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Map Services

A map service serves georeferenced map images over the Internet using data from a GIS database. CDFW offers many useful services including statewide USDA NAIP aerial imagery for various years. A variety of software products can display these services, including desktop GIS software such as ArcGIS.

Here are 3 ways to access our services:

  • ArcGIS layer files: Download a single zip file containing ArcGIS Layer files to access each service. Just add the layer files to ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro.
  • ArcGIS "GIS Server" connection: Server URL = https://map.dfg.ca.gov/arcgis/services
  • REST Services Directory: https://map.dfg.ca.gov/arcgis/rest/services

OpenGIS WMS connections are also available for many of the services. For example, this URL connects to the WMS for the NAIP 2018 natural color service: https://map.dfg.ca.gov/arcgis/services/Base_Remote_Sensing/NAIP_2018/ImageServer/WMSServer? Use the REST Services Directory to determine which services have WMS capabilities (browse to a service description and look for a WMS link near the top of the page).

Source datasets for many of the NAIP services are available for download from USGS EarthExplorer(opens in new tab). Index GIS layers indicating acquisition dates for NAIP images are also available here by year. NAIP services for the most recently flown year are also available from USDA(opens in new tab).

If you have any questions or feedback on these map services, please email GeoData@wildlife.ca.gov.

Available services

  • NAIP 2020 aerial imagery, 60 centimeter resolution, in 4 variations (natural color, 4-band, CIR/false color, NDVI)
    • NAIP_2020: Natural color imagery in a compressed format.
    • NAIP_2020_4Band: All 4 bands of the 2020 imagery (R,G,B,IR) in an uncompressed format for those who want full access to the source data for analyses. This service is slower than the others because of the amount of data being served.
    • NAIP_2020_CIR: Color infrared (CIR) / false color imagery in a compressed format. CIR imagery is useful for various purposes, including vegetation mapping.
    • NAIP_2018_NDVI: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) rendering for general assessments of vegetation health and biomass. The color-ramp goes from brown (less healthy vegetation) to red to green (healthier vegetation or more "greenness"). More information about the NDVI function used is available on this Esri help page(opens in new tab).
  • NAIP 2018 aerial imagery, 60 centimeter resolution, in 4 variations (natural color, 4-band, CIR/false color, NDVI). See above.
  • NAIP 2016 aerial imagery, 60 centimeter resolution, in 4 variations (natural color, 4-band, CIR/false color, NDVI). See above.
  • NAIP 2014 aerial imagery, 1 meter resolution, in 4 variations (natural color, 4-band, CIR/false color, NDVI). See above.
  • NAIP 2012 aerial imagery, 1 meter resolution, in 4 variations (natural color, 4-band, CIR/false color, NDVI). See above.
  • NAIP 2010 aerial imagery, 1 meter resolution, in 4 variations (natural color, 4-band, CIR/false color, NDVI). See above.
  • NAIP 2009 aerial imagery, 1 meter resolution, in 4 variations (natural color, 4-band, CIR/false color, NDVI). See above.
  • NAIP 2005 aerial imagery, 1 meter resolution (natural color)
    • NAIP_2005: Natural color imagery in a compressed format.
  • California CIR 2005 aerial imagery, 1 meter resolution, in 2 variations (CIR/false color, NDVI)
    • California_CIR_2005: Color infrared (CIR) imagery acquired during NAIP 2005 flights for California but not released as a NAIP product. Coverage was not available in all areas.
    • California_CIR_2005_NDVI: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) rendering of the CIR 2005 imagery for general assessments of vegetation health and biomass. The color-ramp goes from brown (less healthy vegetation) to red to green (healthier vegetation or more "greenness"). More information about the NDVI function used is available this Esri help page(opens in new tab).
  • USGS topo maps seamlessly displayed in 4 different renderings (regular, grayscale, hillshaded, transparent background)
    • Topo_Regular: Regular colors.
    • Topo_Grayscale: Grayscale colors.
    • Topo_Hillshade: Integrated with hillshade/relief data for enhanced topographic display.
    • Topo_Transparent: Transparent background - useful for draping over other data such as aerial photography. The white pixels and other selected background data are rendered transparent while other features such as place names and hydrography display in regular colors. The transparency effect may only work in particular software such as ArcMap.
  • Historic Sacramento Delta Maps
    • Aerial Imagery: Aerial photography from 1937.
    • USGS topos: USGS topo maps published between 1910-1918.