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National Geospatial Technical Operations Center



The U.S. Geological Survey National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) provides leadership and world-class technical expertise in the acquisition and management of trusted geospatial data, services, and map products for the Nation. NGTOC supports The National Map as part of the National Geospatial Program.

NGTOC News and Highlights             News Archive
October 6, 2016

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Enhanced US Topo maps feature national park trails and amenities: Newly released US Topo maps for North Carolina and Tennessee are now available and for the first time, the maps covering Great Smoky Mountains National Park display trails, campgrounds, visitor centers, boundaries and other visitor information in a national park. GSMNP spans two states, ranging over 816 square miles and host more than10 million visitors per year. The new maps also feature segments of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the inclusion U.S. Census Bureau’s Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) road data, the integration of wetlands layers using data from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory, along with the continued incorporation of high-resolution streams and rivers from the National Hydrography Dataset. US Topo maps and are available for no-cost file download from The National Map Download client and several other USGS applications.

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Map Viewer Enhancements: A new GIS-ready topographic map style template is now available from the USGS National Geospatial Program. The “Topo TNM Style Template” can be readily used with the Topo Map Vector Data products and other data available for download from The National Map. The template and TNM data are intended to be used together to quickly provide an advanced Geographic Information Systems user with a fully customizable map in the style of US Topo maps using the most current TNM data available.

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The National Map Corps:


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Mapping the Arctic: The Arctic SDI Board, which includes mapping executives from Canada, Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States, recently met in Anchorage, Alaska to further development of a robust Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure. The Arctic SDI is a cooperation based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the eight National Mapping Agencies and is intended to ensure Arctic geospatial data is easier for users to access, validate and combine with other data.

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Story Map – Topographic Maps for the Nation: The USGS National Geospatial Program has released an interactive Story Map giving viewers an overview of the US Topo map program. Building on the success from more than 132 years of mapping the Nation, US Topo maps are georeferenced digital maps produced from the data of The National Map. The quadrangles are designed to be used like the traditional 7.5-minute paper topographic maps for which the USGS is so well known. However, in contrast to paper-based maps, US Topo maps provide modern technical advantages that support faster, wider public distribution, basic, on-screen geographic analysis and local printing options for all users.

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More Maps and Mappers in the News:

  • 2016 Henry Gannett Award: To commemorate the nation’s first chief geographer, the USGS established the Henry Gannett Award in 2009. As a new addition to the Gannett Award, the National Geospatial Program (NGP) has established the Henry Gannett internal award to recognize outstanding contributions to the geospatial community by a USGS employee. The first recipient of this intra-bureau award is Kari Craun, Director of the National Geospatial Technical Operation Center, (NGTOC) for her extraordinary leadership and advancement of topographic services. Details: http://on.doi.gov/2bv7vdS
  • Customer Service Excellence: USGS employee, Calvin Meyer, of the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (Rolla) has received the 2016 Interior Department’s Customer Service. He was honored for providing outstanding communication and customer service in support of the USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) and The National Map user community. Meyer handles an average of 76 technical requests per month, helping more than 900 customers annually. He draws on his extensive knowledge of NGP procedures and products, and has researched or consulted with other experts to provide accurate, dependable, and thorough answers to users’ questions. Meyer’s correspondence is clear, timely, highly professional and he is an ideal model for outstanding communication between the USGS and its customers. He accepted the award from Interior Secretary Sally Jewell at a ceremony in Washington DC. http://on.doi.gov/2bCuQsY
  • New maps cover Great Smoky Mts. Nat’l Park via The Daily Times (Maryville, TN) http://bit.ly/2dgKScG
  • Trace water upstream to source or downstream to where they empty using USGS Streamer via Geoawesomeness Magazine. http://bit.ly/2dgP0L4
  • Evaluation of Single Photon & Geiger Mode Lidar for 3D Elevation Program via Remote Sensing Journal
  • New Alaska map elevation data via The Washington Post. http://wapo.st/2cduStM
  • USGS part of Arctic DEM project via the Whitehouse Blog. http://bit.ly/2cb1DbR
  • USGS & NGA seek Centers of Academic Excellence applicants via Geospatial World Magazine. http://bit.ly/2bI5mzs
  • Woolpert conducts USGS lidar projects in 49 Tennessee counties via GIS User. http://bit.ly/2aYDNMz
  • National Hydrography Requirements & Benefits Study released via Points Of Beginning Magazine. http://bit.ly/29KVz6e)
  • Croaker is on the map; Frog Rock added to GNIS database via The Waynesville Daily Guide. http://bit.ly/29UeH2t
  • Atlantic awarded multimillion dollar contract to support 3DEP via the American Surveyor Magazine. http://bit.ly/28VACYH
  • What’s a #map worth? Benefits of #3DEP via @earthmagazine. http://bit.ly/29wBsgH (July 6, 2016)
  • Highest peak in the US Arctic settled, via @EuroGeosciences. http://bit.ly/29hFBAF #USGS #lidar (June 27, 2016)
  • Mapping #Alaska – past to present, paper vs pixels via the Alaska Dispatch News. http://bit.ly/2915Wmc
  • Searching for the center of Pennsylvania via PennLive.com: http://bit.ly/2bc1KQB

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NHD Newsletter: The most recent edition of the NHD Newsletter has been posted. The monthly bulletin features issues in the USGS National Hydrography Dataset and Watershed Boundary Dataset. Highlights: Delineation of Maine Coastal Waters in the NHD, NHDPlusV2 National Seamless File Geodatabase Released, NHD Quality Control Errors and How to Resolve Those Errors, and other current hydrography related news. Newsletter readers are encouraged to send in articles on their work to help spread the word of how the NHD and WBD are contributing to water management and science. To view this and past newsletters go to http://nhd.usgs.gov/newsletter_list.html

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Passed 5,375! The National Map Twitter site is continuing to grow. Thanks to all who have joined us on @USGSTNM. Are you part? If not, sign up today and help us reach 6,000!

Notice to all @USGSTNMRes twitter followers. This account has combined with @USGSTNM. Please continue following us at @USGSTNM

US Topo Update: The availability of US Topo maps has reached its third "cycle." That means that each USGS quadrangle in the U.S. and appropriate territories is entering its third revision phase. Alaska is the lone exclusion, and is covered as part of the Alaska Mapping Initiative. The production and release of US Topo maps started in October 2009. In October 2012, the project has met its very aggressive long term goal of replacing all quads in the lower 48 states in three years with the new GeoPDF maps. The National Geospatial Technical Operations Center reports the following US Topo maps are loaded to the Map Locator of the USGS Store (as of 06-03-16):
  • Wisconsin: 100% complete - 1,108 quadrangles
  • Iowa: 100% complete - 1,011 quadrangles
  • Kansas: 100% complete - 1,403 quadrangles
  • Oklahoma: 100% complete – 1,149 quadrangles
  • Texas: 100% complete – 4,310 quadrangles
  • Kentucky: 100% complete - 556 quadrangles
  • Tennesse: 97% complete - 620 quadrangles
  • Minnesota: 34% complete - 671 quadrangles
  • Tennessee: 100% complete – 694 quadrangles
  • Minnesota: 100% complete – 1,689 quadrangles
  • North Carolina: 100% complete – 883 quadrangles
  • Virginia: 100% complete – 729 quadrangles
  • Pennsylvania: 100% complete – 804 quadrangles
  • New York: 100% complete – 972 quadrangles
  • Colorado: 100% complete – 1,794 quadrangles



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Kari Craun David Brostuen Phyllis Altheide