New York State Office of Planning Services Land Use and Natural Resources Inventory and Land Related Information System Aerial…

B1052-87: Numerical by photograph identification number.

In 1966 Governor Rockefeller directed the Office of Planning Coordination to conduct a natural resource inventory of New York State. The result was the Land Use and Natural Resources (LUNR) Inventory.

Between 1967 and 1968 a contractor completed aerial photography of Upstate New York; New York City and Long Island were photographed in 1969-1970. The state also contracted with Cornell University's Center for Aerial Photographic Studies to design the inventory, conduct the photointerpretation (coding), and produce overlay maps from the coded aerial photographs showing land use over the entire state. The inventory used standard 7.5' United States Geological Survey/New York State Department of Transportation quadrangle maps as the base maps for the overlays.

In 1974, the LUNR Inventory was updated for Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster, and Albany (part) counties. The Office of Planning Services (successor to the Office of Planning Coordination) then made plans to refine and update the entire LUNR Inventory. A pilot project for this program, called Land Related Information System (LRIS), was carried out from 1974-1977, resulting in photography and mapping of Broome and Tioga counties.

Starting in 1976, the program was administered by the Economic Development Board. Although planning continued into 1978, no further work was done on LRIS.

This series consists of aerial photographs taken to produce overlay maps for the LUNR and LRIS projects. Prints of these aerial photographs were hand coded to show general and specific use of land. Overlays were then produced from the coded prints for use by government and private planning, development, and conservation agencies.

The photographs were taken at a scale of 1" = 2,000' (1:24,000). Each print is approximately 9" x 9" square and contains the flight date and a photo identification number. The high resolution of the prints makes discernible such features as agricultural land, forest land, waterways, residential developments, commercial/industrial developments, buildings, roads, and sometimes vehicles.

B1052-87, 1967-1968: This accretion comprises the bulk of the series. This is a nearly complete set of prints of aerial photographs taken for the LUNR Inventory in 1967 and 1968, covering all of Upstate New York. No prints from the 1969-1970 photography of New York City and Long Island are included.

This accretion also includes a set of 129 photomosaic index maps indicating the geographic location of each of the 1968 photographs. The index maps have a scale of 1" = 5,000'. The photo identification number of each print is visible on the index maps, providing direct access to the numerically arranged prints. A key index map indicates the geographic area covered by each photomosaic index map.

B1052-88, 1968-1974: This accretion consists of high-altitude photographs of Broome and Tioga counties and low-altitude (scale 1:20,000) photographs of Broome, Tioga, and Cortland counties. There are also some supplementary LUNR photographs of Broome and Tioga counties from the 1968 aerial photography. Some of the prints have land use classification coding written on them in ink. Also included are two rolls of original photonegatives of Broome and Tioga counties taken for the LRIS pilot project in 1974. There are also some unidentified sheet negatives, including a few color negatives.

B1109Series B1109, Land Use and Natural Resources Inventory and Land Related Information System Area and Point Use Overlay Maps and

B1107Series B1107, Land Use and Natural Resources Inventory and Land Related Information System Research, Planning, and Use Files, contain related records.

A set of 129 index maps indicate the exact geographic location for each 1968 LUNR photograph. A key index map indicates the geographic location for each of the 129 index maps.

B1052-87: Container list is available at the repository.

B1052-88: Photonegatives closed for research. Photographs are use copy.