An aerial photo is any photograph taken from the air. Most aerial photographs in the UCSC collection are vertical images (straight down) and nearly all flights include stereo pairs. Each flight includes an index that describes:

• Geographic extent of the flight
• Altitude of aircraft, scale of the resulting images
• Format and other important data 

Types of photos:

• Black & White - Good contrast and detail. 
• Color - Sometimes easier to identify familiar objects using the color. Earliest color photos are from 1973.
• Color-Infrared - Shows landscape features that otherwise aren't very clear.

What is scale?

• Scale is the ratio between the size of the object in the photo compared to the actual size of the object, indicated by: 1:4200, 1:7200, etc. The smaller the number after the colon, the closer to the ground the picture was taken. 
• For examples, see UC Santa Barbara's explanation of Aerial Photography Scale 

What can you see?

• Larger features (e.g. shores, mountains, the larger rivers, etc.)  If the scale is under 1:15,000, possibly roads, parks, individual buildings, etc.
• Sequences of aerials of the same area 

What can't you see?

• Small features if scale is over 1:15,000
• Buildings and structures that might be obstructed by trees

• Aster  (NASA)
  Selected satellite images of natural and human disasters.
• EROS Data Center (USGS)
• Google Earth 
  Free download allows worldwide search and zoom.
• Landsat (USGS)
• Map and Aerial Locator Tool (MALT)
  A spacially enabled, web-based aerial photo and map discovery tool
• Map and Imaging Library (UCSB)
• UCB aerial photographs catalog covers most counties in California, including San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
• World Wind  (NASA)
  Software download allows creation of three-dimensional images worldwide.