Welcome

The origins of this site go back many years, when I learned World War II German aerial photography had been preserved for use by the map-making and intelligence communities. Later, in 1979, I was inspired by the ground-breaking photo analysis of Auschwitz-Birkenau by my colleagues Robert Poirier and Dino Brugioni. As digitized historical photography became available, I wanted to continue using it for historical research. More recently, the growing accessibility of commercial satellite imagery has opened new avenues for exploration.  

 

The imagery here comes mainly from the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP) and the U.S. National Archives (NARA). If available, digitized NARA imagery can be accessed for free. The NARA holdings are accessible via the "Catalog" using one degree-square areas. Not all imagery will be available. Under Catalog enter a latitude/longitude like this: 55N35E, which will bring up sortie overlays. These can be queried on the Catalog by entering the sortie number: GX 1234 or US33 2569, etc.; a frame number can be added if available. Digitized imagery will also display.  Once located, images can be ordered from the following service: AAA Research, contact@naraexpert.com.            

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John M.