The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) Utah Aerial Imagery Database contains aerial photography (air photos) dating from 1935 to 2020; about half of the collection dating before 1960. Aerial and related imagery is separated in the database by acquisition agency and the project code or name the agency assigned to the project as a collection. The project code consists of the year or year range the images were acquired and the specific project coding. Some imagery in this database is linked to images contained in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS) EarthExplorer system. For those images, upon clicking the Download button, you will be redirected to the EarthExplorer website to complete the download, where an EarthExplorer user login is required by the USGS.
Search for Images by an Area of Interest
Use the Map Search link in the Search pane to the right to access the map search feature. Select the Pan mode to pan and zoom about the map to locate your Area of Interest (AOI). Select Drag to select a search area box by dragging. All images with center points within your selected AOI will be returned.
Search for Images by a Known Project Code or Name
Use the Project ID/Code or Project Name box to the right and enter the known project code or name and click the blue Search button. Alternatively, click the Aerial Collections link above and select the acquisition agency and then the project code from the lists. All images corresponding to that specific project will then be returned.
Search for Images by Metadata
Use the Advanced Metadata Search link in the Search pane to the right to access the advanced metadata search feature. Enter the known metadata into the appropriate metadata fields and click the blue View Matching Results button to return all the images matching the metadata you entered.
Search for a Specific Imagery Type
Imagery types are listed under All Resource Types in the Search pane. Select the kind of imagery you want to search for by checking or unchecking the box for each type listed. Images from the USGS EarthExplorer system are the Air Photo External type.
Special Search Methods
Use quotes "" around your search text to search for that specific text. Use an asterisk * to enable wildcard searching.
Quickly Skim Through the Search Results
After searching and then viewing search results, select the Actions dropdown near the top of the page, then select Preview All. For Horizontal previews, you can scroll left and right with the left and right arrow keyboard buttons. For Vertical previews, you can scroll with the up and down arrow keyboard buttons. Select a specific image by clicking on it.
Refine or Change the View of Your Search Results
To refine your search results, enter additional metadata to search in the Refine Results box near the top of the page. To change the view when viewing search results, use the display type icons (thumbnails, strip, or list views), sort, and number per page selections near the top of the page.
Create a PDF Image Preview Sheet
When viewing search results, select the Actions dropdown near the top of the page, then select PDF Image Preview Sheet. Select the options for your PDF, such as the Display Type (List, Single Image, or Thumbnails) and the Size (paper size). The Thumbnails display type is usually the best option, unless you would like to show more of the metadata on specific images. Each image in the PDF also links to the image page in the database.
Download an Entire Aerial Project
When viewing search results, select the Actions dropdown near the top of the page, then select Download. Select the options for downloading the project as a ZIP or TAR file. Projects whose images are contained in the USGS EarthExplorer system cannot be downloaded using this feature, as they must be downloaded from EarthExplorer directly. An aerial project may be too large to download at one time; however, try using TAR archive files for large downloads. The open-source 7-Zip utility for Windows and other operating systems can be used to uncompress TAR files.
Download the Metadata for Images
When viewing search results, select the Actions dropdown near the top of the page, then select Metadata CSV File Export. Select the options for the export and a comma separated value (CSV) text file will be downloaded that contains all of the metadata for the images. The CSV file can be viewed in a text viewer or spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, or LibreOffice. The metadata for a single image can be downloaded as a PDF or a text file (TXT) by selecting the Download Metadata option in the Resource Tools section on the image view page.
Save a Web Link for a Specific Project or Image
To save a web (URL) link to a specific project, just copy the URL in your browser, such as: https://imagery.geology.utah.gov/pages/search.php?search=!collection102. Only the URL up to the search=!collectionxxx, where xxx is a number is needed. To save a web link to a specific image, just copy the URL in your browser, such as: https://imagery.geology.utah.gov/pages/view.php?ref=95197. Only the URL up to the ref=xxxxx, where xxxxx is a number is needed.
