Digital Scan Product Information

Digital scans are digital reproductions of the CIR negatives, with an approximate scale of 1 inch = 1,320 feet.  Each scan covers approximately a four-square-mile area, or around 2,600 acres. 

The digital scans are reproduced from 1-foot pixel resolution digital scans.  Two digital scan products are available for purchase:

• Raw
  Raw scans are best described as digital pictures of the 9x9 print.  While these scans must be viewed on a computer, they do not contain any geographic information in order to overlay them with other geographic data.
• Geo-referenced
  These scans have been geo-referenced using a GPS coordinate tethered to the center point of each digital photographic frame to georeference the image to WTM NAD 83/91. (For more information and parameter definition of the WTM projection, visit dnr.wi.gov/maps/gis/wtm8391.html). While these scans are not to be confused with orthophotos, as they have not undergone the same correction methodology, they may be viewed with other geographic data. Georeferencing is the process of scaling, rotating, translating, and de-skewing the image to match a particular size and position. While viewing the scans in a GIS is possible, analysis and any exact measurements should not be conducted.

Digital Scan Ordering Details

As with ordering contact prints, orders of 1 through 9 prints may be ordered by using the legal description (i.e. township, range, and section number).  This information can be found in numerous locations including plat books (available at your county clerk or from mapping companies and the Wisconsin Atlas & Gazetteer (available at many bookstores, libraries, gas stations, or discount stores).  A legal description looks like this: “T 26 N, R 12 E, S 18”, where “T” is for townships, “R” is for range, and “S” is for section.

Orders of 10 or more prints must include the county flight line number, negative roll number, and photographic frame number.  These numbers are available on photo index maps, which can be found at DNR field offices or by calling the Division of Forestry at 608-267-7494.

See a sample order form here.

Digital Scan Pricing

Raw Scans (cost/image)

Geo-referenced Scans (cost/image)