Grants:TPS/Alexey M./Aerial photography for Wikipedia articles in Switzerland

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statusnot funded

Travel & Participation Support

Aerial photography for Wikipedia articles in Switzerland

summaryI started a big project of low altitude panoramic aerial photos for the Wikipedia articles in Switzerland. I am using my own equipment and free time for it. I would like to ask for assistance to buy a train ticket-travelcard for one year for Switzerland. It costs 3655.- CHF.

event locationSwitzerland

event websitehttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Alexey_M.

event date(s)October 2015 - October 2016

amount requested3655.- CHF

home countryGeneva, Switzerland

creator• Alexey M.

submitted on20:26, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

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Proposed participation

I started a big project of low altitude panoramic aerial photos for Wikipedia articles in Swtzerland. Here are examples of my aerial photos in Wikipedia articles:

• Wikipedia: Grandson_Castle
• Wikipedia: Prangins Castle
• fr: Pont Hans-Wilsdorf
• de: Schloss_La_Sarraz
• Wikipedia: Rouelbeau Castle
• Wikipedia: Château de Chillon
• Wikipedia: Rolle Castle
• Wikipedia: Rolle
• fr: Parc Baud-Bovy
• fr: Pont de Lully
• fr: Usine de pompage de Vessy
• Wikipedia: Compesières Commandry
• fr: Vacheron Constantin
• Wikipedia: STMicroelectronics
• fr: Signal de Bernex
• fr: Passerelle piétonne des Bis
• fr: Lully (Genève)
• fr: Parc Bertrand
• fr: Champel
• Wikipedia: Presinge
• fr: Haute École du paysage, d'ingénierie et d'architecture de Genève
• etc.

Goal and expected impact

I live in Geneva, Switzerland. If I had a ticket-travelcard for the whole Switzerland for one year, GA travelcard for adults, I could travel all over the country freely to make aerial photos for all Wikipedia articles in Switzerland. An aerial photo does not substitute the usual ground image, but a quality aerial photo brings an additional value to a Wikipedia article.

A quality aerial image provides a lot of practical information and details. For example, one may see a park or woods around say a castle and take a child to play around after a visit. It is possible to see how exactly an entire edifice looks, where it is situated in relation to other objects on the ground, to see if there is a parking, etc. All these makes it easier to find and approach it for a visit, and this prior knowledge and resulting efficiency may be beneficial for environment by reducing excessive driving in search of an edifice. Let alone scientific, historic and architectural value.

A low altitude panoramic aerial image is usually taken from an elevation of about 100 meters (approximately 300 feet). This altitude is not accessible to manned aircraft at all, only to a civil UAV. Neither satellite photos can substitute such low altitude panoramic aerial images, as the satellite photos are taken from an altitude of hundreds of kilometers, and a lot of details are just lost due to the thickness of atmosphere.

Budget breakdown

The price of the ticket, 2nd class, GA travelcard for adults, for one year is 3655.- CHF, http://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/railpasses/ga/overview.html . I would keep a detailed log and report on amount of travel, and also on shot aerial images in six months.

Other instructions

My quadcopter F450 DJI with GoPro4Session camera

I use my own light safe quadcopter, F450 DJI with GPS stabilization and the latest state of the art photo-camera GoPro4Session. This photo-camera weighs only 74 grams (2.6oz). I built this UAV myself from the DJI ARF kit. It is a reliable and robust aircraft. Having built it myself, I can alo upgrade or repair it anytime, the spare parts are readily available. And it is significant for operations continuity.

Having a GA travelcard for Switzerland I could just take any train all over Switzerland and visit 3 - 4 Wikipedia articles' locations per day. The aerail photography shooting depends a lot on weather, so I am to be ready to go to a location on a short notice, as soon as the weather is OK. Sometimes it is necessary to stay on a location overnight, so I am to pay for a hotel or a camping from my own money in such a case. But at least with the GA travelcard I can go back by train next day without any problem or worry.

Since trains are comfortable and safe in Switzerland, I can do my professional work (programming, translation, etc.) if necessary in a train with my portable MacAir computer. I will do this project anyway, but the GA travelcard is a bit expensive for me, besides I need it only for this project, at the same time it gives a great unlimited mobility all over Switzerland for the whole year, including public transportation in a town or in a city. It would speed up the project of aerial photography for Wikipedia articles a lot. I am also an OpenStreetMap editor with more than five thousand edits. My OpenStreetMap user name is Alex-7

I plan to expand this experimental project to other countries later, but Switzerland is an ideal country to start it. It has many magnificent historical places, it has a liberal UAV legislation, and efficient railway and public transportation system.