Tuesday, June 9. 2009

Digital USGS Quads Now Available from The National Map - Beta

When last we heard from USGS (February, at the NSGIC mid-year, APB post), the plan was to use The National Map as the engine to produce digital geoPDF quads. Well, the beta of this workflow is now available. It went up quietly last week. Luckily, Gary Price at Resource Shelf let me know when he found it. The latest news from USGS is from May 8. (Just sayin'; I know the USGS folks work very hard!)

Today, if you visit the Digital Map page of the TMN you'll learn of this beta. Basic info:

The "Digital Map - Beta" is the first step toward a new generation of digital topographic maps delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey. These maps are built from The National Map data, which are integrated from local, State, Federal, and other sources. The initial version of the "Digital Map – Beta" includes orthoimagery plus roads and geographic names in the traditional 7.5 minute quadrangle format. "Digital Maps - Beta" are available free on the Web in the GeoPDF format. File size is about 15 to 20 Megabytes.

Tools are available free for download. Users can turn data layers on and off, zoom in and out, and print the maps. As the "Digital Map - Beta" evolves, the USGS will add historical versions of the topographic maps and will incorporate other data layers including hydrography and contours. Use of the term "Beta" signifies that these maps are initial versions that do not yet contain the full content of the traditional USGS topographic quadrangle maps.

The USGS values your comments and suggestions about the new "Digital Map - Beta".

Click for larger image.



- Free download from TerraGo Tech requires registration and is Windows only (regular PDF readers can view the files; they can't do all the neat tricks...)
- You download the available quads from the USGS store for free
- You use a Google Maps tool to select your area of interest, and if I understand the interface correctly, for now just quads in Arizona are available
- You can either "order" a selected quad or "download" it. I chose download and the 5 Mb file downloaded an opened in Preview on my Mac. If you select order, you will be charged $8 for a paper version.
- USGS requests feedback! Online form.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in USGS at 15:42 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0) |

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I downloaded the official national map product for my house today - oh wait, I tried to, but the server was 404.

Never mind, the quads for where I live were last updated 17 years ago...in purple, so not validated.

Why is the US government spending a nickel on distributing maps that haven't changed in 20 years or more?

Why not spend whatever money's been allocated for this mess to supporting local GIS programs? Like giving every county 15k to set up a WMS?

#1 Anoni Mowze on 2009-06-10 20:51 (Reply)

I agree. Why not spend our resources on updating the data, rather than updating the technology used to present the old data?

#1.1 Terry (Link) on 2009-06-11 05:57 (Reply)

Apparently beta and "first step" means little to some folks. Not sure if it mentioned it on this site but the official site states that they will be updating the quads every 3 years to coincide with the NAIP imagergy done by the USDA.

#1.1.1 Anonymous on 2009-06-15 17:35 (Reply)

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In reply to	[ Top level ]#1: Anoni Mowze on 2009-06-10 20:51   #1.1: Terry on 2009-06-11 05:57     #1.1.1: Anonymous on 2009-06-15 17:35
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