National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP)

The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) collects leaf-on (as opposed to the more common leaf-off) aerial imagery at 2 meter, 1 meter, and 2 feet resolution (varies by year and location) for the United States. This imagery is used for estimating crop plantings and yields.

For North Carolina, imagery was taken and is available for the following growing seasons:

  • 2004 - incomplete statewide, 2 meter resolution *
  • 2005, 2006 - complete statewide, 1 meter resolution *
  • 2008 - complete statewide, 1 meter resolution
    Available as single county mosaic, DOQQ tiles, and true-color tiffs.
  • 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 - statewide, 1 meter resolution, 4-band (true color and color-infrared) GeoTIFF tiles
  • 2018 - statewide, 2 feet resolution, 4-band GeoTIFF tiles
  • Note: we have not obtained the 2020 NAIP GeoTIFFs for NC.  They are available for download from the USGS EarthExplorer (multiple images may be downloaded as a batch process) or through image services linked below.  

* In 2004, 2005, and 2006, the data were released as a single mosaic for a county in MrSID format. Image file sizes are hundreds of megabytes - for example, Wake County's 2006 mosaic is 921 MB. Projection is UTM, NAD83, meters.

2018 NAIP, Jordan Lake
2018 NAIP showing muddy Haw River water backing up in Jordan Lake to the US Hwy 64 causeway/bridge.  Likely rain in the Haw River watershed created heavy sediment loading, while low flows in the New Hope River section allowed the muddy water to migrate "upstream" within the lake.

REST Image Service

Instead of downloading the data, consider connecting to an Image Service using REST protocol. The USDA provides a true-color ArcGIS Image Service of the latest imagery via the following link:

https://gis.apfo.usda.gov/arcgis/rest/services

See the REST webpage with more details about using services in GIS software. 

Data Access

NAIP data are stored on our Geodata Server at https://geodata.lib.ncsu.edu/NAIP/ or under the /NAIP folder if you connect using a mapped drive (instructions on the Geodata page linked above).

The data may be downloaded by anyone, but only NC State University affiliates will have mapped drive access.  Thus, for large volume requests, you may contact Data Services for assistance.  

NAIP true color imagery may also be freely downloaded as county SID mosaics for any US location from https://nrcs.app.box.com/v/naip.  The file names correspond to county FIPS numbers.