About Us

Alt-Terra Survey, Inc. specializes in large format vertical aerial photography for the Photogrammetry, Aerial Imagery, and Remote Sensing communities. Alt-Terra is a full service aerial survey company, providing clients with mission planning consultation, aerial photography acquisition, film processing, and film titling. Complete in-house capabilities enable Alt-Terra to respond quickly to client requirements. Alt-Terra personnel have over 25 years of aerial surveying experience.

Our aircraft are especially well suited for aerial photography. Turbocharged engines enable us to fly high altitude photography, and to reach distant projects quickly. Extra long range fuel tanks help us acquire the most photography possible during clear photo days. G.P.S., along with the camera's navigation scope, guides us along flight lines accurately and efficiently. The twin engine design provides an extra measure of safety when flying over cities, mountains, forests, and open water.

The camera is the heart of any aerial photography mission. It largely determines the image quality the customer will see. Its reliability is the key to the successful completion of the flight. For these reasons, Alt-Terra operates Leica RC-30 cameras, with F.M.C. (Forward Motion Compensation) and automatic exposure control. High quality Leica optics provide our clients with clear, sharp imagery with all types of film. Outstanding Leica reliability assures our clients of a successfully completed project.

All of our planes and cameras are configured to fly Airborne Kinematic GPS. Alt-Terra has flown many Airborne GPS surveys, which have reduced our customers survey costs and delivery time. Our Track'Air GPS-Flight Management Systems support Airborne GPS with predetermined photo centers, improved flight efficiency, text files of photo centers, and CADD generated flight line indexes. It also annotates all project and position information on each negative, so film titling is no longer a requirement.

Alt-Terra develops film in our Kodak Versamat 1140 B&W film processor. The 1140 is Kodak's improved model with greater reliability, designed to consistently yield flawless negatives. Having a film processor here in our own lab enables our clients to receive their projects within 24 hours of flight, and allows us to precisely control the development process.

Our mission is to provide our customers with the very best aerial imagery, and the prompt, dedicated service their projects require.