TechnicalGIS

Aerial and satellite imagery data for Antarctica

Restricted National orthophotography exists but is not openly licensed: it is sold, view-only without reuse rights, or limited to government use.

Sub-metre Vantor satellite imagery of Antarctica is available through the Polar Geospatial Center only to NSF-funded and U.S. Government polar researchers; the PGC also distributes historical U.S. Navy trimetrogon aerial photographs (1946–2000), and the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) is free to download.

Best open GSD
–
Latest capture
2015
Datasets
3 · 0 open · 3 free
Region
Antarctica
Last reviewed

Datasets 3

Free is not the same as open. Cost is what you pay to get the data; the licence says what you may do with it. How cost and licence are defined

  • Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) (opens in a new tab)

    USGS, British Antarctic Survey and NASA

    Cost Free Licence Not open
    • Satellite imagery
    GSD
    –
    Bands
    RGB
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Antarctica north of 82.5°S; seamless, virtually cloud-free pan-sharpened natural-colour mosaic from more than 1,000 Landsat ETM+ scenes
    Licence
    Downloadable at no charge; no licence stated on the LIMA site
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    GeoTIFF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • PGC Antarctic aerial photography (TMA single frames 1946–2000; McMurdo Dry Valleys 2014–2015) (opens in a new tab)

    Polar Geospatial Center / USGS EROS

    Cost Free Licence Not open
    • Historical aerial
    • Oblique aerial
    GSD
    –
    Bands
    –
    Acquired
    1946–2015
    Coverage
    Over 330,000 digitised U.S. Navy trimetrogon (vertical and oblique) frames across Antarctica, plus 2014–2015 McMurdo Dry Valleys aerial photography
    Licence
    No licence stated on the PGC page
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    TIFF, JPEG
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • PGC Vantor commercial satellite imagery archive (opens in a new tab)

    Polar Geospatial Center, University of Minnesota

    Cost Free with registration Licence Not open
    • Satellite imagery
    GSD
    –
    Bands
    RGB+NIR
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Polar regions including Antarctica; sub-metre WorldView, GeoEye and QuickBird imagery
    Licence
    Restricted to NSF Office of Polar Programs award holders and supporting U.S. Government agencies and contractors
    Access
    On request
    Formats
    GeoTIFF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

Elsewhere in Antarctica