FAQ's about National Map

Proposals to change the name of a natural feature may be submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names as described below. However, there must be a compelling reason. The Board is responsible by law for standardizing geographic names throughout the Federal Government, and discourages name changes unless necessary. Further, the Board states that, "changing a name merely to correct or re-establish historical usage is not in and of itself a reason to change a name."

Names evolve, and even through cartographic recording errors, become established in the local vernacular. Geographic names usually are well established on maps, other documents, and on signs. Although any approved name change will be reflected immediately in the GNIS, maps, other documents, and signs will only be changed during the normal revision cycle.

The Board on Geographic Names promulgates policies governing issues such as commemorative naming, derogatory names, and names in wilderness areas. Generally the most important policy is local use and acceptance. Please note that no natural feature (and certain manmade features) may be named for a living person. A potential honoree must have been deceased for at least five years, and must have had either a direct and long-term association with the feature or must have made notable civic contributions.

Upon receipt of a proposal, all interested parties will be asked to comment. The Board makes decisions only with recommendations from the local government, county government, the State Names Authority (in 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 2 Territories), and appropriate land management agencies. Only name proposals for natural features will be accepted (see this FAQ for information on administrative feature names—churches, cemeteries, schools, parks, shopping centers, etc).

A names change proposal may be submitted using the Domestic Geographic Names form (PDF version) mailed to U.S. Board on Geographic Names, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 523, Reston, VA 20192-0523. Alternatively, the online version of the form may be used. Please read Principles, Policies, and Procedures before submitting a proposal, or an information packet and forms will be mailed to you upon request. The entire process is free of charge, but will take approximately six months. For more information contact the GNIS Manager.

GNIS data is available from a number of sources and services. See the Geospatial One-Stop, Geographic Names Community for full metadata and instructions concerning these services (Click Geographic Names under Special Interest in left menu, then Gallery or Resources.). Contact GNIS Manager for additional information.

GNIS public Web site: Directly queries the database for official geographic feature names, their locative attributes, variant names, and other data, and allows users to display, print, and download results for datasets up to 2000 records.

The National Map: Displays the names layers from the GNIS Map Service in the right menu of the viewer. Define an area of interest, check the desired layers under the Names category, and refresh the map for display. The Find Place/Feature Lookup utility in the left menu of the viewer directly accesses the database through the GNIS XML service. Query on features of interest, then center and zoom the viewer to them. Click Download in the left menu and select layers including Names to retrieve ZIPed SHAPE files.

GNIS Map Service: Provides direct access to the Names layers of The National Map for GIS tools such as ESRI ARCMap including display and download capabilities.

GNIS XML Service: Provides direct query access to GNIS database by appending query parameters to the URL and returns results in XML format for processing by any user or application. The XML service is utilized by the Find Place/Names Feature Lookup utility in The National Map.

GNIS Download Files: Data extract files for States and territories are available for download. Four topical extracts of the data base also are available: the U.S. Populated Places File lists information about all communities throughout the United States described in the database; the U.S. Concise File lists information about major physical and cultural features throughout the United States; the Historical Features File lists information about features that are no longer in existence; and the Antarctica File contains entries throughout the continent of Antarctica as approved for use on United States Government products. Go to Download GNIS for access to data extract files.

GNIS Customized Files: Will be provided if feasible upon request to GNIS Manager.

Find more information about Geographic Names at the GNIS Fact Sheet.

Most of our data are collected at a scale of 1:2,000,000 and are intended for use at national or large regional scales. In the Map Maker, a bar scale appears under the map. The scale of each wall map is included on the Wall Maps page. We use a wide variety of scales on National Atlas printable maps.

1. Most map layers are available in the Shapefile format introduced by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).
   Here is a link to technical whitepaper for the Shapefile format. This information is in portable document format (PDF). Reading it requires an Acrobat Reader plug-in for your web browser. Here is a link to download Acrobat Reader.
   
2. We also make most of these map layers available in the Topological Vector Profile of the Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS).
   
3. A limited number of map layers may be made available in an Arc/Info Export format.
   
4. Some map layers are actually images. These are distributed in GeoTIFF format.
   
5. Sometimes, what appears to be a map layer is not a map layer at all. That's true of the data tables that contain information about the occurrence of moths and butterflies in the United States. These tables are released in the dBase file format. They can be used in any software programs (such as spreadsheets and data base managers) that can read a generic dBase file. However, if you want to map this information (using a desktop mapping program, for instance), you must use these data tables in conjunction with the County Boundaries map layer since the species occurrence information is recorded by county.

You may view, download, and order topographic maps directly from the USGS Store on-line.  The following instructions will help you to find the maps you desire.

First go to the USGS Store on-line: http://store.usgs.gov

Once at this site, located within the brown, left-column of the page, select "Map Locator".  A map of the United States will open and located on the right side is a search box.  Enter "Your Location" within the search box, and below this box, select search type "Address or Place" (you may also search by map name).  The map of the United States will zoom into the topographic quadrangle map for that location.  You may zoom out to show all adjacent maps, or use your cursor to move the view of the map around (however, zooming in or out too far will take away the map name display grid). 

Below the map is a large yellow bar "Show DigMaps - Beta".  Click on this bar and an index grid will overlay on the map.  The DigMaps - Beta are part of a project to update the USGS topographic maps.  They are orthoimages of the 7.5 minute quadrangles with information layers applied to them.  Currently the project completion is sporadic, with files showing primarily roads and geographic names.  In the near future they will include hydrology and contours as well as cover the entire United States.

A red marker will also appear on the map.  Left-click on the red marker and a box will open listing the names of all scales of maps available for that particular area.  This box also includes a direct link to the digital geoPDF file and the digital map beta file, both of which you can download directly to your computer, as well as to the shopping cart of the store in which you can purchase these maps from the website.  You may place additional markers on any area of interest, left-click and view the maps that are available for any marked location.

These maps are the most current publications available.  You may contact the USGS for help locating and ordering historic maps. 

If you have questions, need help with the on-line ordering process, or would like to speak with a USGS representative, please call 1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747).

Every flat map misrepresents the surface of the Earth in some way. No map can rival a globe in truly representing the surface of the entire Earth. However, a map or parts of a map can show one or more—but never all—of the following: True directions. True distances. True areas. True shapes.

For example, the basic Mercator projection is unique; it yields the only map on which a straight line drawn anywhere within its bounds shows a particular type of direction, but distances and areas are grossly distorted near the map's polar regions.

On an equidistant map, distances are true only along particular lines such as those radiating from a single point selected as the center of the projection. Shapes are more or less distorted on every equal-area map. Sizes of areas are distorted on conformal maps even though shapes of small areas are shown correctly. The degree and kinds of distortion vary with the projection used in making a map of a particular area. Some projections are suited for mapping large areas that are mainly north-south in extent, others for large areas that are mainly east-west in extent, and still others for large areas that are oblique to the Equator.

The scale of a map on any projection is always important and often crucial to the map's usefulness for a given purpose. For example, the almost grotesque distortion that is obvious at high latitudes on a small-scale Mercator map of the world disappears almost completely on a properly oriented large-scale Transverse Mercator map of a small area in the same high latitudes. A large-scale (1:24,000) 7.5-minute USGS Topographic Map based on the Transverse Mercator projection is nearly correct in every respect.

A basic knowledge of the properties of commonly used projections helps in selecting a map that comes closest to fulfilling a specific need. See http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/MapProjections/projections.html.

SDTS transfers are the data sets used to exchange spatial data between different computer systems. SDTS transfers consist of a series of modules (the SDTS's logical grouping of related data) encoded into files using ISO 8211 standard, "Specification for a Data Descriptive File for Information Interchange" (ANSI 1986).

Please use the "Digital Map - Beta" Users Guide - Quickstart

See the "Information Sheet (.PDF)" link at http://nationalmap.gov/digital_map

You can learn more about the future of the USGS's topographic maps and mapping program at http://nationalmap.gov/digital_map. Further information about The National Map is available at http://nationalmap.gov.

Call 1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747). You may also read the Information Sheet on the program at http://nationalmap.gov/digital_map. You also may send your questions to: http://nationalmap.gov/digital_map/digitalmap_feedback.html

"Beta" means that these maps are an initial release of a new product; this product does not yet contain all of the traditional content of the USGS topographic quadrangle maps As the product evolves, additional data layers will be added. When contours are added, the "Beta" term will be dropped.

The "Digital Map - Beta" will eventually be made with all data themes from The National Map. The geospatial data available from The National Map includes orthoimagery (scale-corrected aerial photographs), elevation, geographic names, hydrography, boundaries, transportation, structures, and land cover. These data are acquired through partnerships with States, local, tribal, and Federal agencies. It is anticipated that more local and State data will be used as it is made available and integrated into The National Map data holdings. Links to each data theme are available at The National Map home page http://nationalmap.gov under the Product and Services Tab.

More information is available at http://nationalmap.gov/digital_map.

Not only will the credit legend, in the lower left-hand corner of the map, list the date and source of the data, but metadata will contain this information as well. The quadrangle-specific metadata are embedded in the GeoPDF. Metadata can be opened by clicking on the paper clip icon in the lower left corner of the table of contents. This will open a folder containing one metadata file. Double click on the file to open it. Accept your web browser's warning and click on the title of the metadata file to display the black metadata text. Metadata contains a citation naming the originators of the map and types of data in the map. Placeholders for the originator's publication dates currently (2009) are not populated. Both the credit legend and the metadata give the date of the data layers as a beginning and ending set of dates, when known.

The production of "Digital Maps - Beta" will follow the 3-year U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) As envisioned, the conterminous United States should be mapped once every 3 years. Plans to map Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Territories will be addressed in 2010 after the production processes have been established and stabilized for the production of the conterminous United States.

The USGS has a vision for the "Digital Map - Beta" of continual improvement with new enhancements of data and functionality. Within this vision is the plan that data contained in The National Map's eight data themes will be incorporated on the maps. The vision extends to giving the users the option to add other data beyond those data contained within The National Map.

Following is a list of States that the USGS plans to map in 2009. (The 2010 plan of work is under development and a status graphic will be posted later this year to this web page.)

The GeoPDF "Digital Map - Beta" file allows the user to interact with the map on a computer screen or print / plot the map on hard-copy media. Further information about using the GeoPDF format is available at the user's guide on http://nationalmap.gov/digital_map, or http://www.terragotech.com/

GeoPDF is a TerraGo Technologies published extension to the Adobe PDF file format. Further information about the GeoPDF format is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoPDF and at http://www.terragotech.com/