U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2006-3107

July 2006

The National Map: Topographic Maps for the 21st Century
 

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

is committed to meeting the Nation’s 

needs for current base geographic data 

and maps. Our vision is that, by working 

with partners, we will provide the Nation 

with access to current, accurate, and 

nationally consistent digital data and topographic maps derived from those data. 

This synthesis of information, products, 

and capabilities, The National Map, will 

be a seamless, continuously maintained 

set of geographic base information that 

will serve as a foundation for integrating, 

sharing, and using other data easily and 

consistently.

The Nation Needs The National 

Map

Governments depend on a common 

set of base information that describes the 

Earth’s surface and locates features. They 

use this information as a tool for economic and community development, land 

and natural resource management, and 

health and safety services. Federal functions ranging from emergency management and defense to environmental protection rely on this information. Private 

industry, nongovernmental organizations, 

and individual citizens also use the same 

geographic data. Geographic information 

underpins an increasingly large part of 

the Nation’s economy. 

USGS Role

The most widely known form of 

geographic base information for the 

United States is the USGS primary 

series topographic map. The USGS has 

produced more than 55,000 unique map 

sheets and approximately 220,000 digital 

orthorectified aerial images to cover the 

Nation. These maps and images are a 

national treasure, but the average primary series topographic map is 23 years 

old. Frequent changes on the landscape 

mean that many of these maps are no 

longer accurate and complete. The USGS 

is committed to organizing and leading cooperative activities to ensure that 

current geographic base information is 

readily available and useful.

The National Geospatial Program (NGP) 

The USGS has realigned its geospatial 

programs into the National Geospatial 

Program (NGP) to serve the needs and 

interests of the geospatial community 

throughout the Nation. This realignment 

brings The National Map, The National 

Atlas, Geospatial One-Stop, and the 

Federal Geographic Data Committee into 

a single program office. With the creation 

of the NGP, the essential components 

of delivering the National Spatial Data 

Infrastructure (NSDI) and capitalizing on 

the power of place will be managed as a 

unified portfolio that benefits the entire 

geospatial community.

The National Map provides data about 

the United States and its territories that 

others can extend, enhance, and reference 

as they concentrate on maintaining other 

data that are unique to their needs. The 

National Map promotes cost effectiveness 

by minimizing the need to find, develop, 

integrate, and maintain geographic base 

data each time they are needed.

Under National Geospatial Program 

Office (NGPO) leadership, The National 

Map provides data and operational capabilities that include the following:

• High-resolution digital ortho-rectified imagery that provides some of 

the feature information content now 

symbolized on topographic maps.

• High-resolution surface elevation data, including bathymetry, to 

derive contours for primary series 

topographic maps and to support 

production of accurate ortho-rectified 

imagery.

• Vector feature data for hydrography, 

transportation (roads, railways, and 

waterways), structures, government 

unit boundaries, and publicly owned 

land boundaries.
• Geographic names for physical and 

cultural features to support the U.S. 

Board on Geographic Names and 

other names, such as those for highways and streets.

• Land cover data that classify the land 

surface into categories such as open 

water and high-density residential.

Changes affecting The National Map

will be captured in near real time, rather 

than through cyclical inspection and 

revision. Currentness will be measured in 

days and months.

Data will be seamless and consistently 

classified, enabling users to extract information for irregular geographic areas, 

such as counties or drainage basins, and 

to spatially analyze the information. Data 

resolution and completeness will vary 

depending on geographic area and need. 

For example, The National Map will 

contain higher resolution elevation data 

in areas of subtle relief variation, such 

as river flood plains, to support hydrographic modeling.

Positional accuracy will be sufficient 

to vertically and logically align features 

from different data themes. Thus, river 

course will correspond to land surface 

slope, and boundaries will align with corresponding features, such as roads or rivers. The National Map will contain data 

for many areas that surpass the standards 

that have been applicable to primary 

series topographic maps. All content of 

The National Map will be documented 

by metadata (information about data) 

that comply with Federal Geographic 

Data Committee standards and American 

National Standards Institute geospatial 

data standards and Open GIS specifications.

Access and Use

The National Map will be a geospatial framework foundation to which all 

organizations can reference their information, such as land use data, school district 

boundaries, or wildlife population counts. 

Users will be able to combine data from 

The National Map with geographic information available from other organizations, 

such as the Bureau of Land Management 

and socioeconomic data from the Bureau 

of the Census with a variety of other 

applications in The Geospatial One-Stop 

portal www.geodata.gov.

One of the primary access points 

using The National Map is through our 

national intergovernmental geospatial data 

metadata repository called Geospatial 

One-Stop (GOS). The GOS portal, www.

geodata.gov, using The National Map as 

its base map, provides access and discovery of thousands of additional geospatial 

data sets for viewing and integration 

through the use of open web map standards. Combining the vast collection of 

geospatial data holdings found in Geospatial One-Stop with The National Map

greatly enhances our Nation’s ability to 

access and use geospatial information for 

decision making activities.

The USGS continues the tradition of 

the primary series topographic map by 

enabling a customer to select a topographic map from an online index to create a digital map using The National Map

data. The digital map then can be printed 

at home or wherever they have access to 

an internet-enabled computer printer, or 

delivered to a USGS business partner for 

plotting. The initial capabilities will create 

cell based topographic maps, similar to 

what is available today. Future enhancements will enable a customer to create 

their own maps by defining the map’s 

content. 

Partnerships

The USGS seeks partnerships and business arrangements with government agencies, the private sector, and other organizations to develop and operate The National 

Map. USGS staff will be located across 

the Nation to work directly with staff of 

other USGS disciplines, partner organizations, private industry, and universities.

Taking advantage of the ongoing 

convergence of broadband wireless communication, mass data storage, and geolocation capabilities in personal digital 

devices, the USGS will encourage the 

participation of organizations and private 

citizens to serve as a volunteer force for 

change detection, data compilation, and 

validation.

Commitment

The National Map is a new perspective on geographic base information. By 

sharing its vision, the USGS affirms its 

dedication to refocusing and reinvigorating its efforts to meet the Nation’s needs 

for this critical information. The USGS 

will consolidate and redefine its component mapping activities and seek creative 

partnerships to ensure that current, complete, consistent, and accurate information is available and useful to the Nation. 

This will take a sustained commitment 

to achieve the full goals of The National 

Map vision. The USGS and its partners 

will concentrate on improving data and 

map content and currentness for high 

priority areas, with emphasis on building 

long-term sustainable partnerships, and 

on improving data access and dissemination capabilities.

Information

To view and download information 

about The National Map, as well as contact the USGS, go to www.nationalmap.

gov. 

For more information on the NGP, 

visit the NGPO at www.usgs.gov/ngpo.