# aerial photos **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerial-photos/224355 "2004-01-14T05:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerial-photos/224355/1 "2004-01-14T05:04:17Z")
As you may know, MapQuest recently discontinued aerial photos. But you can get hi-res aerial photos for about 40 US cities (sorry, NY, SF and LA not included) at [http://seamless.usgs.gov/viewer.htm](http://seamless.usgs.gov/viewer.htm). The site is a bit hard to use, but there are step-by-step instructions at [http://cryptome.org/sdds-guide.htm](http://cryptome.org/sdds-guide.htm). You can download a TIFF of any selected area. They’re big files, but they’re worth it - the detail is _stunning_, far better than MapQuest. I downloaded a view of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The picture was taken before the U-505 submarine was moved indoors, and you can see it clearly. Interestingly, the cryptome site says that the areas around the White House and the Capitol are blurred out. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerial-photos/224355/2 "2004-01-14T07:35:49Z")
there is also the Microsoft Terraserver at… [http://terraserver-usa.com/default.aspx](http://terraserver-usa.com/default.aspx) It works well. Have found much interesting stuff there. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerial-photos/224355/3 "2004-01-14T23:30:18Z")
You have to be a subscriber to Terraserver to get the kind of resolution you can get for free from the USGS site. I urge you to try it. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerial-photos/224355/4 "2004-01-15T02:06:16Z")
There’s also the site that powered MapQuest- GlobeXplorer. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerial-photos/224355/5 "2004-01-18T01:54:40Z")
But GlobeXplorer has those annoying watermarks. You MUST try the USGS site. On the TIFFs I downloaded for Chicago, a car takes up about 20 pixels in length. That actually seems to be more than their stated resolution of .3 meters, so I’m not sure what’s going on. But the TIFFs are great no matter what the exact resolution it. The USGS has another way of getting to aerial photos - [http://nationalmap.usgs.gov/index.html](http://nationalmap.usgs.gov/index.html). The interface is similar to the previous site I mentioned, but it also can get images from Terraserver where hi-res images are not available. You can also display topo layers from Terraserver (and yes, I know of other places to get topo maps). You do have to fiddle with the layers a bit to get the images you want. ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerial-photos/224355/6 "2004-01-18T02:10:41Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > You can also display topo layers from Terraserver (and yes, I know of other places to get topo maps). Completely off topic but… this thread just gave me flashbacks to a college course on Soil Identification and Interpretation (I was an archaeology major, lots of Earth Science courses) where we took a field trip to look at some blue clays… and got lost. And had to try to make it back home using topo maps. Cool sites! ---
**Author:** ![french\_frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c77e96/32.png) [@french\_frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/french_frog)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aerial-photos/224355/7 "2004-01-18T13:11:19Z")
[side comment] [http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040117/ap\_on\_re\_eu/britain\_wwii\_photos](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040117/ap_on_re_eu/britain_wwii_photos)