National Geospatial Technical Operations Center

The U.S. Geological Survey National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) provides essential support for the acquisition and management of trusted geospatial data, products, and services, through world-class geospatial technical expertise and customer service, for the USGS and the Nation. NGTOC supports The National Map (TNM) and the National Atlas of the United States®, among other related efforts.



Week ending June 19, 2009

U.S. Geological Survey hosts the International Map Trade Association (IMTA) Americas Board of Directors Meeting in Denver: IMTA, established in 1981, represents the international mapping, geospatial, and geographic information industry world-wide. Ron Lofton attended the June 5, 2009, Board of Directors meeting to discuss key issues facing the Geospatial industry and the Association. Issues discussed: financial status, market research, general business conditions and the consumer survey; 2009 Albuquerque Conference and educational program; review of management performance; International Report; and the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations.

During the meeting, the Americas Board agreed to establish a Map Awards Program recognizing outstanding presentation and usability of cartographic related products. The awards will be divided into several categories including computer based products, Internet Web sites, and map related products (compasses, Map display stands, GPS units). The awards will be presented at the Annual dinner in Albuquerque.

This year′s Americas conference will be held in Albuquerque New Mexico, in September. The Association is looking at taking bold steps to increase the visibility and value of membership during this conference. Mr. George Whalin is this year’s key note speaker talking about "Doing Business in a Changing world". The educational program focuses on business conditions, new technologies and digital information sessions. Visit their website at www.maptrade.org (Ron Lofton, Denver, CO 303 202-4115)

Viewer Development Support: Since April 15, Jeff Hanson and Calvin Meyer have been involved with cartographic review and edit of tiled data that will feed the new viewer. Small scale data is based on content derived from The National Atlas, and large scale data is based on content derived from The National Map. The map document files are then accessed by John Schramek through ArcGIS Server to create tiled caches at various scales to improve The National Map viewer refresh times. The new viewer is based on the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's web-based Palanterra technology, and is expected to be ready for public demonstration at the ESRI user conference in San Diego, CA from July 13-17. The viewer can be accessed at The National Map Viewer Technology Beta site. (Calvin Meyer, Rolla, Mo., 573-308-3762)

"Digital Map – Beta": Ten quadrangles are ready for GDA load/USGS Store. 1183 quadrangles are ready for export/assembly to final GeoPDF products (Arizona 185, California 302, and Louisiana 696). Approximately 70% of the quadrangles in Nebraska have been edited. Grids and annotations are completed for quadrangles in Wyoming and annotation edits have started. (Jerry Wagner, Rolla, Mo., 573-308-3764)

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Week ending June 12, 2009

The USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) has released the "Digital Map – Beta" website to support the new mapping program. The "Digital Map – Beta" is the first step toward a new generation of digital topographic maps and is available for free download. The site can be found as a link off The National Map web site. (Mark Newell, Rolla, MO 573-308-3850)

The release of the new USGS "Digital Map – Beta" was reviewed in the June 9 issue of Directions Magazine.

USGS Director of Geography, Bryant Cramer, posted a blog discussing the release of the "Digital Map – Beta" and its relation to the USGS Science Strategies. (USGS intranet only)

National Geospatial Program Director, Mark DeMulder, recorded a Podcast announcing the release of the "Digital Map – Beta" and explained some of the project details. (USGS intranet only)

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Week ending June 5, 2009

USGS programs including The National Map, Geospatial One-Stop, and the National Atlas as well as USGS geospatial data and its support of the Data.gov web site were part of a Podcast produced and distributed by Directions Magazine.

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