Appointments are required for on-site aerial photography research. Call us at 805-893-2779 to make an appointment.
Use these tools to explore our collections of aerial photography and satellite imagery. These tools are constantly evolving, so some may look better than others. Feedback is always appreciated!
Frequently Requested Flights
'Ready Reference' guides to our most useful flights. Use these guides if you want to assemble a decade-by-decade snapshot of an area located in the urbanized Greater San Francisco Bay / Sacramento areas or LA, San Diego, or the tri-counties of Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo.
- Northern California Flights by County
- Southern California Flights by County
- UCSB Campus (.zip archive)
A set of 9 photographs of the central portion of the UCSB campus and portions of Isla Vista
Comprehensive Aerial Photography Lists
- California Counties
Select a county by name or on a map. Flights that cross county lines will appear in multiple lists. - All California Aerial Photography
Listed by flight code. - All other US Flights
Organized by state. Flights that cross state borders will appear in multiple lists. - All US Flights
Listed chronologically. This list is also sortable by flight code and scale. - Foreign Flights
Organized by country. Includes flights that cross into the US - All Aerial Photography
One large list sortable by date, flight code, and scale.
Scanned Air Photo Indexes
Direct access to the web folders where we store index maps as JPEGs and PDFs. Arranged by flight code
Other items of interest
- Flight Codes
Every photograph in the collection is part of a flight. We use flight codes to name scanned photos as well as group them together on the shelf. Many of the codes mean something. - USDA county code map
USDA flights are signified by 3-letter code for each county - Significant holdings
A description of major gifts and purchases that make up our overall collections. - Getting started with aerial photography
- Air Photo Scale
View examples of aerial photography at a variety of scales to determine the most useful scale for your project. - Image Resolution
Examples of aerial photography scanned at 600, 1200, and 2400 ppi. - Identifying Air Photo Flights
Use this guide to begin identifying flights that cover your area of interest. - Reading Indexes
A guide to reading the variety of indexes used for our aerial photography collection. - Request Reproductions
Order digital copies of air photos covering your area of interest. - Aerial Imagery Research Service
Can't find what you're looking for? We're happy to do the research for you.
