126 REPORT OF THE No. 7 



III. — Report of Liaison Officer 



During the season of 1929 the following lines of work were undertaken: — 



(1) Aerial Forest Type Mapping. 



(2) Aerial Photography. 



(3) Radio Communication. 



(4) Miscellaneous Investigations. 



1. Aerial Forest Type Mapping. 



Two projects of this class were carried on during the past season (a) North- 

 east of the Nipigon Reserve; (6) in Haliburton County. 



Of these the Nipigon, comprising an area of 12,000 square miles was under- 

 taken as a preliminary inventory of timber resources in this section of the 

 Province. The area in question which can be more nearly described as extending 

 from the National Transcontinental Railway to the Albany, between the eastern 

 boundary line of the Nipigon Forest Reserve and Lynx Station, comprises the 

 southwesterly extension of the northern spruce, balsam forest type typical of 

 the clay belt country. Of the allotted 8,000 miles for the present season some 

 2,000 were completed in 120 hours' flying. 



Aerial Forest Typing in Haliburton County was not undertaken until late 

 in the season. The area covered comprised eight townships. Timbered 

 conditions on the whole appeared good, the stand being mainly southern hard- 

 wood type. Some evidences of moderate to severe culling for softwoods were 

 noted, but owing to lack of experience in the Aerial Classification of stands of 

 this nature, definite conclusions could not be given. 



2. Photographic Survey. 



With the purchase of a Vedette flying boat, the use of vertical photographs 

 for Aerial Survey became more advisable. That vertical photos provide 

 maximum detail has long been recognized and has in consequence prejudiced 

 aerial photographic survey to their use. Opposed to this factor of quality, 

 however, there has been the detriment of high cost. 



In considering the effect of better aircraft and camera equipment on cost, 

 it may be of interest to compare the area covered by one hundred exposures — the 

 standard size of roll film used for this work averages the above number — ^with 

 various combinations of new and old equipment. Using this unit, it has been 

 found that vertical photos providing the maximum of survey information when 

 taken with the Fairchild camera from the Vedette's working height — ten thousand 

 feet — cover an almost even hundred square miles (94.5 is the exact calculated 

 figure). Under the same working conditions the older Kodak camera will cover 

 less than forty square miles. At five thousand feet — the working height of the 

 older H.S.2L., these areas are roughly one-quarter as great, namely, 23.6 for 

 the Fairchild and 9.8 for the Kodak. Since cost for surveys of this kind is 

 generally related to area covered, the value of the newer equipment for this type 

 of work may well be considered as relative to the same figure. 



During the past season. Aerial Photographic Survey was used in five 

 separate operations comprising the following areas: — 



