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NHAP = National High-Altitude Aerial Photography: 1980 - 1989

Published by U.S. Geological Survey | Department of the Interior | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2023-07-19T00:00:00Z
'The National High Altitude Photography (NHAP) program, which was operated from 1980-1989, was coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey as an interagency project to eliminate duplicate photography in various Government programs. The aim of the program was to cover the 48 conterminous states over a 5-year span. In the NHAP program, black-and-white and color-infrared aerial photographs were obtained on 9-inch film from an altitude of 40,000 feet above mean terrain elevation and are centered over USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles. The color-infrared photographs are at a scale of 1:58,000 (1 inch equals about .9 miles), and the black-and-white photographs are at a scale of 1:80,000 (1 inch equals about 1.26 miles). All NHAP flights were flown in a North to South direction. These photographs are offered as digital images. '

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