Orthophotography (aerial photography rectified to the curvature of the earth) forms the backbone of many GIS applications including parcel mapping, street centerlines, disaster response, emergency management, zoning, and environmental management. The cost of flying and producing high-resolution orthophotography has traditionally been borne by local governments and is usually related to property tax administration.
NC OneMap Orthophotography Program Cost Share Partners
Since 2005, the GICC has worked through state and federal government agencies to provide cost-share dollars to counties and cities for acquisition of this important data.
National Geospatial Program: In particular, the USGS National Geospatial Program has been a key partner for four years in the coordination of federal resources for these efforts. NGP has provided more than $1.2 million dollars for 69 projects in 63 of the 95 counties over the past 5 years.
NC Floodplain Mapping Program: To ensure the development of accurate digital flood insurance rate maps, the NC Floodplain Mapping Program has provided cost share dollars for 23 counties.
NC Geological Survey: To support the landslide hazard mapping program, NC Geological Survey has provided cost share dollars for 2 counties in western North Carolina.
View Status Map of Digital Orthophotography by County, 2009
NC 911 Board Funds 2010 Statewide Orthophotography
The North Carolina 911 Board awarded a grant in the amount of $12.3M to the City of Durham’s Emergency Communications Center on September 25, 2009 for acquisition of statewide orthophotography (1-inch = 200 feet). The City of Durham PSAP (Public Safety Access Point) recognized that the value of up-to-date, consistent base-map orthophotography for use by every emergency responder. North Carolina currently has a patchwork of county-acquired imagery of various ages and resolutions. By involving the GICC in the grant application process, the City of Durham PSAP was able to fine tune their application and take advantage of the GICC’s expertise and commitment to state and local cooperation. The project objectives include the design, implementation and maintenance of a statewide 911 GIS/Mapping resource. Additionally, each county will receive a free copy of the orthophotography for their use. The data will also be made available to everyone through the NC OneMap statewide data resource. For details, visit the NC OneMap website.
2009 Cost-Share and Collaborative Efforts Assist 17 Counties
The 2009 winter flying season included one northeast group of six counties that each received part of a $129,000 federal cost-share through the NC OneMap program. The six adjacent counties, including Gates, Hertford, Chowan, Bertie, Martin, and Washington, collaborated to contract with a single vendor to save money on their true-color photography. This group of rural counties had some of the oldest orthophotography in the state because their smaller tax base limits expenditures for routine updates of this data asset.
To save money a cluster of eight counties in the southwestern Piedmont jointly flew true-color orthophotography this winter. Centralina Council of Government coordinated this effort for the second time because of its success in 2005. When neighboring counties fly together, costs are reduced for everyone. The eight counties include: Burke, Cleveland, Catawba, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, and Rutherford.
In addition, the NC Floodplain Mapping Program supported the acquisition of orthophotography for Vance County. The Floodplain Mapping Program is required to use orthophotography that is not aged beyond five years for on-going map maintenance.
To check on the availability of the recently acquired data, check the FTP download page on the NC OneMap website.
2007-2008 Cost-Share Helps 24 Counties
Twenty-four counties received NC OneMap cost-share dollars for true-color orthophotography during the 2007-2008 leaf-off winter flying season. The $283,300 was split among the counties based on land-area. The counties included: Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Caldwell, Caswell, Cherokee, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Graham, Harnett, Henderson, Jones, Lenoir, Orange, Pender, Person, Robeson, Sampson, Stokes, Surry, Transylvania, Wayne and Wilkes. All orthophotography was completed and delivered to the counties. The orthophotography is available for FTP download from the NC OneMap website.
The NC OneMap Program supports the timely acquisition of digital orthophotography so that every county is refreshed at least every four years across the state.
Federal and State cost-share assistance to local government orthophoto projects, 2005-2009, can be viewed here.
White Paper: Digital Cameras vs Film Cameras
Large-format digital camera technology is rapidly replacing the large-scale aerial imagery previously captured by aerial film collection. A White Paper prepared by the Orthophotography Planning Working Group and presented to the Geographic Information Coordinating Council in May 2008 presents the differences between film and digital collection of that photography. Read more.