Color Infrared Project 2002

The acquisition of color-infrared aerial photography in the spring of 2002 and subsequent production of one meter digital orthophoto quarter quadrangles (DOQQs) was funded by a partnership of more than 45 federal, state and local agencies, private companies and non-profit organizations.  The project was coordinated through the Iowa Geographic Information Council’s Remote Sensing Committee and managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  Color-infrared aerial photography with airborne GPS and ground control was acquired by Northwest Group of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to US Geological Survey National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP) standards using Kodak SO743 aerial negative film.  The original negative film will be stored at the US Department of Agriculture’s Aerial Photography Field Office (APFO) for reproduction of film or paper products from the primary media.  Production of the one meter, digital orthophoto quarter quadrangles to USGS DOQQ standards was performed by Triathlon, Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, using horizontal control from airborne GPS, control surveys, and USGS digital raster graphics and existing USGS DOQQs from the 1990s.  Vertical control was derived from USGS Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), both 30 and 10 meter grid spacings, which in turn were derived from topographic elevations on USGS 7.5’ Topographic Quadrangle Maps (1:24,000 scale).

The primary advangage of color-infrared aerial photography is that it enhances the ability of the airphoto interpreter to distinguish vegetation from non-vegetated areas, distinguish types of vegetation and get an idea of the vegetation condition or vigor.  Please take a look at our gallery of images from the 2002 CIR Project.

Some examples of uses for the 2002 color-infrared aerial photography range from the development of a statewide road centerline file by the Iowa DOT, and inventory of animal confeinement operations by the Iowa DNR, creation of a common land unit boundary file by the USDA Farm Service Agency and a statewide land use inventory by the IDNR.