2 posts tagged with "Retrolens"

Downloading historical aerial photos is only the first step. To actually use them in a spatial context, they need to be georeferenced. This means aligning the scanned image to real world coordinates so it sits in the right place on the earth.

This post describes a practical, accessible method using Google Earth Pro. It is not the most precise method, but it is often good enough for exploratory work, kōrero, and early stage analysis.

One of the most useful tools for understanding change in whenua over time is historical aerial photography. In Aotearoa, the easiest public way to explore this imagery is through the Retrolens website.

Retrolens provides access to scanned aerial photos dating from the mid 1930s through to the late 1980s. For Māori GIS work, this period covers major changes in land use, drainage, forestry, farming, road construction, river modification, and urban expansion. It is often the clearest visual record of what existed before modern planning and regulation.