Survey Photography
The Survey photography collection involves aerial photography that are retrievable on a frame by frame basis. A majority of the inventory includes imagery that originated from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC). These images are now archived at the USGS Earth Reosources Observation and Science Center. The Survey collection also includes photography from other agencies including the USGS. Photo coverage is predominantly over the United States (Alaska and Hawaii). However, coverage of Puerto Rico, the Grand Bahamas, Jamaica, and Central America are also in the inventory as a result of special project requirements. The film types, scales, and acquisition schedules differed according to project requirements. Low-, middle-, and high-altitude photographs were collected.
The camera systems used to acquire the aerial photography vary by agency and program. Some of the cameras that were used on past missions include Zeiss, Hasselblad EL 500, Wild Heerbrugg RC8, and Chicago Aerial KA 62.
The aircraft used to collect the photography included, but is not limited to General Dynamic's WB-57F; Lockheed C-130B and NP-3A aircraft; Lockheed U-2s and Convair 990 aircraft; and other commercial aircraft used by contracting companies to acquire the required photo coverage. Spatial resolution varies according to the scale of the photographs. The NASA Aerial Photography data set base-scale ranges follow:
| Agency | Scale Range | Date Range |
| NASA Ames and JSC | 1:16,000 - 1:450,000 | 07/16/69 - Present |
| USGS | 1:8,000 - 1:80,000 | 1944 - Present |
| Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) | 1:15,000 | 03/16/58 - 09/13/89 |
| Bureau of Land Management (BLM) | 1:12,000 - 1:31,600 | 07/17/61 - 08/24/82 |
| Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) | 1:3,000 - 1:48,000 | 04/21/39 - 11/14/76 |
| Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | 1:5,000 - 1:80,000 | 02/12/72 - 10/12/88 |
| National Park Service (NPS) | 1:10,000 - 1:30,000 | 02/09/79 - 03/03/90 |
| U.S. Air Force | 1:25,000 - 1:80,000 | 12/21/40 - 10/15/80 |
| U.S. Army | 1:5,000 - 1:80,000 | 12/23/42 - 06/30/78 |
| U.S. Navy | 1:17,000 - 1:60,000 | 01/01/48 - 03/31/72 |
For further information please contact Customer Services at the USGS/Earth Resources Observation and Science Center: