Publications
Here you will find publications, reports and articles produced by Core Science System scientists. For a comprehensive listing of all USGS publications please click the button below.
Filter Total Items: 311
Topographic mapping evolution: From field and photogrammetric data collection to GIS production and Linked Open Data Topographic mapping evolution: From field and photogrammetric data collection to GIS production and Linked Open Data
Whither the topographic map? Topographic mapping historically has been approached as a map factory operation through the period 1879-1990. During this time, data were field and photogrammetrically collected; cartographically verified and annotated creating a compilation manuscript; further edited, generalized, symbolized, and produced as a graphic output product using lithography, or...
Authors
E. Lynn Usery, Dalia E. Varanka, Larry Davis
A multidisciplinary framework to derive global river reach classifications at high spatial resolution A multidisciplinary framework to derive global river reach classifications at high spatial resolution
Projected climate and environmental change are expected to increase the pressure on global freshwater resources. To prepare for and cope with the related risks, stakeholders need to devise plans for sustainable management of river systems, which in turn requires the identification of management-appropriate operational units, such as groups of rivers that share similar environmental and...
Authors
Camille Ouellet Dallaire, Bernhard Lehner, Roger Sayre, Michele Thieme
A new 30 meter resolution global shoreline vector and associated global islands database for the development of standardized ecological coastal units A new 30 meter resolution global shoreline vector and associated global islands database for the development of standardized ecological coastal units
A new 30-m spatial resolution global shoreline vector (GSV) was developed from annual composites of 2014 Landsat satellite imagery. The semi-automated classification of the imagery was accomplished by manual selection of training points representing water and non-water classes along the entire global coastline. Polygon topology was applied to the GSV, resulting in a new characterisation...
Authors
Roger Sayre, Suzanne Noble, Sharon L. Hamann, Rebecca A. Smith, Dawn J. Wright, Sean P. Breyer, Kevin Butler, Keith Van Graafeiland, Charlie Frye, Deniz Karagulle, Dabney Hopkins, Drew Stephens, Kevin Kelly, Zeenatul Basher, Devon Burton, Jill Janene Cress, Karina Atkins, D. Paco Van Sistine, Beverly Friesen, Rebecca Allee, Tom Allen, Peter Aniello, Irawan Asaad, Mark John Costello, Kathy Goodin, Peter Harrison, Maria T. Kavanaugh, Helen Lillis, Eleonora Manca, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Bjorn Nyberg, Rost Parsons, Justin Saarinen, Jac Steiner, Adam Reed
US Topo Product Standard US 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 topographic maps. US Topo maps incorporate an
Authors
Larry R. Davis, Kristin A. Fishburn, Helmut Lestinsky, Laurence R. Moore, Jennifer L. Walter
Generalization in practice within national mapping agencies Generalization in practice within national mapping agencies
National Mapping Agencies (NMAs) are still among the main end users of research into automated generalisation, which is transferred into their produc- tion lines via various means. This chapter includes contributions from seven NMAs, illustrating how automated generalisation is used in practice within their partly or fully automated databases and maps production lines, what results are...
Authors
Cecile Duchene, Blanca Baella, Cynthia A. Brewer, Dirk Burghardt, Barbara P. Buttenfield, Julien Gaffuri, Dominik Kauferle, Francois Lecordix, Emmanuel Maugeais, Ron Nijhuis, Maria Pla, Marc Post, Nicolas Regnauld, Lawrence V. Stanislawski, Jantien Stoter, Katalin Toth, Sabine Urbanke, Vincent van Altena, Antje Wiedemann
Deep convolutional neural networks for map-type classification Deep convolutional neural networks for map-type classification
Maps are an important medium that enable people to comprehensively understand the configuration of cultural activities and natural elements over different times and places. Although a massive number of maps are available in the digital era, how to effectively and accurately locate and access the desired map on the Internet remains a challenge today. Previous works partially related to...
Authors
Xiran Zhou, Wenwen Li, Samantha T. Arundel, Jun Liu
Streams do work: Measuring the work of low-order streams on the landscape using point clouds Streams do work: Measuring the work of low-order streams on the landscape using point clouds
The mutable nature of low-order streams makes regular updating of surface water maps necessary for accurate representation. Low-order streams make up roughly half the streams in the conterminous United States by length, and small inaccuracies in stream head location can result in significant error in stream reach, order, and density. Reliable maps of stream features are vital for...
Authors
Ethan J. Shavers, Larry V. Stanislawski
A model for the evaluation of environmental impact indicators for a sustainable maritime transportation systems A model for the evaluation of environmental impact indicators for a sustainable maritime transportation systems
Maritime shipping is considered the most efficient, low-cost means for transporting large quantities of freight over significant distances. However, this process also causes negative environmental and societal impacts. Therefore, environmental sustainability is a pressing issue for maritime shipping management, given the interest in addressing important issues that affect the safety...
Authors
Lizzette Pérez Lespier, Suzanna K. Long, Thomas G. Shoberg, Steven Corns
Community for Data Integration fiscal year 2017 funded project report Community for Data Integration fiscal year 2017 funded project report
The U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration annually funds small projects focusing on data integration for interdisciplinary research, innovative data management, and demonstration of new technologies. This report provides a summary of the 11 projects funded in fiscal year 2017, outlining their goals, activities, and outputs.
Authors
Leslie Hsu, Kate E. Allstadt, Tara M. Bell, Erin E. Boydston, Richard A. Erickson, A. Lance Everette, Erika E. Lentz, Jeff Peters, Brian E. Reichert, Sarah Nagorsen, Jason T. Sherba, Richard P. Signell, Mark T. Wiltermuth, John A. Young
Validating the use of object-based image analysis to map commonly-recognized landform features in the United States Validating the use of object-based image analysis to map commonly-recognized landform features in the United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Geospatial Program (NGP) seeks to i) create semantically-accessible terrain features from the pixel-based 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) data, and ii) enhance the usability of the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) by associating boundaries with GNIS features whose spatial representation is currently limited to 2D point locations...
Authors
Samantha T. Arundel, Gaurav Sinha
Automated road breaching to enhance extraction of natural drainage networks from elevation models through deep learning Automated road breaching to enhance extraction of natural drainage networks from elevation models through deep learning
High-resolution (HR) digital elevation models (DEMs), such as those at resolutions of 1 and 3 meters, have increasingly become more widely available, along with lidar point cloud data. In a natural environment, a detailed surface water drainage network can be extracted from a HR DEM using flow-direction and flow-accumulation modeling. However, elevation details captured in HR DEMs, such...
Authors
Larry Stanislawski, Tyler Brockmeyer, Ethan J. Shavers
Area-preserving simplification of polygon features Area-preserving simplification of polygon features
Developing simplified representations of a two-dimensional polyline is an important problem in cartographic data analytics where datasets must be integrated across spatial resolutions. This problem is generally referred to as line simplification, and is increasingly driven by preservation of specific analytic properties such as positional accuracy and high-frequency detail. However, the
Authors
Barry J. Kronenfeld, Larry V. Stanislawski, Tyler Brockmeyer, Barbara P. Buttenfield