Publications

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 describe the collection area, spatial...

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 is providing the Elevation-Derived...

Reliable and accurate high-resolution mapping of the Nation’s waters are critical inputs to models and decision support systems used to predict risk and enable response to impacts on water resources. It is necessary to know where the water is and how it relates to features beyond the stream network like forests, cities, and infrastructure. An up-to-date, high-resolution national...

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is an acquisition strategy that uses data from commercial remote sensing technologies to create three-dimensional maps of the United States and U.S. territories. Currently, light detection and ranging and interferometric synthetic aperture radar are the two commercial technologies being used to provide three-dimensional information to meet the program’s...

High-resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) data are used in energy infrastructure siting, design, permitting, construction, and monitoring to promote public safety through the reduction of risks. For example, lidar data are used to identify safe locations for energy infrastructure by analyzing terrain parameters and identifying and evaluating geologic hazards (for example...

Disaster response operations require fast and coordinated actions based on the real-time disaster situation information. Although Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) or crowdsourced geospatial data applications have demonstrated to be valuable tools for gathering real-time disaster situation information, they only provide limited utility for disaster response coordination because of...

The National Hydrography Dataset Plus High Resolution (NHDPlus HR) is a scalable geospatial hydrography framework built from the High Resolution (1:24,000-scale or better) National Hydrography Dataset (NHD), nationally complete Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD), and ⅓-arc-second (10-meter ground spacing) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) digital elevation model (DEM) data. The NHDPlus HR brings...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the United States' official national topographic mapping organization, is building and maintaining geographic databases for fundamental base geographic layers of land cover, structures, boundaries, hydrography, geographic names, transportation, elevation, and orthoimagery as The National Map. Data from the 3D Elevation Program, the National Hydrography...

Large spatial databases often labeled as geospatial big data exceed the capacity of commonly used computing systems as a result of data volume, variety, velocity, and veracity. Additional problems also labeled with V’s are cited, but the four primary ones are the most problematic and focus of this chapter (Li et al., 2016, Panimalar et al., 2017). Sources include satellites, aircraft and...

As one of the cornerstones of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Geospatial Program, The National Map is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other Federal, State, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information for the Nation. The National Map is featuring direct links to new and improved GIS data access utilities on a refreshed data delivery homepage at...

Introduction California faces unprecedented challenges presented by shifting weather patterns that are defining a “new normal.” The result has been extreme weather events, prolonged drought, flooding, and debris flows. These conditions drive severe tree mortality, increase wildfire occurrence and intensity, reduce water availability, and hasten subsidence in groundwater basins...

Topographical differencing and edge-matching analyses were used to evaluate agreement of the Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project’s Northern Gulf of Mexico topobathymetric digital elevation model (TBDEM) with The National Map 3-Dimensional Elevation Program (3DEP) 1/3 arc-second digital elevation models (DEMs). In addition to topographic map products provided through...