UKCAP Coasts from Above

Aerial photography

We are incredibly fortunate to have on board the UK Civil Air Patrol Lowland and Highland Units here in Scotland who have been flying stretches of coastline and individual sites for us. The UKCAP volunteers have been taking aerial photographs of inaccessible or dangerous sites as well as whole stretches of coast at low tide.

This really useful data set is so flexible. We can use it to make 3D digital models of sites and areas. We can search coastlines for new archaeological sites, and check the condition of existing ones. The photographs also create a ‘point in time’ dataset, which can be used in the future to track coastal change. And of course, an aircraft can cover far bigger areas of the coast in a single tidal window than we could hope to manage on foot.

• Use the interactive map below to view our picks of UKCAP images of coastal heritage from above.

• Visit the UKCAP website