NETROnline, the producers of www.historicaerials.com, have successfully completed the scanning of the first half of the 1.2 million frames of the Tobin aerial film archive that dates back to the 1930’s. This archive documents in detail the massive changes that took place across the southern United States during the first half of the 20th century.
The scanning was performed using GeoDyn’s PromptScan M2 photogrammetric scanner. To date, NETROnline has scanned over 600,000 frames at a resolution of 13 microns, accurately capturing and preserving the full detail from this important archive.
The initial phase of the project has been the most challenging as it included many rolls of film from the 1930’s that are primarily nitrate-based, as well as over thousand frames that had been previously cut out of the rolls and which required careful handling. Without scanning, these films would soon have deteriorated beyond scannable condition, risking a significant heritage loss.