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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

New 3D Elevation Program Fact Sheet for North Dakota

New 3D Elevation Program Fact Sheet for North Dakota

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

Publications

3D Elevation Program—Conterminous United States 3D Elevation Program—Conterminous United States

Using 3D Elevation Program data, a modern illustration of the conterminous United States’ landscape showcases its elevation differences in vivid detail. This map has been consistently adjusted and colorized according to the highest and lowest elevations, accentuating differences across the conterminous United States. To further emphasize landforms, shaded relief has been added on top of...
Authors
Alexander B. Jonesi, Cindy A. Thatcher, Jason M. Stoker

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
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