CASE STUDY
USGS Delivers GeoPDF Topos Quads
Quick Summary
As the nation’s largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems. The USGS is focused on serving the nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.
The Challenge
USGS recently celebrated its 125th anniversary by showcasing TerraGo GeoPDF® maps and imagery. For several years, USGS has partnered with TerraGo to deliver hundreds of thousands of GeoPDF maps to users all across the United States. Anyone can access free GeoPDF maps of the 7.5 minute topo quads from the USGS Webstore.
The Solution
In December 2009, USGS announced the availability of its next-generation layered GeoPDF maps — Digital US Topo Maps. Each map quadrangle is constructed in GeoPDF format from key layers of geographic data — orthoimagery, roads, geographic names, topographic contours, and hydrographic features — found in The National Map, a nationwide collection of integrated data from local, state, federal, and other sources.
The Results
Prior to implementing TerraGo GeoPDF maps and imagery, USGS was experiencing about 4,000 monthly downloads of its topo quads. With GeoPDF maps, the organization is seeing an average of 75,000 monthly downloads of GeoPDF maps each month, thus helping to fulfill its mission by making information more available and actionable for more people.