Aerial image capture of Glastonbury Festival with Phase One

The task of producing an aerial imagery orthophoto of the 2023 Glastonbury Festival was met with a cost-effective and environmentally friendly aircraft and camera solution. This endeavour aimed to deliver a photogrammetric solution that could seamlessly navigate the diverse options for aerial imaging.

Glastonbury Festival, renowned as the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival worldwide, attracts thousands of music enthusiasts who gather at Worthy Farm in Somerset to revel in multiple days of music, poetry and artistic performances. This iconic event holds significant importance for its organizers, who seek to capture captivating aerial imagery to review the stage positioning and plan future festivals in the vast and iconic festival grounds.

Aerial mapping requirements

Achieving aerial photography for such a monumental event presented a significant obstacle. The project fell outside the scope of camera-mounted drones due to UAV safety restrictions and limitations. Employing a heavier aircraft to carry large format camera (LFC) systems would have been both prohibitively expensive and environmentally harmful. The solution called for a cost-effective, safe and low carbon emission aircraft camera system.

DEA Aviation takes centre stage as a leading technology-driven provider of specialized aerial data acquisition services. Its visionary approach led to the enhancement of the high-efficiency Diamond DA-42 aircraft, now equipped with the Phase One PAS150 compact aerial camera system, complete with an RS-50mm lens. This strategic adoption of Phase One imaging technology proved to be an impeccable match, empowering DEA Aviation to capture and process high-quality aerial images with great efficiency, all while offering the required flexibility and ease of installation. “The entire PAS150 kit has such flawless integration between its multiple pieces, and as a result provides a full and effective package to easily perform what would otherwise be complicated tasks,” said Will Travis, DEA task specialist.

Operating at an altitude of 3,250ft above mean sea level (AMSL), in accordance with a local Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) restriction of 3,000ft AMSL, resulted in a ground sample distance (GSD) of 6.5cm. This metric in aerial surveillance determines the quality of the photograph by effectively representing the visible distance on the ground.

Smooth workflow

The image capture process took just one hour from start to finish, covering a total area of roughly 30km², encompassing the main Glastonbury Festival site and three logistical targets. With a total system weight of 19kg, this was easily managed in a single flight of the DA42, including transit to and from DEA’s base at Retford Gamston Airport.

A total of 246 images were captured with a 60% forward and 30% side overlap used for comprehensive coverage. The entire dataset was efficiently processed and delivered in one week, thanks to iX-Process, Phase One’s proprietary processing solution. With iX-Process, radiometric and geometric corrections were swiftly applied to all captured raw files, allowing for seamless export to tiff files in less than two hours. This streamlined process ensured that data was rapidly integrated into the AT and facilitated further downstream processing with remarkable efficiency.

Paul Evans, senior business manager for DEA, described the experience: “With great support from Phase One, we completed a very successful flight over one of the world’s iconic events. The camera technology of the PAS150 system delivered high-quality imagery, and because the PAS150 system is robust, compact and lightweight, we could fly using our fuel-efficient and low carbon emission Diamond DA-42 aircraft.”

Glastonbury Festival is an annual five-day celebration of contemporary performing arts, taking place near Pilton, Somerset, England, during most summers. Alongside contemporary music, the festival showcases a diverse range of arts, including dance, comedy, theatre, circus and cabaret. Having commenced in 1970 on the Eavis family farm, this iconic event has been captivating audiences for over 50 years.