Coastal Connecticut 2005 Color Infrared Orthophoto is a set of 1:12,000-scale orthorectified imagery.   These data were compiled from a set of 1129 individual tide controlled vertical aerial photos taken over six distinct days during June 15 to September 15, 2005.  The 2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Aerial Photography Project which captured these photos covers the geographic extent of Connecticut defined by :

* all land areas within one-thousand (1000) feet of Mean High Water (MHW) and within one-thousand (1000) feet of state-regulated tidal wetlands;
* an area of at least two-thousand (2000) feet waterward of the immediate shoreline of Long Island Sound in order to clearly depict the interface between the shorelands and coastal waters;  
* all offshore islands within the territorial borders of the State of Connecticut including Goose Island and Falkner Island (offshore of Branford); Calf Islands and Great Captain Island (offshore of Greenwich); Norwalk Islands (offshore of Norwalk); Thimble Islands (offshore of Branford); Sandy Point (offshore of Stonington); and all islands in the Connecticut part of Fishers Island Sound; and  
* the main stem of the Connecticut River up to the Massachusetts State line.  

The individual aerial photos were scanned, orthorectifed, and mosaicked into grid-based system. The geographic extent of each digital orthophoto is equivalent to 3¾ minutes of latitude and longitude, plus a little overlap based on US Geological Survey (USGS) Quarter Quads.  Typically USGS Quarter Quads are comprised of four sections per 7½ minute USGS Quadrangle map area - one for the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest sections.  For this project, since the extent of the area photographed may not cover an entire quarter quad section there are cases where there is either no data for parts of a section or no section at all.  Naming conventions follow standard USGS fomat, i.e., Q1234_ne, Q1234_nw, Q1234_se, Q1234_sw, etc.  The ground resolution of the imagery is approximately 1 ft per pixel.
  
Data is compiled at 1:12,000 scale. This data is not updated.

2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Digital Orthophotography is 1:12,000-scale data. It depicts land use, natural resources, vegetation, and other features and characteristics in the immediate shoreline areas of Connecticut during the summer of 2005.  Use this layer as a basemap for depicting coastal features/landscapes, as a source for georeferencing other imagery or data, or to analyze the landscape, features, or activities of the coastal area.  

A digital orthophoto is a digital image of an aerial photograph in which displacements caused by the camera and the terrain have been removed. It combines the image characteristics of a photograph with the geometric qualities of a map. A digital orthophoto has the same scale throughout and can be used as a map for measuring distances, calculating areas, determining the shape of features, and reading coordinate locations, for example. Digital orthophotos provide the necessary background (base map) layer information to which other spatial data layers are registered or created.  The process of creating an orthophoto, orthorectification, corrects the geometry of a aerial photo image so that it appears as though each pixel were acquired from directly overhead. Orthorectification uses elevation data to correct terrain distortion in aerial or satellite imagery.

To maximize the quality of the images and their contents, photography for the 2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Aerial Photography Project conformed to the following environmental conditions: 
* photos were only taken during times of no/minimal cloud cover when lighting and weather conditions optimized the color infrared film; 
* solar altitude was more than thirty (30) degrees; 
* the ground detail was not obscured by flooding; 
* the foliage (salt marsh vegetation in particular) was fully developed; 
* seasonal conditions (summer) favored maximum human use/recreation activities (e.g., boats & temporary docks/structures in water, etc.); 
* photo times were planned within one (1) hour window before or after a predicted low tide based on National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted tide tables. (In instances where this window caused conflicts with the general restricted hours, tide coordination times superceded that limitation); and 
* no photography was flown between the hours 1100 and 1300 Eastern Standard Time (EST) to minimize specular reflection.

The photos exist as 1:12,000 orthorectified color infrared images.  Color infrared photography, often called false color photography because it renders the scene in other than the normal colors seen by the human eye, is widely used for interpretation of natural resources.  Atmospheric haze does not interfere with the acquisition of the image, therefore is well suited to aerial photography.  Because the film is high speed and subject to degrees of degradation in handling before exposure, the aerial photographs can vary in overall tone.  This variability can complicate the interpretation of color tones between photographs, but some general guidelines can be given to aid the inexperienced interpreter. 

* The red tone of color infrared aerial photographs is almost always associated with live vegetation. Very intense reds indicate vegetation which is growing vigorously and is quite dense.  Knowledge of the vigor and density of vegetation is important to the interpretation of the red colors on color infrared aerial photography. 

* As the vigor and density of vegetation decreases, the tones may change to light reds and pinks. If plant density becomes low enough the faint reds may be overcome by the tones of the soils on which the plants are growing. The ground areas in this case will appear in shades of white, blue, or green depending on the kind of soil and its moisture content. As plant vigor decreases, the vegetation will show as lighter shades of red and pink, various shades of greens, and possible tans.  Dead vegetation will often be shades of greens or tans. 

* Bare soils will appear as shades of white, blue, or green in most agricultural regions.  In general, the more moist the soil the darker the shade of that particular soil color. Composition of the soil will affect the color tones shown on the photographs.  Dry sand will appear white and, with more moisture, may be very light gray or possibly light tan.  Clayey soils will generally be darker in color than sands and tend toward tans and bluegreens.  Again, wetter clays will be darker shades of the same tones.  Soils high in organic matter, like silts and loams will be even darker in color, and usually in shades of blues and greens.  Wet organic soils can be very dark blue or green in the aerial photographs. 

* Man-made features will show in the tones that relate to the materials they are made of.  Asphalt roads, for example, will be dark blue or black, gravel or dirt roads will show as lighter colors, depending on the soil materials involved in their composition, and concrete roads will appear light in tone, assuming clean concrete.  The buildings and streets of towns can be considered in a similar manner, their color dependent on the material they are made of. 

* Water will appear as shades of blue, varying from nearly black to very pale blue.  Clear, clean water will appear nearly black.  As the amount of sediment increases, the color becomes increasingly lighter blue.  Very shallow water will often appear as the material present in the bottom of the stream.  For example, a very shallow stream with a sandy bottom will appear white due to the high level of reflection of the sand. 

* Degraded film will result in photographs which have an overall blue or green cast.  When that occurs, the interpretation must consider what that overall cast will do to a "normal" rendition of the scene. 

(Description and guidelines for color infrared photography taken from the United States Geological Survey Aerial Photo FAQ web page, http://edc.usgs.gov/guides/news/aerialfaq.htmlt#A10)

James W. Sewall Co. of Old Town, Maine was contracted by the State of Connecticut to perform the 2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Aerial Photography Project.   All imagery and data products were defined under State of Connecticut contract award number 05PSX0128AA.

date of photography

None. The data is in the public domain and may be redistributed.  Please include this metadata record in any redistributions.

No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data. The data is suitable for use at appropriate scale, and is not intended for maps printed at scales greater or more detailed than 1:12,000 scale (1 inch = 1,000 feet). Although this data set has been used by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as to the accuracy of the data and or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata. When printing this data on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as the source for this information. For example, include the following data source description when printing this layer on a map: "2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Digital Orthophotography, compiled by James W. Sewall Co. and published by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection. Source map scale is 1:12,000."

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The completeness of the data reflects the content of the data sources, which include the 2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Aerial Photos. The 2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Digital Orthophotography layer is complete in the sense that it accurately reflects the content of the 2005 Coastal Color Infrared Aerial Photos available at the time James W. Sewall Co. created the layer. However, compared to current conditions, the 2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Digital Orthophotography layer is incomplete. This data is not updated.

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The 2005 Coastal Color Infrared Digital Orthophotography was created in part from aerial triangulation data collected during the flight as well as the 1:24:000 USGS National Elevation Dataset Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for Connecticut.  Since this version of a DEM was used ton control the elevation correction, overall accuracy assessment is approximately +/- 50 ft. The State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection has spot checked the 2005 Coastal Color Infrared Digital Orthophotography against existing 2004 Statewide orthophoto basemaps (1:12000 scale and  0.9 ft pixel resolution) and have found the mean accuracy of the 2005 orthophotography to be approximately +/- 9.5 feet.  The assessment was performed by identifying common features (roadway markings, sidewalk corners, storm drains, corners of retaining walls, bridge abuttments, etc.)  in both datasets and calculating the distances between them.  In cases of the "near ground features" (i.e., not including features on bridges, buildings, or other man-made structures) horizontal accuracy increases to +/- 5.5 feet.

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Coastal Connecticut 2005 Color Infrared Orthophoto

The data is in the public domain and may be redistributed.  No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data. The data is suitable for use at appropriate scale, and is not intended for maps printed at scales greater or more detailed than 1:12,000 scale (1 inch = 1,000 feet). Although this data set has been used by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as to the accuracy of the data and or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata. When printing this data on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection as the source for this information. For example, include the following data source description when printing this layer on a map: 2005 Connecticut Coastal Color Infrared Digital Orthophotography, compiled by James W. Sewall Co. and published by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection. Source map scale is 1:12,000.

Geographic information sytem (GIS), computer-aided drawing or other mapping software is necessary to display, view and access the information.

The data distributor does not provide custom GIS analysis or mapping services. Data is available in a standard format and may be converted to other formats, projections, coordinate systems, or selected for specific geographic regions by the party receiving the data.