Historical aerial photographs dramatically document changes in Florida's land use.

Between 1937 and 1975, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created more than 100,000 black and white, 9 x 9 aerial photographs with 1,000 accompanying photomosaic indexes of Florida. Due to the unstable nature of the photographic negative's sodium nitrate composition, the U.S. government, destroyed archival negatives for the earliest photos. As a result, the aging hardcopy photographic prints are all that remain of this historic resource.

Originally intended to assist farmers determine accurate assessments for their farms and to provide information on crop determination and soil conservation, today these images provide some of the oldest land use/cover information available. They are used extensively in agriculture, conservation, urbanization, recreation, education, hydrology, geology, land use, ecology, geography, and history.

The University of Florida Map & Digital Imagery Library houses the largest and most complete collection of Florida aerial photographs (~160,000 photos) outside of the National Archives. Two of three imaging phases have resulted in digitization of the aging 1937-1975 aerial photographs and 1,000 photomosaic indexes and make these images available over the Web through a map and database server. Digitization of the entire 160,000 photographs is anticipated to occur over a three-year phased project.

The Digital Library Center (DLC) will scan the photos and the digital images will be stored on a server at the Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA.). Scanned photomosaics sheets will be geographically rectified and combined with existing geospatial data (i.e. roads, rivers, political boundaries, etc…) to create a Web based mapping search engine. While the individual digital aerial images will not be geographically rectified, the image format along with scanner calibration parameters will be suitable for rectification and use in some remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. The graphics quality images are intended for education, historical evaluations, general planning purposes and aerial photograph preservation and not for measurement use or as legal documents.

For each digital image, metadata records will be created, linked to individual images and entered into a searchable database and appropriate records will be added to other state aerial directories. Educational products developed will include: general educational materials to instruct students and the public on interpretation and use of aerial photographs; two online elementary educational modules that can be used in conjunction with the Social Studies Sunshine Standards; and a citrus industry case study model for high school and undergraduate curriculum.