The National Map
America’s Topographic Map for the 21st Century
Bruce Bauch
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
Geography Discipline Liaison
Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia
West Virginia GIS
Conference
May 12, 2004
What we’ll cover …
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USGS and The National Map
Progress so far
Plans for National Efforts
Plans for State and Local Efforts
Disciplines of the
U.S. Geological Survey
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Biological Resources
Geography / Mapping
Geology
Water Resources
USGS Geography Liaison roles
• Foster geodata partnerships, projects,
science opportunities
• Provide customer support
• Work with GIS coordination groups
• Increase awareness of USGS products
and programs
USGS Topographic Maps
• Once-over topographic
mapping was an
immense feat
• The only national
synthesis of geographic
content that is
Comprehensive
Transjurisdictional
Border to border and
coast to coast
• Cost of replication today
would be $2 to $3 billion
What’s Happening?
Baltimore, MD
USGS 1953;
PR 1966 &
1974
Pixxures 2000
• Value is eroding rapidly
as maps become
increasingly outdated
• Limited resources affect
maintenance
• The maps and digital
data do not correspond
• Duplication of effort is
emphasizing the need to
share
• National priorities are
demanding current
information
A New Vision
• A seamless, continuously maintained,
nationally consistent set of base
geographic data – THE NATIONAL
MAP
• Maintained through partnerships
• A national foundation for science, land
and resource management, recreation,
policy making, and homeland security
• Available over the Web and the source
for revised topographic maps
Refocusing the Geography Discipline
• Transition from “mapping” to “geography”
• Brings the full spectrum of geographic science to bear on
key national issues and needs
Map
Monitor
Understand
Model
The Domain of the Geography Discipline
Predict
The National Map : Data Content
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Orthorectified Imagery
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Land Cover
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Elevation
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Hydrography
► Transportation
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Structures
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Boundaries
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Geographic Names
The National Map: The Blanket and Quilt
Blanket:
- Provides uniform
coverage and
characteristics
- Covers holes in the quilt
Quilt:
- Includes patches of
detailed data having
varying characteristics;
“some assembly required”
- Provides data and updates
to the blanket
Concept of Operations
http://nationalmap.usgs.gov
The National Map Development
• The National Map development can provide for:
-Integration of diverse datasets
-Joining Map Services
-Collaboration among Municipality, County, State, &
Federal agencies
-Cost Sharing
So… is this just another federal “vision”?
Implementing a Web Viewer
• The data of The National
Map are viewable at
http://nationalmap.gov/
• This capability requires
only a Web browser
• Initial sources of data
include USGS national
datasets and partner data
from selected pilot projects
Implementing a Web Viewer
• Access through the viewer to content
from Federal, State, county, and local
sources illustrates key characteristics of
The National Map:
 Access to best available data
 Data maintenance through
partnerships
 Integration of content from
diverse sources
 User definition of area and
content for data viewing, and
downloading
 Capability to generate maps
from the data
http://seamless.usgs.gov/
The National Map Activity in West Virginia
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Establish USGS Geography/Mapping liaison
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Coordination with WV SAMB for potential partnership
development
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Collaboration with the WV U. – GIS Technical Center – Names,
elevation
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Coordination with various federal, state and local agencies
regarding potential partnership development.
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Primary interest in the Charleston/Huntington corridor for The
National Map and Homeland Security
The National Map and Homeland Security
• Homeland Security Urban Areas provide the
initial focus for The National Map
implementation
• USGS is coordinating with state and local
agencies, and first responders
• Establishing relationships and partnerships at
all levels of government
Homeland Security
• USGS is an active partner with DHS, NGA, and
other Federal, State, and local agencies
• Inventory
• in Access Database
• Will be moved to The National Map Directory this year
• Imagery
• LIDAR
• MOU in NGA policy office
• Vector data
• Partner for The National Map
• HSIP data
• Partner for GNIS and NGA
The National Map: 134 Urban Areas
• Mapping America’s urban
areas:
– Detailed color imagery
– Detailed elevation data
– Other National Map
layers
– Critical infrastructure
• Linking with state and local
agencies, and “first
responders”
• Working with NGA (formerly
called NIMA) and other
federal agencies
(San Juan, Anchorage, Juneau, and Honolulu not shown)
133 Urban Areas Project
West Virginia Urban Area
Local
State
Federal
The National Map
• America’s topographic map for the 21st century
• Unleashing the power of geographic science
On the Web at
http://nationalmap.gov/
Accessing The National Map
• Overview: Main web site – Access to data, viewers, etc.
• http://nationalmap.gov/
• Maps: The National Map viewer – functions and tools for
viewing The National Map data.
• http://nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov/viewer.htm
• Download: Seamless Data Distribution Server – browse and
download national datasets and high-resolution
orthoimagery.
• http://seamless.usgs.gov
• Access open web services: GISDATA site – open web
mapping services, access to other viewers and seamless
site, and news about data additions.
• http://gisdata.usgs.gov/
• Services being focused through The National Map viewer
The National Map …
An integrated view
Elevation
Ortho Imagery
Hydrography
Geographic Names
Landcover
Transportation
Boundaries
Structures
Bruce Bauch
USGS Geography Discipline Liaison
502-493-1945
bbauch@usgs.gov
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey