PubTalk 5/2003 — The National Map—Coming to Your Neighborhood!

Integrating and Sharing Geographic Information in the Public Domain

By Ken Osborn, Cartographer 

• Begun by the USGS in 2001, The National Map is a 10-year vision for a seamless, constantly updated, national geospatial database
• This vast public database will be continually updated through local partnerships, selectively printable, and available on the Internet and at neighborhood kiosks
• Implementation projects --such as the Lake Tahoe and Sacramento areas--demonstrate the benefi ts of integrating high-resolution local datasets
• With the current focus on homeland security, datasets for 10 U.S. urban areas are scheduled for completion this year, at a resolution of 0.3 meter (1 foot)
• Because many printed maps are more than 20 years old, The National Map will be of great value for multiple uses, including planning, disaster response, and recreation