Digital Orthoimagery, Twin Cities, Minnesota, Spring 2025, 1-ft Resolution
Go to Section:- Overview
- Data Quality
- Data Organization
- Coordinate System
- Attributes
- Distribution - Get Data
- Metadata Reference
Section 1: Overview
Originator:Metropolitan Council, Kucera International, Inc.
Title:
Digital Orthoimagery, Twin Cities, Minnesota, Spring 2025, 1-ft Resolution
Abstract:
This dataset contains leaf-off, 4-band (red, green, blue, near-infrared (RGBI)) digital orthophoto imagery of the Twin Cities metropolitan area in east-central Minnesota. 268 digital orthophoto quarter quadrangle (DOQQ) tiles were produced at 30-cm (1-foot) resolution from new aerial photography captured in the spring of 2020. DOQQ tiles covering Ramsey County were created from 15-cm imagery and resampled using Kucera proprietary up to 30-cm GSD data. The counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Scott and Washington were captured at 30-cm resolution for Ortho production.
Project partners include Metropolitan Council and Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo). This dataset is available for direct use via the MnGeo Geospatial Image Service (Twin Cities metro layer). More information at https://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/chouse/wms/geo_image_server.html.
This metadata record was created by Metropolitan Council using information supplied by Kucera, MnGeo and the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Purpose: To produce four-band, leaf-off digital ortho-rectified aerial photography acquired in the spring of 2025 for the purpose of updating generalized land use data for the Twin Cities metropolitan area as well as for many other mapping and analysis functions.
Purpose:
To produce four-band, leaf-off digital ortho-rectified aerial photography acquired in the spring of 2025 for the purpose of updating generalized land use data for the Twin Cities metropolitan area as well as for many other mapping and analysis functions.
Time Period of Content Date:
04/01/2025
Currentness Reference:
Ground condition. Image acquisition dates: April 5, 6, 7, 15, 16, 2025.
Progress:
Complete
Maintenance and Update Frequency:
The Metropolitan Council is required to collect Generalized Land Use data at the same time as the Census. The Metropolitan Council plans to acquire aerial imagery again in 2030.
Spatial Extent of Data:
7-county Twin Cities metro: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties, Minnesota
Bounding Coordinates:
-94.34
-92.62
45.75
44.43
Place Keywords:
Minnesota, MN, Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington, Twin Cities
Theme Keywords:
Orthophotography, Digital Orthophotography, Ortho, Orthophotos, Digital Orthorectified Images, Digital Orthophotos, DOQ, DOQQ, Imagery, Images, Aerial Photography, Aerial Photos, Digital Aerial Photography, Air Photo, Color Infrared, Four Band Imagery
Theme Keyword Thesaurus:
ISO 19115 Topic Category
Access Constraints:
None. This dataset is public domain under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13). If the dataset is not available from the Online Linkage in Section 6, please contact the Distribution Contact Person.
Use Constraints:
None. This dataset is public domain under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13).
Contact Person Information:
GIS Contact,
Metropolitan Council
390 Robert Street North
St. Paul,
MN
55101-1805
Phone:
Email: gis-contact@metc.state.mn.us
Section 2: Data Quality
Attribute Accuracy:
N/A
Logical Consistency:
N/A
Completeness:
Created using native 30-cm GSD for a complete 30-cm resolution data set over 7 counties in the metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Orthoimages are visually inspected for completeness to ensure that no gaps or image misplacements exist within and between adjacent images. These images are derived by mosaicking multiple images to ensure complete coverage of Twin Cities Metro Area.
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:
Meets the ASPRS horizontal accuracy standard for 30-cm GSD at Standard Mapping Accuracy of 60-cm adhering to NSSDA guidelines and specifications. Kucera collected new survey control. Compliance with the accuracy standard was ensured by surveying 80 GPS ground control points. The ground control and airborne GPS/INS data stream are validated through an aerotriangulation (AT) bundle adjustment using Inpho Systems (Trimble) software. The residuals of the adjustment meet the required standards with the results fully outlined in an AT report.
Kucera reported the horizontal positional accuracy, calculated using 80 control points, yielded an RMSE of 31-cm (1.02 feet). Those data were also tested for horizontal positional accuracy by MnDOT's Office of Land Management Survey and Mapping Section staff. A project area accuracy measure was calculated using 188 independent survey control points, yielding an RMSE of 44.20-cm (1.45 feet), meeting the ASPRS-specified threshold for Standard Mapping and GIS work of <=60-cm (1.97-feet).
Vertical Positional Accuracy:
None - this is a horizontal-only product.
Lineage:
Aircraft were deployed to the Twin Cities area in April 2025 for digital image acquisition during the requested time frame. Multiple aircraft equipped with large-format Vexcel UltraCam Eagle aerial sensor (Digital Frame-based Mapping Camera) captured 4-band imagery over the entire project area of interest. Imagery was captured in a east-west direction at an altitude of 20,000' above mean terrain, at a sidelap of 30% for the bulk of the project area but sidelap was increased to 40% within the Developed Area defined by the Highway 494-694 loop. Sidelap was also increased to 60% over the Minneapolis and St. Paul Downtown Areas. In the line of flight, the digital photography will be taken with at least 60% stereo forward overlap between successive exposures, to support accurate aerotriangulation of the imagery, with the forward overlap being increased to 80% for designated true ortho areas. Non east-west flight lines were added and acquired in-line with streets within and near the 2 Downtown Areas. The early spring conditions are evident with a few remnant snow piles. The dates of image acquisition were April 5, 6, 7, 15, 16, 2025.
Imagery for Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Scott, Ramsey and Washington counties were collected at a 30-cm GSD to complete the 7-county wide 30cm dataset.
Four bands (RGBI, natural color plus near infrared) of raw camera data were processed by Kucera using Inpho (Trimble) Photogrammetry software. Aerial Triangulation was completed in UTM NAD 1983 (2011) Zone 15N, using Inpho Systems (Trimble) software and rectification of imagery used the client supplied 2022 USGS QL1 lidar DEM covering the area provided by Minnesota IT Services. Image mosaicking, QC and final DOQQ tiled products were subsequently produced.
Shortly after orthoimagery production began Kucera provided three representative sample areas of data to project stakeholders for processing evaluation and standardization. This quality control pilot project allowed all subsequent processing to be controlled by client-established color balance parameters.
All post processed orthoimagery was systematically reviewed by stakeholders via Kucera's web-based QA/QC Tool, which allowed edit calls to be communicated to the vendor online. Approximately 255 user edit calls were addressed. Upon repair and reexamination of all stakeholder edit calls, Kucera physically delivered the orthoimagery data on hard drive.
Kucera reported the horizontal positional accuracy, calculated using 80 control points, yielded an RMSE of 31-cm (1.02 feet). Those data were also tested for horizontal positional accuracy by MnDOT's Office of Land Management Survey and Mapping Section, Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing Unit staff. A project area accuracy measure was calculated using 188 independent survey control points, yielding an RMSE of 44.20-cm (1.45 feet), meeting the ASPRS-specified threshold for Standard Mapping and GIS work of <=60-cm (1.97-feet).
The final data is in UTM NAD83 (2011) Zone 15 projection.
The original data was delivered in GeoTIFF format only.
The imagery is available to the general public only as a web map service (WMS) on MnGeo's Geospatial Image Service (see ordering instructions below).
Section 3: Spatial Data Organization (not used in this metadata)
Section 4: Coordinate System
Horizontal Coordinate Scheme:
Universal Transverse Mercator
UTM Zone Number:
15
Horizontal Datum:
NAD83
Horizontal Units:
meters
Vertical Datum:
Vertical Units:
Depth Datum:
Depth Units:
Cell Width:
0.3
Cell Height:
0.3
Section 5: Attributes
Overview:
Imagery in 4 Bands with the order of Blue, Green, Red and Near Infrared
Detailed Citation:
Color orthoimages are comprised of pixels. Each pixel is assigned a digital number (DN) value of 0 to 255. For color orthoimages, the DN will refer to a color look-up table which contains red, green and blue (RGB) values, each from 0 to 255, for that pixel within the image. Band 1 (blue); Band 2 (green); Band 3 (red); Band 4 (NIR)
Table Detail:
Section 6: Distribution
Publisher:
Minnesota Geospatial Information Center (MnGeo)
Publication Date:
12/2025
Contact Person Information:
GIS Contact,
Metropolitan Council
390 Robert Street North
St. Paul,
MN
55101-1805
Phone:
Email: gis-contact@metc.state.mn.us
Distributor's Data Set Identifier:
base_metro_orthos_2025
Ordering Instructions:
These ortho images are very large and thus are not provided online for download. Instead, they are available to view as a web map service (WMS), part of MnGeo's Geospatial Image Service. Click on the link below for more information about the Geospatial Image Service and how to use web map services.
Section 7: Metadata Reference
Metadata Date:
12/31/2025
Contact Person Information:
GIS Contact,
Metropolitan Council
390 Robert Street North
St. Paul,
MN
55101-1805
Phone:
Email: gis-contact@metc.state.mn.us
Metadata Standard Name:
Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
Metadata Standard Version:
1.2
