USGS Fact Sheet 220-96

August 1998

Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Introduction

The Aerial Photography Summary

Record System (APSRS) describes aerial

photography projects that meet specified

criteria over a given geographic area of

the United States and its territories.

Aerial photographs are an important tool

in cartography and a number of other

professions. Land use planners, real

estate developers, lawyers, environmental

specialists, and many other professionals

rely on detailed and timely aerial

photographs.

Until 1975, there was no systematic

approach to locate an aerial photograph,

or series of photographs, quickly and

easily. In that year, the U.S. Geological

Survey (USGS) inaugurated the APSRS,

which has become a standard reference

for users of aerial photographs.

Contents

There are two data bases in the system:

the APSRS data base and the contributor

data base. Each record in the APSRS data

base contains up to 13 descriptive fields.

All fields can be displayed, and 12 of the

13 fields can be searched. Not all fields,

however, contain data for every record.

Each record in the contributor data base

contains the name, address, and phone

number of a contributor. The contributor

field and the field containing the city,

State, and zip code can be searched.

The APSRS data base describes more

than 600,000 aerial photography projects

covering the United States and its

territories. Anumber of Federal, State,

and municipal agencies and commercial

firms contribute to APSRS.

Each listing is a summary of aerial

photography projects within a 7.5- by

7.5-minute quadrangle area,

corresponding to the USGS 7.5-minute

map series. Entries are sorted by project

date and describe the scale, project code,

file type, cloud cover, and camera focal

length. The entries also give the name of

the holding agency or firm.

Requirements

Hardware requirements include an IBM

PC-XT-AT or compatible microcomputer

with 512 kilobytes of memory, with DOS

operating system version 3.0 or greater;

one 20-megabyte hard drive; and a CDROM reader with software drivers that

read ISO-9660 formatted CD-ROM’s.

Information

The APSRS data base and contributor

data base are available on CD-ROM for

$57.00, plus a $5.00 handling fee. The

CD-ROM contains licensed software for

searching, sorting, displaying, printing,

and exporting the data. The software

must be installed onto a hard drive before

the data can be used. The CD-ROM is

accompanied by a users manual.

For information on ordering the CDROM, or to obtain a list of available

photographs covering a specific areas,

contact any Earth Science Information

Center (ESIC).

The data bases are maintained by the

USGS. For information about submitting

projects for entry into the APSRS,

contact:

U.S. Geological Survey

APSRS Data Base Manager

509 National Center

Reston, VA 20192

703-648-5903

For information on these and other USGS

products and services, call 1-800-USAMAPS, use the EARTHFAX fax-ondemand system, which is available 24

hours a day at 703-648-4888, or visit the

general interest publications website at

http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/products/

mappubs.html.

Please visit the USGS home page at

http://www.usgs.gov/.

Any use of trade, product, or firm names

is for descriptive purposes only and does

not imply endorsement by the U.S.

Government.

Aerial Photography Summary Record System

Part of NHAP83, Roll 77, Frame 6.