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Maps and Atlases: Orthophotos

This guide helps you find maps and atlases that can be used in course assignments, or for your research.

Orthophotos

The York University Library orthophoto collection focuses on the Southern Ontario region. A digital orthophoto is an air photo that has been orthorectified or corrected, so that the scale is uniform and there is no distortion. Orthophotos can be used and manipulated in GIS software, such as ArcGIS. In addition, they can be viewed in a image viewing software such as Adobe Photoshop. Orthophotos generally cover a small area, from 0.5km² to 10km².

Digital Orthophotos to View and Download

All digital orthophotos in the York University collection are available to members of the York University community only, for research and academic purposes. The majority of our orthophotos can be downloaded via Scholars Geoportal. 

Downloading Orthophotos via Scholars Geoportal

  1. Go to Scholars Geoportal  
  2. Search for "ortho" and the area you are looking for, e.g. ortho Toronto.
  3. From there, you can add the orthophotos to the map view, and download orthophotos of your study area.

Digital Orthophotos via Request

Ordering Orthophotos via GAIA

There are several series of orthophotos that are not available via Scholars Geoportal. These orthophotos are only available to researchers and students affiliated with York University. 

  1. Browse table below, determine which Title and Year you are interested in ordering.
  2. Select using the index map, which orthophotos you would like.
  3. Using the GAIA request system, please provide the Title, Year, and list of the orthophotos that you require. You will be contacted via email when the data is ready to be downloaded.
    NOTE: If there is no index map available to view, please email gislib@yorku.ca for assistance.
Year Title Area Resolution (cm) Details
2023 Orthophotos of City of Toronto City of Toronto 8 This series will be available online via Scholars Geoportal in October 2024. If you need access prior to then, please email  gis.lib@yorku.ca
2008 Orthophotos of Southern Ontario (First Base Solutions) - Essex Essex County 10 [Metadata] [Index Map]
2003 City of Toronto Orthophotos (City of Toronto Survey and Mapping Services) City of Toronto 7.5 [Metadata] [Index Map]
2002 Orthophotos of Southern Ontario (First Base Solutions) - Lambton Lambton County 20 [Metadata] [Index Map]
1999 Colour digital orthophotos of the Greater Toronto Area (Triathlon Mapping Corporation) GTA 50 [Metadata] 
1997 City of Toronto Orthophotos – Black and white. (Land Information Toronto) City of Toronto 100 [Metadata]. 
1995 Digital Orthophotos of the Greater Toronto Area (Triathlon) GTA 100 For more information contact gislib@yorku.ca. 

Ortho Books (Print)

The York University Map Collection has a collection of "Ortho map books" that are produced by First Base Solutions.  We have ortho map books from the early 2000s for Aurora/Newmarket, Brampton, Burlington, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, Halton Hills, Markham, Mississauga, Oakville, Pickering, Richmond Hill, Toronto, Vaughan, and Whitchurch/Stouffville.  These books are located shelved in the filing cabinets adjacent to the public workstations in the Map Collection. Consult OMNI for a complete list of our holdings.