USGS Home
SOFIA Home

Aerial Photos of the 1940s

Metadata also available as - [Outline] - [Parseable text] - [XML]

Frequently-anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title: Aerial Photos of the 1940s
Abstract:
The images are available as .jpeg and as georeferenced .tiff files. With the exception of three images, all images are subset to 7500 pixels square. Individual photos can be selected from the 1940 flight lines image at <http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/aerial-photos/40s_flight.html>.

The numbering scheme for the aerial photos is an identification number consisting of the flight number followed by the photo or frame number.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Smith, Thomas J. III Foster, Anne M., Briere, 2006, Aerial Photos of the 1940s.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -81.9
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -79.98
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 26.22
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.41

  3. What does it look like?

    <http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/aerial-photos/> (JPEG)
    1940 Greater Everglades and South Florida Aerial Photoset

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Beginning_Date: 19400214
    Ending_Date: 19400821
    Currentness_Reference: ground condition

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: remote-sensing image

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      Indirect_Spatial_Reference: Greater Everglades
      This is a Raster data set. It contains the following raster data types:
      • Dimensions 7500 x 7500, type Pixel

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 17
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -81
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0
      False_Easting: 500000
      False_Northing: 0

      Planar coordinates are encoded using Coordinate Pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?


Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    R. Johnson, W. Perry, D. Buker, and T. Mullins of the South Florida Natural Resources Center at Everglades National Park provided access to the Park's aerial photographic archives. L. Brandt (Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge), T. Polizos (Collier County office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service) and C. Coffin (Miami-Dade Co., NRCS) generously assisted by providing the photos of their respective geographic regions of south Florida. K. Rutchey provided access to the archives of the South Florida Water Management District.

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Thomas J. Smith III
    U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies
    600 Fourth Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 x3130 (voice)
    727 803-2032 (FAX)
    tom_j_smith@usgs.gov

    Hours_of_Service: 0900-1700 ET M-F


Why was the data set created?

A foundation for Everglades research must include a clear understanding of the pre-drainage south Florida landscape. Knowledge of the spatial organization and structure of pre-drainage landscape communities such as mangrove forests, marshes, sloughs, wet prairies. And pinelands, is essential to provide potential endpoints, restoration goals and performance measures to gauge restoration success. Information contained in historical aerial photographs of the Everglades can aid in this endeavor.

The earliest known aerial photographs are from the mid-to-late 1920s and resulted in the production of what are called T-sheets (Topographic sheeets) for the coasts and shorelines of far south Florida. The position of the boundary between differing vegetationcommunities (the ecotone) can be accurately measured. If followed through time, changes in the position of these ecotones could potentially be used to judge teffects of drainage on the Everglades ecosystem and to monitor restoratio success.

The Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC), a center of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Biological Resources Discipline (BRD), in collaboration with the Eastern Region Geography (ERG) of the Geography Discipline has created digital files of existing 1940 (1:40,000-scale) Black and White aerial photography for the South Florida region. These digital files are available through the SOFIA web site at <http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/aerial-photos/index.html>.


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    USDA photos (source 1 of 1)
    U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1940, Aerial Photographs: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 40000
    Source_Contribution:
    Photos converted to digital form and archived; provided spatial and attribute information.

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: Unknown (process 1 of 1)
    Photographs were cataloged individually into Everglades Historical Aerial Photographic Database. Attribute information about each photograph was recorded, including identity, content, condition as well as general information about the flight and the photography.

    Photographs were scanned using UMAX Mirage II Scanner: Scan resolution of optical 800 dpi; final radiometric resolution of 8-bit per channel; true color (RGB) compatibility; TIFF format output. Two images which were inadvertently scanned as grayscale are noted in the 'oddities' section at <http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/aerial-photos/40s_method.html>

    Scanned images were rectified using Erdas Imagine 8.7. Rectification process followed protocol developed in house and described in the report 'Guidelines for quality checking of digital ortho imagery, Issue 2.0.' Images were rectified with image to image rectification, using basemaps derived from digital orthophoto quarter quadrangles (DOQQs). The DOQQs were from a statewide set flown in 1995 and available for download from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Land Boundary Information System (LABINS) website. These images were mosaicked into basemaps of four quadrangles, resampled to 2 meter pixel resolution and reprojected as UTM Zone 17 North. For a few images, the 1995 basemap images were unavailable or unusable and were rectified to a 1999 DOQQ. These are listed in the 'oddities' section.

    To register the historic images, a first-order polynomial geometric model was used. Due to a variety of possible factors, such as the age and warping of the original media and irregularities of the camera (about which we had no information) or the flight, we found that a second-order polynomial model improved overall edge matching in some cases. Those images that used a second order polynomial geometric transformation model are listed in the 'oddities' section'.

    Operators manually selected 10 to 15 tie points per image scattered evenly throughout the image. In some cases additional tie points were subsequently added automatically using the prediction function of Imagine. In all cases the total RMSE for the transformation model was well below a threshold of 0.25. Following the selection of tie points, images were resampled to 1 meter pixel resolution using a bilinear interpolation method. The resulting image was checked with respect to edge matching in a geographic data viewer (ESRI ArcMap 8.3).

    Once the operator was satisfied the image was properly registered and appeared to match up with its neighbors, the edges of the image were cropped using a subset function. All images, with the exception of 3 (listed in the 'oddities' section were subset to a square of 7500 pixels and saved in their final file format as geotiff files. Oddities There are 1401 images that were known to have existed in the 1940s set of aerial photography. Of these, we were able to locate and scan 920 distinct images. Of these images, we were able to rectify 793 images.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Thomas J. Smith III
    U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies
    600 Fourth Street South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 x3130 (voice)
    727 803-2032 (FAX)
    tom_j_smith@usgs.gov

    Hours_of_Service: 0900-1700 ET M-F
    Data sources used in this process:
    • USDA photos

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

    Fennema, R. J. Neidrauer, C. J.; Johnson, , 1994, A computer model to simulate natural Everglades hydrology: St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    in The Everglades: The Ecosystem and Its Restoration

    S. M. Davis and J. C. Ogden, editors

    Blake, N. M., 1980, Land into water - water into land: University Presses of Florida, Tallahassee, FL.

    Davis, J. H., 1943, The natural features of southern Florida: Florida Geological Survey Bulletin 25, Florida Geological Survey, Tallahassee, FL.

    Davis, S. M. Gunderson, L. H.; Park, W. , 1994, Landscape dimension, composition, and function in a changing Everglades landscape: St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    in The Everglades: The Ecosystem and Its Restoration

    S. M. Davis and J.C. Ogden, editors

    Steinman, A. D. Havens, K. E.; Carrick, H. , 2002, The past, present, and future hydrology and ecology of Lake Okeechobee and its watersheds: CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    in The Everglades, Florida Bay, and Coral Reefs of the Florida Keys

    J. W. Porter and K. G. Porter, editors


How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    The total RMSE for the transformation model was well below a threshold of 0.25.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    Areas 1-7 and 10 contain mosaic sheet images only, no over-flight images are available for viewing. Of the 1401 images are known to have existed in the 1940s set of aerial photographs. Only 920 distinct images were located and scanned. Of these 793 were rectified and 127 were not rectified. See tables at <http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/aerial-photos/40s_method.html> for a list of photos not rectified and the problems preventing rectification. Of the rectified photos 79 images were not used due to protocol violations shown at <http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/aerial-photos/40s_method.html>

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    The photos are all from a survey done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1940


How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
None. Acknowledgement of the U.S. Geological Survey will be appreciated for products derived from these data.

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    Heather S.Henkel
    U.S. Geological Survey
    600 Fourth St. South
    St. Petersburg, FL 33701
    USA

    727 803-8747 ext 3028 (voice)
    727 803-2030 (FAX)
    hhenkel@usgs.gov

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    1940 Greater Everglades and South Florida Aerial Photoset

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    This report was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Although the data published herein has been reviewed by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and related material. Publication and distribution of these data should not be construed to constitute any such warranty and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favor by the United States Government or any agency thereof.

  4. How can I download or order the data?


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 03-Apr-2007
Metadata author:
Heather Henkel
U.S. Geological Survey
600 Fourth Street South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
USA

727 803-8747 ext 3028 (voice)
727 803-2030 (FAX)
sofia-metadata@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)


This page is <http://sofia.usgs.gov/metadata/sflwww/aerial-photos.faq.html>

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal Geology
Comments and suggestions? Contact: Heather Henkel - Webmaster
Generated by mp version 2.8.18 on Tue Apr 03 16:21:25 2007