Given the early intstrumentation used, the photographs are quite different from classic imagery. Distortions are high, flight lines are not straight, and overlap is not always present. There is also no systematic covering of the area.

Nevertheless, the photographs have already been used in a dozen of studies. This gives a view on the potential of these aerial photographs.

Literature

The context in which the aerial photographs were realised, and their technical characteristics have been fully described.

Nyssen, J., Petrie, G., Sultan Mohamed, Gezahegne Gebremeskel, Stal, C., Seghers, V., Debever, M., Kiros Meles Hadgu, Billi, P., Mitiku Haile, Demaeyer, Ph., Frankl, A., 2016. Recovery of the historical aerial photographs of Ethiopia in the 1930s. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 17: 170-178.

Potential use of these sets of aerial photographs for scientific research is illustrated in several scientific publications.

Frankl, A., Nyssen, J., Enyew Adgo, Alemayehu Wassie, Scull, P., 2019. Can woody vegetation in valley bottoms protect against gully erosion? Insights using remote sensing data 1938-2016 from subhumid NW Ethiopia. Regional Environmental Change, 19: 2055-2068.

Scull, P., Cardelús, C., Klepeis, P., Woods, C., Frankl, A., Nyssen, J., 2017. The resilience of Ethiopian church forests: interpreting aerial photographs, 1938-2015. Land Degradation and Development, 28(2): 450-458.

Tesfaalem Ghebreyohannes, Frankl, A., Mitiku Haile, Amanuel Zenebe, Nyssen, J., 2015. Sediment flux dynamics as fingerprints of catchment rehabilitation: The case of western Rift Valley escarpment of northern Ethiopia. Geomorphology, 250: 220-235.

Frankl, A., Seghers, V, Stal, C., De Maeyer, Ph., Petrie, G., Nyssen, J., 2015. Using image-based modelling (SfM-MVS) to produce a 1935 ortho-mosaic of the Ethiopian Highlands. International Journal of the Digital Earth, 8(5): 421-430.

Solomon Hishe, Woldeamlak Bewket, Nyssen, J., Lyimo, J., 2020. Analyzing past land use land cover change and CA-Markov based future modeling in the Middle Suluh Valley, Northern Ethiopia. GeoCarto International, 35(3): 225-255.

Etefa Guyassa, Frankl, A., Amanuel Zenebe, Lanckriet, S., Biadgilgn Demissie, Gebreyohanis Zenebe, Poesen, J., Nyssen, J., 2018. Changes in Land Use/Cover mapped over 80 Years in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 28(10): 1538–1563.

Etefa Guyassa, Frankl, A., Amanuel Zenebe, Poesen, J., Nyssen, J., 2018. Gully and soil and water conservation structure densities in North Ethiopia over the last 80 years. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 43(9): 1848-1859.

Nyssen, J., Petrie, G., Munro, R.N., Jacob, M., Smidt, W., Mitiku Haile, Frankl, A. and Billi, P., 2019. Historical Maps, Terrestrial and Aerial Photographs. In Geo-trekking in Ethiopia’s Tropical Mountains (pp. 461-476). Springer, Cham.

Kropáček, J., Vařilová, Z. and Nyssen, J., 2019. Historical aerial and terrestrial photographs for the investigation of mass movement dynamics in the Ethiopian Highlands. Land Degradation & Development, 30(5), pp.483-493.