Did you know that Oakland County has an extensive aerial imagery collection? With our new app, you can go back and explore the county over time, ranging from 1940-2017. Enter an address or city in the “Search Address/Place” box. Then, zoom in and out as you check out your house, neighborhood, landmark buildings, parks, and more by clicking on the boxes next to each year, or layer. Take a trip all the way back to 1940 and explore our county 70 years ago, or “live in the now” by checking out our super-detailed 3-inch resolution 2017 imagery.
Take a look at this progression over time. Isn’t it amazing?
Oakland County has utilized Aerial Photographs for mapping purposes for decades. By comparing photographs taken at different times, county cartographers can create accurate and detailed maps of ever-changing features on the Earth’s surface. The process of comparing different aerial photographs and determining accurate measurements is called photogrammetry. Maps created by using aerial photographs are called orthophoto maps.
Explore our app and share it with your friends. It’s so neat to be able to go back and look at your childhood home or see how your current home has changed. Let us know what you find in the comments. We’re sure you’ll be surprised by some of the changes.
Some of our favorite progressions to watch happened at Oakland University, in downtown areas, and the Woodward Corridor. Zoom in and see how they’ve grown!
Like what you see? Visit the Oakland County website, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn using #OaklandCounty.
Thank you for sharing. Hello, love the maps. I have a question on the exact day of the year of a map picture. Specifically the 2012. My home was remodeled in 2012 and the dormer bumped out and I would like to have the reference of when construction started by the date of the picture. Where do I look.Thank you.
Hi Jennie,
Our ortho imagery is generally acquired over the course of a couple of weeks to a couple of months, depending on the weather conditions during the spring flights. For some flight years, we know the exact day each part of the County was flown, but this is not the case with 2012. The most detailed info we can provide is that the imagery was acquired in March of 2012. We hope this information helps and we’re glad you love the maps!
Go Golden Grizzlies! OU is always on the move and changing what campus looks like. Great article and awesome app to see the progression of Oakland County!