This dataset contains the spatial metadata of the collection of historical aerial photographs (1946–2007) of the National Geographic Institute (NGI). The aerial photographs themselves are not part of the dataset. The collection comprises more than 72,000 aerial photographs. The images are predominantly panchromatic (black and white). From the late 1970s onwards, colour images were also acquired, and from late 2004 onwards all images were acquired in colour. The analogue aerial photographs in the collection were scanned at high resolution. This specific dataset comprises three layers: the centre points (centroids) of the individual aerial photographs, the footprints (the outlines of the area on the ground covered by each photograph) and the flight paths of the aircraft used during image acquisition. For each aerial photograph, all known metadata are included in the attribute table, such as the acquisition date, the flight and the strip, the dimensions, the scale, the ground resolution, the radiometry (black and white or colour), the coordinates of the centre point and the camera, lens and film used. These data make it possible to look up which historical aerial photographs are available for a given location and period, and what the characteristics of each photograph are. The data can be consulted via the corresponding web service (WFS). The aerial photographs can be ordered in high resolution via https://shop.ngi.be/nl/luchtfotos/.

This dataset contains historical orthophoto mosaics based on available aerial photographs covering parts of the Belgian territory. Orthophotos are aerial photographs that have been geometrically corrected (orthorectified) to eliminate distortions caused by terrain relief, lens distortion, and camera tilt. Unlike raw aerial imagery, orthophotos have a uniform scale and accurate geometry, making them suitable for cartography, measurements, and visual analysis. This specific dataset includes historical orthophotos from 1947 and 1948, derived from aerial surveys carried out by the National Geographic Institute (NGI). During this period, only analogue aerial photographs are available. The analogue images were scanned at high resolution and orthorectified. The resulting orthophotos were assembled into mosaics and georeferenced in the Lambert 2008 coordinate system. All orthophotos are panchromatic (black and white). The ground resolution (GSD) is 50 cm. The spatial coverage of this dataset is limited to the areas for which aerial photographs were available during the mentioned period. The data can be visualized via the corresponding web services (WMS/WMTS). The orthophotos and the original aerial photographs can be ordered in high resolution via https://shop.ngi.be/nl/luchtfotos/.