Digitisation and preservation of historical aerial photographs

Summary

The contract is for digitising and preserving approximately 15,000 black-and-white aerial photogram frames from historical flights made between 1969 and 1979, to expand the digital collection of Spain’s National Geographic Information Centre photo archive. The work includes assessing and cleaning the originals, photogrammetric scanning, georeferencing, creating metadata and repackaging the originals for archival storage. The frames come from flights covering, among other areas, Spain’s coasts, Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Extremadura, Andalusia, the Valencia region, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León. The contractor must provide a photogrammetric scanner meeting the specified performance requirements and submit a calibration certificate valid for one year before work starts. Scanning, file production and quality control must meet the detailed technical specifications. The contractor supplies conservation materials compliant with ISO 18916 and ISO 9706. Deliverables include TIFF and COG image files, georeferencing files, metadata, a database for each flight, and digitisation, preservation and quality-control reports. Two copies of every file must be supplied on separate storage media. The estimated contract value is €135,000 excluding VAT and €163,350 including 21% VAT; the maximum unit price is €9 excluding VAT per frame. Bids must use the required form, state the unit price, select a warranty extension of 12, 24 or 36 months, and indicate whether the service will be performed at the photo archive in Madrid. The service must be completed within seven months of contract formalisation. Final data are due by 5 March 2027 for the first estimated 8,800 frames and by 31 May 2027 for the remaining estimated 6,200 frames, subject to technical approval. The contract documents specify a 24-month warranty period.