Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.gis
Date:         Tue, 26 Jan 1993 09:52:16 -0600
From:         "Alan H. Rea" <ahrea@CRDOKOKL.CR.USGS.GOV>
Subject:      Re: where to get USGS DEMs

Apparently, I have missed some messages discussing the availability of
digital data from USGS, because I see messages quoting other messages
that I haven't gotten.  We've had a few problems with mail in the last
couple of weeks.  If anyone responded to my request for suggestions
about additional data sets related to water resources in Oklahoma,
please send me the message again, I haven't received any.

I'm glad to see that some people realize that digital data isn't very
well funded at USGS.  You should understand that Congress allocates
only a small amount of funding to the National Mapping Division each
year for basic mapping.  NMD also gets matching funds to match state
funds, and they get funding from other agencies to do mapping that
meets those agencies' needs.  If my memory serves me well, the current
level of basic-mapping funding will not result in full digital
coverage of the US at 1:24,000 scale until well into the next century.
Because of the high demand for broad digital coverage, they have decided
to emphasize digital production of 1:100,000-scale products, which can
be finished much sooner.

There are ways, however, to speed up the process for the particular quads
you may need.  First, there is something called the OMB Circular A-16
process, through which the National Mapping Division solicits input from
map-using agencies (Fed, State, and Local) on what their future mapping
needs will be.  They use this input to prioritize what they do.  There are
changes in the works to how this solicitation is being done, but there is
someone in the mapping center which serves your region (Denver; Menlo Park,
CA; Rolla, MO; or Reston, VA) whose job it is to work with agencies in their
regions to identify which quads should get higher priority.

Even if a quad you want is given a high priority (meaning it has been
requested by several agencies, not just one), the reality is that if
you want a specific quad in some time frame shorter than 3 or 4 years,
you are best off to enter a cooperative agreement with NMD to produce
the data you need.  If you are a state agency, NMD may have matching funds
to help with the costs.  For example, I'm told that the state share for
producing a 1:24,000 Digital Orthophotoquad is $400 per quarter-quad.
Considering that a by-product of that is also a DEM, that's a pretty good
deal.

As for the practicality of putting all the USGS public domain digital
data up for ftp, there are some efforts underway to provide access to
_some_ data sets via WAIS.  As someone else pointed out, the data
storage requirements are a bit of a problem, and I suppose network
performance may become an issue.  There are political issues, too,
like job security for people who currently distribute data, and
complaints about USGS "competing with the private sector."  All in
all, I think our situation in the US is a bit nicer than that in
Britain and several other countries.  I try to remember that when I
complain about the difficulty and cost of getting digital data.  I
don't know about other areas, but the availability of data for
Oklahoma has improved considerably in the last 3 or 4 years.  I see
progress on several fronts, so there is reason to be optimistic, I
think.  In fact, there is nothing to stop a university or other agency
from buying all the digital products for their state and providing
public access.  It may be a more manageable problem on a state level.
I calculated it would cost about $6000 to buy all the currently
available data for Oklahoma.  (That figure includes all available
1:24K and 1:100K DEMs, DLGs, and CD-ROM TIGER files.)

Now for a short disclaimer: I work for a different division in USGS,
and I am not involved at all in the map production business.  I am a
data user, just like most of you out there.

Alan Rea, Hydrologist         *    ahrea@csdokokl.cr.usgs.gov (USE THIS ONE!)
U.S. Geological Survey        * "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA  *  who falsely believe they are free" -- Goethe
"Any opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer..."
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