Sunday, March 2, 2008

Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ)

Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) data consists of a computer-generated image of an aerial photograph. The image is corrected so that camera tilt and terrain relief don’t affect the accuracy. DOQs combine the image characteristics of a photograph with the geometric qualities of a map. The USGS has DOQs available for the entire United States. Most are grayscale, infrared photos; there are higher-resolution color photos for a few large U.S. metropolitan areas.

A booming business provides high-resolution, color aerial photographs to individuals, government agencies, corporations, and educational and nonprofit organizations. Companies like AirphotoUSA (www.airphotousa.com), Keyhole (www.keyhole.com) and DeLorme’s TopoBird subsidiary (www.topobird.com) provide imagery with quality and resolution that’s close to what was only available to intelligence agencies. If you want aerial photographs for business or government purposes, check these commercial sources.

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