Published on 8 January 2024

Imagery Base Map

The Imagery Base Map is a combination of up-to-date aerial photographs and cartographic elements, providing a good overview of the current landscape in an appealing format. 

The Imagery Base Map presents a good overview of the current landscape thanks to a combination of orthoimages (rectified aerial images) and cartographic elements. The overlaid cartographic vector information on the orthophoto improves the orientation and interpretability of the content without making it harder to distinguish the visible information in the aerial photograph. Due to the applied technology of visualizing, the unchanged or individually adapted map integrates into your own website. The Imagery Base Map rests on official data: the topographic landscape model, the digital orthophoto mosaic (SWISSIMAGE), the digital cartographic models and the official road directory. The high-resolution orthophoto mosaic covers the whole of Switzerland and the bordering countries. Thanks to the additional data integration of OpenStreetMap for foreign countries and the "Web Mercator" global projection system, worldwide vector information is available.

Service Preview Mapbox "Vector Tiles"
Detailed information on the "Mapbox Vector Tiles" service, with which the web maps can be obtained, can be found at Vector Tiles Service.

Imagery Base Map in the service preview

Full screen

Additional information

• Imagery Base Map

  • Data origin:
    • Switzerland:
      • Topographic landscape model
      • Orthophoto mosaic SWISSIMAGE 10 cm
        (Perimeter according to SWISSIMAGE 10cm WMTS service)
      • Digital cartographic models
      • Official road directory
    • Abroad
      • OpenMapTiles (© Maptiler)
  • Update cycle:
    • Switzerland: Annual update (during the course of the year, data content [e.g. street names] may be updated)
    • Abroad: The control of the update cycle is carried out by Maptiler

  Schema documentation (vector data Switzerland):
  https://geoadmin.github.io/config-vt-schema-sbm/

  Schema documentation OpenMapTiles:
  https://openmaptiles.org/schema/

• Vector Tiles

  Advantages of a web map with vector tiles:

  • Quick and easy personalisation of the map display
  • Expansion of the web map with own thematic information
  • Easy integration of the web map into your own website
  • Independent and short update cycles of the basic data

  What are vector tiles?
  Vector tiles offer new possibilities to present swisstopo's geodata online. To enable short loading times for online maps, data is clipped into small pieces. These pieces are called "tiles". When viewing the map, only vector tiles of the desired area at the required zoom level are loaded. The tiles contain vector objects (points, lines, polygons) - hence the name “vector tiles". The cartographic representation of these objects is defined in a separate file and can be precisely controlled. If the information in this file is changed, the representation of the vector tiles changes. This opens up new possibilities for the display of and interaction with geodata.
  
  What are vector tiles good for?
  New opportunities are available to you as a developer thanks to the “vector tiles” geoservice.

  • You can define a personalised style that corresponds to your specific needs and apply it to swisstopo vector tiles.
  • Information contained in vector tiles can be queried
  • The low memory requirement of the tiles is ideal for offline applications.
  • The geoservice can be used free of charge throughout Switzerland (including the terrain representation) (terms and conditions are shown under "Licence and terms of use").

• Licence and terms of use

  • Licence and terms of use:
    The map and the geoservice that provides it may be used in accordance with swisstopo's Terms of Use for Free Geodata and Geoservices (OGD) and the General Terms of Use and Operating Regulations of the Federal Spatial Data Infrastructure FSDI. 
    If the predefined style of the Imagery Base Map is changed, the specific terms of use of the corresponding data basis must be observed (Vector Tiles Service).
  • Restrictions on use:
    The "Mapbox Vector Tiles" geoservice is subject to a usage restriction due to the use of OpenMaptiles data. For licensing reasons, the worldwide vector data can only be used by the Federal Administration. For users outside the Federal Administration, the data is available free of charge as a service within Switzerland and Lichtenstein. More information is available under "Vector Tiles Service".
    In the case of digital or analogue representations and publications by the administrative units of the Federal Administration, the following source reference must also be given:, © MapTiler, © OpenStreetMap contributors
    In any case, the use must be compatible with the disclaimer of the Federal Administration.