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National Geospatial Program

The USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) provides vital, trusted topographic mapping information for the United States through The National Map. NGP’s portfolio and cross-cutting initiatives span from emergency response support to cutting edge geospatial applications. The American people rely on NGP’s publicly available products and services to remain informed and to stay healthy and safe.

News

USGS announces release of updated 3D Hydrography Program data service and supporting tables

USGS announces release of updated 3D Hydrography Program data service and supporting tables

The Art and Science of Topo: Cartographic Specifications

The Art and Science of Topo: Cartographic Specifications

New Training Video: Overview of the National Map Viewer Application

New Training Video: Overview of the National Map Viewer Application

Publications

The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting North Dakota's economy The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting North Dakota's economy

Introduction As the northernmost Great Plains State encompassing two geomorphological areas divided by the Missouri River, North Dakota has varied needs for high-resolution elevation data. The top industry in North Dakota is agriculture and related products, and the fastest growing sector is natural resources led by oil and gas extraction and mining, all of which contribute to the State...
Authors
Elaine Guidero

The effects of line simplification on planform geometry The effects of line simplification on planform geometry

Data on maps should retain accuracy regardless of scale. Yet, as cartographic lines are generalized, there can be impacts on properties such as topology, density, and planform geometry. Here, we investigate the use of the Scale Specific Sinuosity (S3) metric (Stanislawski et al., 2023) to evaluate the effects of line simplification on planform geometry, which is the bends of streams in...
Authors
Ethan J. Shavers, Larry Stanislawski, Barry J. Kronenfeld, Barbara P. Buttenfield

The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting the economy of Massachusetts The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting the economy of Massachusetts

Introduction Massachusetts extends from the mountains of the Appalachian system in the west of the State to the sandy beaches and rocky shorelines of the Atlantic coast in the east. Inland topographic data support a wide range of important activities, including geologic mapping, transportation planning, forest and wildlife management, quantifying ecological services, water supply...
Authors
Dan Walters
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