Surveys & Aerial Photos

Soil Surveys

Soil surveys are documents created by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) which records soil types with maps and describes soil characteristics. The last soil survey to be conducted in New Hanover County was in 1977. It contains detailed information about soil types across the county. View the Soil Survey of New Hanover County (PDF). NHSWCD houses several copies of this survey that are free to the general public. Please contact us if you are interested in a hard copy of this survey.

View the interactive, web-based map that identifies soil types across New Hanover County. In addition, the USDA’s Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.

Aerial Photos

Aerial photos are photos taken of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be handheld or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or triggered automatically

NHSWCD houses historical New Hanover County aerial photos from 1949, 1956, and 1966. Please contact us if you would like to set up an appointment to view these photos. All of these photos are also available online on the Find and Download Data page.

New Hanover County also provides aerial photographs and Basemaps from 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2020, view the Online Photographs and Basemaps website. To view these files in a web browser, select the year and then “View in ArcGISOnline Map Viewer.”