Instructions

In order to obtain a copy of a historical aerial photo, follow these steps:

(1) OPEN THE IHAPI MAP.

(2) SELECT YOUR COUNTY AND YEAR OF INTEREST.

In the upper-right area labeled "IHAPI Navigation Tool," use the "Select County" dropdown box to choose a county of interest. The map automatically zooms to the county, and automatically displays the index map and ID points for the oldest year of available imagery.

Use the "Years Available" dropdown box to examine and switch the map display to show other years for which historical aerial photos are available. Select your year of interest. The appropriate black-and-white photomosaic will appear, and the locations of photo identification numbers will be indicated by colored symbols.

(3) FIND YOUR SITE OF INTEREST.

Within the county, find the exact location of your site of interest. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways:

  • Use the mouse wheel or the scale slide bar to zoom in and to find your site of interest if you know your site's location within the county. To assist in locating your site, various layers showing different types of features (such as major roads, urban areas, lakes, and others) are available for viewing from the folder named "Reference > Reference Features" located on the "Select Layers" tab. Also, the "Basemaps" tab can be used to switch between available basemaps showing topography and more recent imagery.

  • Use the "Address" search in the top right-hand corner of the map zoom to specific street address.

  • Similarly, use the "Address" dropdown box to explore the various other types of searches available. Users can search for locations based on the following types of information:
    • Zip Codes
    • City/Town names
    • County names
    • Quadrangles (USGS 7.5' quadrangle map names)
    • Longitude/Latitude coordinate values
    • Township/Range values

NOTE: If you need assistance with any of the tools described above contact personnel of the Indiana Geological Survey (telephone: 812-855-7636).

(4) OBTAIN THE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER OF YOUR PHOTO OF INTEREST.

After you have located your particular site of interest, obtain the identification number of the appropriate historical aerial photo by clicking the appropriate ID symbol.

NOTE: If the index symbols are oriented North-South, select the point that is located to the upper right of your site of interest. If the index points are oriented East-West, select the point that is located to the upper left of your site of interest. If the index symbols are green, then a low-resolution thumbnail image is available for viewing.

After clicking on an ID symbol, a results window showing attributes will appear. This contains the information necessary to order individual historical aerial photographs, a link to view a "thumbnail" image (if available), and a link called "acquire image" that contains the information necessary to obtain a copy of the photograph from the archival collections of the IGS.

If the ID symbol is red, the links will not appear for the "thumbnail" and "acquire image" but users can still record the ID of the photo of interest, along with county name and year of the photo. This information can then be used to contact another archival organization or county agency to determine if it is available.

(5) CONTACT AN ARCHIVE.

After you have obtained the identification number of your photo of interest, contact an archival collection to determine the availability of paper or digital copies of the photograph. NOTE: Each archive has its own fee schedule.