National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) Dataset

The NAIP imagery program acquires aerial imagery during the agricultural growing seasons in the United States. A primary goal of the NAIP program is to make digital ortho photography available to governmental agencies and the public within a year of acquisition.NAIP is administered through the USDA's Farm Production and Conservation Business Center (FPAC-BC) Geospatial Enterprise Operations (GEO) Branch. This "leaf-on" imagery is used as a base layer for GIS programs in the Farm Service Agency's County Service Centers, and is used to maintain the Common Land Unit (CLU) boundaries.

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Last Updated January 8, 2026, 07:07 (UTC)
Created January 8, 2026, 07:07 (UTC)
creationMethod <p>The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Production &amp; Conservation Business Center (FPAC-BC) Geospatial Enterprise Operations (GEO) Branch in Salt Lake, Utah. NAIP acquired aerial imagery at a resolution of 1-meter ground sample distance (GSD) for the United States from 2003– 2017 during the agricultural growing season, or “leaf on” conditions. The images are orthorectified which combines the image characteristics of an aerial photograph with the georeferenced qualities of a map. In 2018, the ground resolution standard changed to .6 meter with the option for .3 meter data was added for consideration over coastal states. The repeat flying cycle was also changed to no longer than a 3-year cycle from its 5-year cycle back in 2003 – 2009. 2009 to present coverage provide a refresh of every 3-years &amp; less responding to user needs across the United States.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Each individual image tile is based on a 3.75-minute longitude by 3.75-minute latitude quarter quadrangle plus a 300-meter buffer on all four sides. Tiles in the NAIP collection are natural color (red, green, and blue bands) or color near infra-red (red, green, blue, and near infrared bands) and may contain as much as 10 percent cloud cover per tile.</p><p><br></p><p>The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center distributes NAIP products in GeoTIFF and JPEG2000 format. The JPEG2000 format is a compressed file with embedded georeferencing information. The 10:1 lossy compression makes the file size smaller by reorganizing the data, but it also slightly degrades the imagery.</p><p><br></p><p>NAIP quarter quads are projected to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system and referenced to NAD83. Compressed data in the JPEG 2000 format acquired after 2013 are referenced to WGS84 and utilize the WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere projection.</p><p><br></p><p>APFO has stringent imagery compliance guidelines, and all deliverables are inspected using automated and visual methods to ensure accuracy and compliance with specifications. NAIP transitioned to an absolute accuracy specification beginning in 2006, which tied the imagery to ground control points rather than existing orthorectified imagery. Contracts mandate that all well-defined points tested shall fall within 6 meters of true ground at a 95% confidence level. Beginning in 2009, all states flown adhered to this specification.</p>
creatorEmail fpacitservicedesk@usda.gov
creatorName USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA)
dataAuthType public
dataType ZIP
datasetPageUrl https://naip-usdaonline.hub.arcgis.com/
docsURL https://www.usgs.gov/centers/eros/science/usgs-eros-archive-aerial-photography-national-agriculture-imagery-program-naip
issueDate 2003-01-01
lang en
lastUpdateDate 2026-01-07
ndp_creator_md5 e22ccfac8fe6a68759e60ced39f231b9
pocEmail apfo.sales@slc.usda.gov
pocName APFO Customer Service Section
publisherEmail custserv@usgs.gov
publisherName USGS EROS User Services
purpose <p>NAIP is a program to acquire “leaf on” aerial imagery during the peak growing season, and deliver this imagery to USDA County Service Centers, to maintain the common land unit (CLU) boundaries and assist with farm programs. The goal of NAIP is to collect 1-meter imagery for the entire conterminous United States. The imagery is acquired as a four-band product, which can be viewed as either a natural color or color infrared image. </p><p><br></p><p>While the focus of NAIP is on agricultural areas, FSA funds and cost share partnerships between federal agencies are leveraged to acquire full state coverage.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
spatialRes 1 meter
status submitted
theme ["agriculture","remote-sensing","aerial-imagery"]
updateFreq Daily
uploadType dataset