NGP Standards and Specifications
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Standards and specifications are essential to facilitate the development and sharing of geospatial data and products.
National Geospatial Program (NGP) standards and specifications define requirements to ensure that all maps and data prepared by NGP, in support of The National Map, are consistent in accuracy, structure, format, style, and content.
For comments or questions about any USGS National Geospatial Program standards and specifications, please e-mail tnm_help@usgs.gov.
News
Lidar Base Specification 2020 rev. A is now available
The 3DEP Lidar Base Specification 2020 rev. A is now available!
This release of the Lidar Base Specification (LBS) introduces a new version naming convention to aid in tracking revisions and to clarify the year of release. This and following releases will labeled with "YYYY rev. L" where YYYY is the year of the release and L is a letter corresponding to the order of the release.
3DEP Lidar Base Spec News - Vol. 1 | Issue 2
The status of some of the Lidar Base Specification revisions has changed since the last newsletter.
Changes:
Vertical accuracy assessment using ground points: approved by ESRB
Swath Separation Images: New requirement, approved by ESRB
Publications
Elevation-derived hydrography acquisition specifications
Hydrographic features derived from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program data, and collected for use by the USGS, must meet the specifications described in this document. The specifications described herein pertain to the final product delivered to the USGS, not to methods used to derive the hydrographic features. The specifications...
Terziotti, Silvia; Archuleta, Christy-AnnElevation-derived hydrography—Representation, extraction, attribution, and delineation rules
With the increasing availability of 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) quality high resolution elevation data across the United States and the pressing need for better integrated elevation and hydrography data, the U.S. Geological Survey is developing guidance to improve the horizontal and vertical alignment of these datasets. The U.S. Geological Survey...
Archuleta, Christy-Ann; Terziotti, SilviaUS Topo Product Standard
This document defines a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital topographic map. This map product series, named “US Topo,” is modeled on the now historical USGS 7.5-minute (1:24,000 scale) topographic map series produced and printed by the USGS from 1947 to 2006. US Topo maps have the same extent, scale, and general layout as the historical...
Davis, Larry R.; Fishburn, Kristin A.; Lestinsky, Helmut; Moore, Laurence R.; Walter, Jennifer L.