The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has an Airborne Remote Sensing Facility (ARSF), based at Kidlington Airport near Oxford. This unit operates a Dornier Do228 aircraft on a long-term lease from the German Space Agency (DLR). This aircraft is used as the operational platform for imaging scanners such as the unit's Daedalus Airborne Thematic Mapper (ATM) and ITRES Research CASI-2 hyperspectral scanner. However the imaging suite on-board the aircraft also includes a Wild/Leica RC10 metric film camera and a Rollei medium-format camera modified to accommodate an Imacon Ixpress digital 4k x 4k digital back. These two frame cameras have been used extensively to acquire aerial photography of sites and areas of scientific importance in the UK.
The processing of the RC10 negative films was carried out by Simmons Aerofilms, while the production of prints and enlargements and any required film scanning was carried out by BKS Surveys.
In 2014, the management of the ARSF was transferred to the British Antarctic Survey. The ARSF was renamed the NERC Airborne Research Facility (NERC ARF), retaining its worldwide remit and suite of airborne remote sensing instrumentation.
