Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Mapping Challenge Milestones

By The National Map Corps

TNMCorps volunteers helped to ring in two major milestones at the turn of the year!  

75 Challenges!! 

First, the Mapping Challenge for Fire Stations in OH, KY & IN that was launched mid-December 2021 marks the 75th TNMCorps Mapping Challenge! Volunteers’ steadfast contributions and participation have kept these challenges rolling since 2013, for which we’re sincerely grateful!  

Here’s a quick snapshot of how mapping challenges have evolved with TNMCorps:  

A bar chart showing the number of mapping challenges that TNMCorps volunteers completed each year from 2013 to 2021.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Figure 1: A bar chart showing the number of mapping challenges that TNMCorps volunteers completed each year from 2013 to 2021.

  • Narrative Point A: From 2013 to 2015, TNMCorps was in its infancy. An engagement tool that proved very helpful was a series of smaller, regionally based (i.e., county-level) mapping challenges. As TNMCorps took off, these challenges broadened to cover entire states.  

  • Narrative Point B: TNMCorps released what is now the current web editor platform. 

  • Narrative Point C: Now a successful citizen science project, TNMCorps conducted a pilot project focusing on county courthouses, showing the capability of our volunteers to collect a nationwide dataset from scratch. 

  • Narrative Point D: With courthouses winding down, TNMCorps launched city halls as a new feature type in September 2018. Since this feature’s launch, mapping challenges have continued to be a successful tool for guiding volunteers to areas in need of attention.  

A Golden Accomplishment! 

Second, volunteer geo163 recently completed their 50th mapping challenge! They joined TNMCorps back in 2016 and have been passionately contributing towards mapping challenges ever since. Geo163 has attained the highest recognition badge (the Squadron of Biplane Spectators) and is also a regular participant in city halls mapping challenges.  

These past newsletter articles chronicle geo163’s accomplishments through the years.  

There are a few volunteers who aren’t too far behind in this accomplishment, so keep up the good work!  

To all our volunteers, thank you for all that you do and happy mapping!