There are many sources of digital aerial imagery on the internet. Hertz Farm Management uses these images to make farm management decisions, professionally market a property, and value farms. We also use the images as a base map for soil type analysis. If you would like to have a boundary or soil map of your farm using digital imagery, please contact Chad Hertz (chertz@wat.hfmgt.com) to see if imagery is available for your farm.
If you would like to look at imagery for your farm, we recommend that you use the terraserver webpage - http://terraserver-usa.com - to view your imagery online. This site is the most comprehensive and user friendly.
The Microsoft Terraserver (http://terraserver-usa.com) site contains imagery from all over the world. The site’s coverage for the United States includes all the available USGS DOQQS for the entire country. Follow the screen instructions to zoom in on the area you are interested in.
In many cases, state governmental agencies have organized imagery and made photos available to the public. The images are called Digital Ortho Quarter Quads (DOQQ). They are organized and indexed using quarter sections of the USGS quadrangle maps. Below are links to a national image library and several Midwest state libraries.
Illinois: (Click Here)
This site contains the latest imagery available for Illinois. Scroll down to the state map and click on your desired county. A new page will open with a state map. Click on your desired county and a table of quadrangles will open. The quadrangles are named using nearby towns. Click on the file you wish to view. This will download the file to your computer. You will need an image viewer add-in for your web browser to view the image once you have downloaded the image.
Iowa: (Click Here)
This site has several imagery options for the state. To find your image using Township, Range and Section, click on the Search by Township-Range-Section option at the right of the menu, or click here: Search by Township-Range-Section to go right to an imagery search.
After your imagery appears in the image viewer, there are several options on the left of the screen. To change an option, click on the circle next to your choice, scroll down and click on refresh map. The Color Infrared (CIR) images are listed as one of the viewable options. The viewer also allows you to zoom in or out of the photo by changing resolutions or change the image size by changing the height and width of the image viewer. After each change, you will need to click on refresh map to view the updated image.
Indiana: (Click Here)
This page provides links to different formats of imagery on the left menu bar. The page itself describes what one needs to view images. The images are provided in a directory format and not in an interactive map.
Minnesota: (Click Here)
This site has links to several options of imagery ranging from satellite imagery to aerial photography. To view aerial photos, click on aerial photography. At the next page click on air photos online. You may also click here: Airphotos Online. On the next page, scroll down and click on “browse photos” From here, simply choose your search option and follow the screen directions.
Nebraska: (Currently Unavailable)
This is an interactive map of Nebraska that allows you to select regions of Nebraska to view 1993 Compressed Ortho Quarter Quad (COQQ) photos.
On the left of the map are viewing options. After making your selections, you will need to click on refresh map to view the updates. On the left of the map are mapping tools for you to use. The site has instructions and helpful hints.