SWISSIMAGE RS
SWISSIMAGE RS contains an unequalled wealth of information in our “image” product range. Bringing together the 4 spectral bands: near infrared, red, green and blue, these orthophotos provide basic data for many professional applications.

The orthophotos of Switzerland for remote sensing applications
SWISSIMAGE RS is made of orthorectified image strips with 4 spectral bands: the near infrared, the red, the green and the blue. These strips are divided in several segments. Thanks to a straightforward production chain, these images are produced and delivered in a short interval, between 4 and 6 months after their acquisition. The structure in single orthophotos allows keeping accurate information on the acquisition time and date for all strips.
Applications
Since vegetation reflects solar radiation mainly in the near infrared spectrum, SWISSIMAGE RS is perfect for environmental studies. Distributed as raw as possible, these orthophotos are suited to numerical computations and give especially accurate results. The wealth of information (4 bands) also makes image classification efficient and allows displaying true-color images (red, green, blue).
Prices and Ordering
The dataset is not available for free download. Please send your orders to geodata@swisstopo.ch who will make an offer for the costs of the provision of the data. To facilitate the order, please specify the area of interest (rectangle in Swiss coordinates, municipality, etc.), the format and, if necessary, the resolution or variant.
Terms of use
Additional information
Technical details
Ground resolution : 0.1 m in flat areas and 0.25 m in mountainous areas
Spectral resolution : NIR [808 - 882 nm], red [619 - 651 nm], green [525 – 585 nm] and blue [435 – 495 nm]
Colour depth : 16 bit without histogram stretching
Format : TIFF with ZIP compression + TFW (World File) – georeference
Coordinate system : LV95
Update : SWISSIMAGE RS is available from 2017 with the images acquired in 2016 and covers the entire territory of Switzerland and Liechtenstein on a 3-year basis. Data acquired before 2016 will be progressively integrated over the next years.
Structure
SWISSIMAGE RS is supplied in segments of orthophoto strips. Each strip possess an ID, which gives the time and date of the beginning of image acquisition. Segments from a strip have the same ID (from the corresponding strip) plus an increment 0_0, 0_1, 0_2… to differentiate them.
Example : segments 20160420_1253_30030_0_4 and 20160420_1253_30030_ 0_5 belong to the same strip 20160420_1253_30030. The 8 first numbers give the acquisition date and the next 4 give the acquisition time (GMT+0). For example, this strip was acquired the 20th of April 2016 at 12:53 (GMT+0). To get the time of the Swiss time zone, add one hour for the winter time (GMT+1) and 2 hours for the summer time (GMT+2).
Unlike SWISSIMAGE (RGB), the structure in single orthophotos doesn’t create a mosaic and thus doesn’t make homogeneous representation of large areas possible. Furthermore, overlap between images occurs.
Quality
+/- 0.15 m (1 sigma) for the ground resolution 0.1 m and +/- 0.25 m (1 sigma) for the ground resolution 0.25 m, +/- 3-5 m (1 sigma) in complex topographies.
These quality values are certified only for the central part (in the flying direction) of the orthophoto strips. At the border of these, the planimetric accuracy may be degraded. However, in such case, the latter is mainly influenced by the accuracy of the DTM used for the orthorectification. Thus, it’s difficult to quantify it.
Unlike SWISSIMAGE (RGB), no manual corrections for the radiometry and geometry is performed.
Availability
Current status on the availability of SWISSIMAGE RS per year
Sample data
The sample data show their type and format. They are free of charge and can be used for test purposes only. It is not allowed to include them in a product.
Links
P.O. Box
3084 Wabern
- Tel.
- +41 58 469 01 11