RedCastle Resources has developed a color infrared (CIR) digital camera using the 16 million pixel Kodak DCS Pro Back 645C imager mated to a Contax 645 medium format camera.  This digital camera can be used as a natural color camera or a color infrared camera.  When used as a color infrared camera an infrared blocking filter covering the Pro Back 645C imager must be removed and a CIR bandpass filter must be installed on the camera. Applying a specially developed Photoshop plug-in filter converts the natural color images into color infrared images.  The DCS Pro Back is ideally suited for the collection of aerial imagery over ground sample plots, riparian corridors, recreation and historical sites, and small project areas.  The color infrared conversion makes this camera system very useful for detecting and monitoring pest damage in our national forests.

RedCastle Resources developed a software suite to perform numerous tasks associated with collecting and processing digital camera imagery from an aircraft. Software includes flight planning, imagery acquisition, and post-processing operations useful for aerial surveys. The software capabilities include:  flight planning, an intervalometer to control the firing of the camera, integration of GPS coordinates with the digital image frames, and the logging of flight line files.  RedCastle Resources recently developed an upgraded version of the software supporting Windows 2000 and multiple Kodak digital cameras.  Numerous individuals in the Forest Service and other agencies are using DigCam.  Primary users of this software are the Forest Health Protection units having digital camera systems.

RedCastle Resources continues to provide technical support to units using digital cameras for aerial applications. Support is also being provided in the testing and evaluation of new Kodak digital cameras, including the natural color and color infrared version of the Pro-Back 645C. The evaluations will require operational testing of the digital camera systems for forest health aerial imaging applications. A partial list of image acquisition and technical assistance follows:

• R4 range health plot acquisition on the Fishlake National Forest, UT (2003)
• CIR Digital Camera Imagery Acquisition for Pinyon Pine Forest Health Evaluation, Williams, AZ CO (2004)
• R2, Shoshone National Forest CIR Digital Camera Imagery Acquisition – Insect Damage (1999) 
• Demonstration of The Use of CIR Digital Camera Imagery for Spruce Beetle Damage Detection and Mapping (1997)