VOLCANO MADNESS: [Geology2] Nearly 3,900 New Maps in Time for Summer

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

[Geology2] Nearly 3,900 New Maps in Time for Summer

Nearly 3,900 New Maps in Time for Summer

Posted: 30 Jul 2013 08:00 AM PDT

Newly designed maps covering Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are now available online for free download

To keep pace with a rapid schedule and increasing demand, the USGS has posted new US Topo quadrangles covering Indiana(640 maps), Iowa (1,011 maps), North Carolina (833 maps), Pennsylvania (798 maps) and Virginia (596 maps). These new quads replace the first edition US Topo maps for those states. The replaced maps will be added to the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection and are also available for free download from The National Map and the USGS Map Locator & Downloader website.

"The newly redesigned US Topo maps are visually appealing, especially with the addition of the shaded relief layer", explained Bob Davis, the new US Topo Project Manager. "The addition of shaded relief and other design components demonstrate our commitment to improving the product to meet our users' needs. I encourage you to download these maps, compare them against previous US Topo maps and drop us your comments. We value your input."

US Topo maps now have a crisper, cleaner design - enhancing readability of maps for online and printed use. Map symbols are easier to read over the digital aerial photograph layer whether the imagery is turned on or off. Improvements to symbol definitions (color, line thickness, line symbols, area fills), layer order, and annotation fonts are additional features of this supplemental release. Users can now adjust the transparency for some features and layers to increase visibility of multiple competing layers.

US Topo maps are updated every three years, with the initial round completed last September. Maps for Hawaii are currently in production with Alaska production starting later this year.

Re-design enhancements and new features:

Crisper, cleaner design improves online and printed readability while retaining the look and feel of traditional USGS topographic maps
New functional road classification schema has been applied
A slight screening (transparency) has been applied to some features to enhance visibility of multiple competing layers
Updated free fonts that support diacritics
New PDF Legend attachment
Metadata formatted to support multiple browsers
New shaded relief layer for enhanced view of the terrain
Military installation boundaries, post offices and cemeteries

US Topo maps are created from geographic datasets in The National Map, and deliver visible content such as high-resolution aerial photography, which was not available on older paper-based topographic maps. The new US Topo maps provide modern technical advantages that support wider and faster public distribution and on-screen geographic analysis tools for users.

The new digital electronic topographic maps are delivered in GeoPDF image software format and may be viewed using Adobe Reader, available as a no cost download.

For more information, go to: http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/

Proposed US Topo map production graphic showing; states that were updated in 2012, in yellow; states that have, or will be updated in 2013, in red; and states are scheduled to be updated in 2014, in blue. (High resolution image)