 
Landform Trafficability Cornell U. H'way Eng. Dr. Belcher 
Sand Dune Terrain U. of Kansas Geology Dr. Smith 
Coastal Geography La. State U. Geography Dr. Russell 
Pleistocene Landforms N'western U. Geography Dr. Powers 
Settlement Patterns N'western U. Geography Dr. Kohn 
Crops N'western U. Geography Miss Smith 
Permafrost Purdue U. Eng. Exp. Prof. Frost 
Highway Studies Purdue U. Eng. Exp. Prof. Woods 
Regional Keys U. Virginia Geography Dr. Crittenden 
Coastal Landforms U.CL.A. Geology Dr. Putnam 
14 For example, all classes of membership in the Association of American Geographers, which 
includes essentially all of the professional geographers in the United States, did not exceed 
1600 in 1950. 
  
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