U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2011–3078

June 2011

National Geospatial Program

The National Geospatial Program (NGP; 

http://www.usgs.gov/ngpo/) satisfies the needs of customers 

by providing geospatial products and services that customers 

incorporate into their decisionmaking and operational activities. 

These products and services provide geospatial data that are 

organized and maintained in cost-effective ways and developed 

by working with partners and organizations whose activities align 

with those of the program. To accomplish its mission, the NGP—

• organizes, maintains, publishes, and disseminates the geospatial baseline of the Nation’s topography, natural landscape, 

and manmade environment through The National Map

• fosters a general understanding of broad geographic patterns, 

trends, and conditions through The National Atlas of the 

United States of America

• increases the efficiency of the Nation’s geospatial community 

by improving communications about geospatial data, products, services, projects, needs, standards, and best practices

The NGP comprises seven major components (described 

below), that are managed as a unified set. For example, 

The National Map establishes data standards and identifies 

geographic areas where specific types of geospatial data need 

to be incorporated into The National Map. Partnership Network 

Liaisons work with Federal, State, local, and tribal partners to 

help acquire the data. Geospatial technical operations ensure the 

quality control, integration, and availability to the public of the 

data acquired. The Emergency Operations Office provides the 

requirements to The National Map and, during emergencies and 

natural disasters, provides rapid dissemination of information and 

data targeted to the needs of emergency responders. The National 

Atlas uses data from The National Map and other sources to 

make small-scale maps and multimedia articles about the maps.

The National Map

The National Map (http://nationalmap.gov/) is a suite of 

products and services that provide access to base geospatial 

information to describe the landscape of the United States and 

its territories. The National Map embodies 11 primary products 

and services and numerous applications and ancillary services. 

The National Map supports data download, digital and print 

versions of topographic maps, geospatial data services, and online 

viewing. Customers can use geospatial data and maps to enhance 

their recreational experience, make life-saving decisions, support 

scientific missions, and for countless other activities. Nationally 

consistent geospatial data from The National Map enable 

better policy and land management decisions and the effective 

enforcement of regulatory responsibilities.

The National Map is easily accessible for display on the 

Web through such products as topographic maps and services and 

as downloadable data. The geographic information available from 

The National Map includes boundaries, elevation, geographic 

names, hydrography, land cover, orthoimagery, structures, and 

transportation. The majority of The National Map effort is 

devoted to acquiring and integrating medium-scale (nominally 

1:24,000-scale) geospatial data for the eight base layers from 

a variety of sources and providing access to the resulting 

seamless coverages of geospatial data. The National Map also 

serves as the source of base mapping information for derived 

cartographic products, including 1:24,000-scale US Topo maps 

and georeferenced digital files of scanned historic topographic 

maps. Datasets and products from The National Map are intended 

for use by government, industry, and academia—focusing on 

geographic information system (GIS) users—as well as the 

public, especially in support of recreation activities. Other types 

of georeferenced or mapping information can be added within 

The National Map Viewer or brought in with The National Map

data into a GIS to create specific types of maps or map views and 

(or) to perform modeling or analyses.

Boundaries

Elevation

Geographic 

names

Hydrography

Land cover

Orthoimagery

Structures

Transportation

Figure 1. Eight base layers of The National Map.
The National Atlas of the United States®

The National Atlas (http://nationalatlas.gov/) uses datasets 

of a highly generalized framework from The National Map

as the cartographic foundation for thousands of thematic 

maps. More than two dozen Federal agencies collaborate 

in the National Atlas to provide accurate, integrated, and 

reliable geospatial information about the Nation’s natural 

and socioeconomic landscapes. Most National Atlas products 

are clearly designed for public use and include wall maps, 

innovative page-sized printable maps, and an interactive 

mapmaker for crafting custom maps. The National Atlas also 

includes multimedia articles about National Atlas maps as well 

as maps that illustrate how the Nation changes. All National 

Atlas data are fully documented and are provided at no cost 

for download or direct use on the Web. The data available 

from the National Atlas are provided at a scale where 1 inch 

on the map is roughly 16 miles. For geographic information 

professionals, the National Atlas offers documented small-scale 

geospatial data and Web map services that are integrated with 

similar data and services from Canada and Mexico to create 

the North American Environmental Atlas (http://www.cec.org/

naatlas/) and contribute to the Share the Global Map project 

(http://www.globalmap.org/english/index.html).

Partnership Activities

NGP partnerships provide significant cost savings, reduce 

redundancy in geospatial data acquisition and stewardship, 

and ensure availability of common base data to a broad range 

of users and applications. The NGP Partnership Network 

(http://liaisons.usgs.gov/geospatial/) comprises headquarters 

liaisons, who coordinate with Federal agencies and national 

organizations, and State-based U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) geospatial liaisons, who are distributed across the 

Nation to coordinate efforts of the USGS and other Federal 

entities with State, local, and tribal groups. Liaisons work with 

these organizations to identify geospatial data requirements 

and standards; evaluate partnership opportunities; develop 

agreements; participate in State, regional, and local geospatial 

data councils; and provide outreach to communities of users. 

Many of these organizations produce and maintain a vast 

array of current, accurate geospatial data. As a result, a large 

majority of data in The National Map is the product of jointly 

funded partnership agreements aligned with the goals of the 

NGP. In addition to providing cost savings across participating 

organizations and reducing redundancy, these partnership 

activities support coordination and training at the State and 

national levels and help to advance the National Spatial Data 

Infrastructure (NSDI; http://www.fgdc.gov/nsdi/nsdi.html).

Geospatial Technical Operations

Geospatial technical operations efforts by the National 

Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC; 

http://ngtoc.usgs.gov/) and the Earth Resources Observation 

Science (EROS) Center (http://eros.usgs.gov/) focus on 

developing and enhancing the usefulness of geospatial products 

and services; acquiring new geospatial data; assessing the 

geospatial data for accuracy, quality, and integration into 

nationwide datasets; archiving raster and vector imagery; and 

improving public access to the acquired geospatial data through 

online viewing and data downloading. The NGTOC and the 

EROS Center also perform research and development into 

new processes and technology in the implementation of The 

National Map, and a critical role is providing technical services 

to assist NGP partners in the acquisition and maintenance of 

geospatial data that become part of The National Map. Finally, 

the NGTOC and the EROS Center develop interfaces and 

provide access to The National Map products, such as US Topo.

Emergency Operations

The Emergency Operations Office (http://www.usgs.gov/

emergency/) ensures coordination and rapid availability of data 

from The National Map and other geospatial information for 

effective response to natural and other disasters by emergency 

responders, land and resource managers, and scientists. 

Procedures are established for acquisition, processing, and 

archiving of nonproprietary geospatial data; discovery, access, 

and delivery of data; and for providing relevant geospatial 

products and services during and immediately after emergency 

events. These activities enable interdisciplinary integration of 

government assets to improve the value of data and services to 

responders and citizens in cases of emergency. The Emergency 

Operations Office leverages the Partnership Network and 

partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security, 

the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the United 

States Northern Command, and the National Guard Bureau 

to coordinate the provisioning and deployment of USGS 

geospatial data, products, services, and equipment.

Geospatial Information Science Research

Geospatial research is conducted by the Center of 

Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS; 

http://cegis.usgs.gov/), which identifies and collaborates on 

geographic information science research issues of national 

importance. CEGIS basic research activities are guided by 

the published recommendations of the National Academy of 

Sciences and priorities are established by the NGP management 

team based on long-term program direction and goals. Most 

CEGIS basic research efforts are in support of The National 

Map, but also include investigation of emerging technologies 

(such as the semantic Web and social media) and their effects on 

the NSDI and the emerging geospatial Web.

Board on Geographic Names Secretariat

The NGP provides the secretariat and staff for the U.S. 

Board on Geographic Names (BGN; http://geonames.usgs.gov/.), 

a Federal interagency body empowered by Public Law 80–242 

(61 Stat. 456) to approve and issue standard geographic names 

for use on all material (maps, documents, reports, data files) 

published by the Federal Government and its contractors. A large 

number of State agencies and local and tribal organizations also 

adhere to the guidelines and policies of the BGN and participate 

actively in the standardization effort.

By William J. Carswell, Jr.