Crossing The English Channel Visualized – The BBC’s Britian From Above

The English Channel is the busiest shipping lane in the world: on a typical day over 400 vessels travel through the Dover Straits. In a new series titled Britain From Above the BBC Archive has gathered together more than 60 years of broadcasting from the air. Watch as cities grow, motorways are introduced and the sea continues to batter the coast. The aerial recordings provide a glimpse into the history and modern day existence of Britain’s transportation infrastructure.

The BBC tells us:

For BBC One, the Britain From Above team have harnessed cutting edge, previously unseen GPS and satellite data brought to life using the best CGI technology to graphically illustrate: the movement of every plane flying over Britain within a 24 hour period; the trace of a fleet of London taxis traversing Central London; the movement of every ship over 300 tonnes passing through the English Channel in a day; the movement of rubbish trucks in Westminster; the geographical activity of telephone exchanges as they are made in real time; the internet connections originating in Britain and spanning across the whole globe; and, aerial thermal imaging shots of deer and other wildlife on Lulworth Range.

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