About NCAP Get Involved
Two figures fill the right side of the frame, and sit in front of a computer workstation on the left. The figure on the right has short, dark brown hair an is wearing a grey jumper. The figure on the right has long red hair and wears glasses with a dark frame and a dark blue top. The figure on the right is pointing at the screen. Two frames black and white images are displayed on the grey walls around them.

Discussing new uses for aerial imagery is an important part of what we do.
Background imagery courtesy of the Medmenham Collection

Get Involved

The National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP) seeks to foster greater community engagement, particularly in areas where specialist knowledge is essential to our mission. We also aim to play a supportive role in facilitating educational initiatives within communities, enriching understanding and appreciation of our shared heritage.

Volunteering

At NCAP, there are numerous opportunities for volunteering with us. Through volunteering, individuals and groups can play an important part in contributing to our vision for aerial photography. We recruit volunteers who share our passion for preserving, digitising, cataloguing and making accessible the NCAP Collection. We’re committed to offering a programme that helps volunteers learn new skills, meet new people and gain confidence while contributing to our aims and objectives.

Key areas we are looking for contributions in:

  • Cataloguing and footprinting: using map-based visual interfaces, provide geographical data for individual images
  • Digital asset preparation: assisting in the final stages of image preparation by checking metadata against systems
  • Image interpretation: sharing key information and historical knowledge of digitised collections 

research

The NCAP Collection provides a valuable resource for research. The 30 million images in the Collection provide a unique dataset that can be exploited by innovative research projects. We actively seek collaborative partnerships to analyse the Collection and answer crucial questions about the planet and human development. We have previously partnered with the universities of Stockholm and California (Berkeley) to answer urgent questions about the changing climate. We are committed to making the NCAP Collection as accessible as possible to researchers around the world.

Key areas for research and academic partnerships:

  • Climate change: aerial imagery can illustrate geographical and environmental changes through regular and systematic documentation spanning 100 years. 
  • Human development: documentation of human impact informed through comparative analysis of geopolitical resources alongside visual records over time. 
  • Land use changes: recording changes to landscape by natural or human-made events, aerial imagery can be used to show the changing uses of urban and rural areas. 
  • Military history: visual records captured for the planning for, and post-event analysis in conflict provide historical documents relating to military histories. 

IN THIS SECTION

Four white and grey image scanners are spaced across a line of desks. Five blue and black film winders are spaced between the scanners. Each winder has a roll of black film on it. A section of a screen is in partial focus in the top right corner of the frame.

Our Mission

With a responsibility for 30 million aerial photographic images, our goal is to preserve them and make them accessible for present and future generations.

Our History

Our origins are rooted in the development of the Allied Central Interpretation Unit during the Second World War, but the oldest images in NCAP date back over 100 years.

A black and white historic photo of 4 women in uniform working in an office. Large windows are visible in the background. 2 of the women face the camera, 2 are sitting with their backs to the camera. Metal film canisters cover almost every surface.

Our Team

Meet the team of dedicated technicians, historians, analysts, cataloguers, data managers and robots who deliver NCAPs collections to the public every day.

Our Partners

We collaborate with organisations from around the world with the common goal of facilitating access to aerial photographic collections.

A screenshot of a digital map of England, Wales, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, indicating 91,683 photos available. There are numerous blue numbered dots showing where each photo is and how many are in each location.

Release Notes Overview

Explore newly released aerial imagery on Air Photo Finder, with detailed summaries of each batch from NCAP and partner collections.

Operating Model

The operational and development costs of NCAP are funded through commercial income generation and grant funding.