Aerial Photography: Florida Home

Aerial Photograph of the University of Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Alachua - 1968 - 2KK - 21 (county - year - flight number - tile number)

The University of Florida Map & Digital Imagery Library houses the largest and most complete collection of Florida aerial photographs (~160,000 photos) outside of the National Archives. These photos document the dramatic changes in Florida's land use between 1937 and 1990. Originally intended to assist farmers in accurately assessing their farms and to provide information on crop determination and soil conservation, today these images provide some of the oldest land use/cover information available. They are used extensively in agriculture, conservation, urbanization, recreation, education, hydrology, geology, land use, ecology, geography, and history.

The online Aerial Photography: Florida Collection can be used to access and download aerial photographs from the library's extensive collection. The years available vary by county but extend from 1937 - 1990. Please note, the images are intended for education, historical evaluations, general planning purposes and aerial photograph preservation, not for measurement use or as legal documents.

There are currently three search methods available:

• MAP SEARCH - New Google Maps based search allows you to search by address, point, or area to access the aerial photographs that cover your selected point or area. Provides the outline of the aerial photograph so that coverage is readily seen. Easily download aerials in JPEG2000 file format.
  
  
• FLIGHTS BY COUNTY - Listing of all the Florida counties, then broken down by year, flight number, and aerial tile number. Useful if you know exactly what aerial number you are looking for. Also provides access to the scanned aerial photograph indexes.
  
  

• GIS SEARCH WILL BE UNAVAILABLE UNTIL DECEMBER 15th - This search uses an alternate system. This is the original aerial photograph searching tool which runs on the ArcGIS server.
  

Images from this collection can be downloaded as JPEG 2000 (JP2) files. Information on free JP2 viewers is available from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (http://data.labins.org/2003/General/reference/graphics_tips.cfm) and the Irfanview software is available as freeware (http://www.irfanview.com/) to view, convert, and batch convert JP2 images.

The Aerial Photography: Florida Collection has been funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Florida Department of State, State Library and Archives of Florida. The Aerial Photography: Florida Collection was funded by three Library Services and Technology Act grants (proposals: Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III).