Air Photo Collection
View Historical air photos (1921 - 1948) on the Web!
View the 2006 orthophotos using Niagara Navigator!
View Niagara air photo coverage
The Brock University Map Library houses a vast collection of aerial photography including over 35 air photo series primarily covering the Niagara Region dating from 1921 to 1998 as well as a collection of air photos showing unique geological features in Canada. Aerial photography came into the digital world beginning in the 1990s as raster graphic images. Through the georeferencing process these images now reflect the geometric features of a map and are referred to as "orthophotos", "orthoimagery" or "satellite imagery". Specialized software is required to view and utilize these remote sensing data.
Air photos and geospatial data may be borrowed by anyone holding a valid borrowers card for the James A. Gibson Library. To acquire data, a signed license agreement is required. Some restrictions do apply. See staff for details and to request geospatial data resources.
Services
A large format (12 x 17) scanner is available at the public workstation for users to scan maps and air photos up to 600 dpi resolution. A photocopier is also available to make reproductions with an advanced "Photo" setting available. Patrons should be aware of what can and cannot be copied by reviewing the Canadian Copyright Act. Copies of the Act and the agreement with the University are posted in the Map Library.
Each air photo series includes detailed flight line indexes where each dot represents the centre of an air photo. Most indexes are superimposed on the corresponding National Topographic Series (NTS) map to aid the user in locating a site of interest. Click here to see a sample portion of an index.
Most remote sensing imagery are accessed using pre-defined templates in ArcGIS software. Each template includes an appropriate citation for the database. The Map Library has six public workstations equipped with GIS (ArcGIS & MapInfo) and image viewing software (Irfanview).
Sources for Ordering Air Photos