All you map geeks, get prepared! Many of you might already be aware of the National Map project by the USGS. Part of that project is the process of updating/replacing the OLD paper USGS topos. You know, the ones that were commonly last updated in the 1960′s or 1970′s? The new topo maps will be called US Topo and are set to begin a schedule in 2010. Parts of the country have been covered in part of the beta program, called the Digital Map – Beta.
Progress Map from nationalmap.gov/ustopo/
You see that the GeoPDF looks like any other .pdf document at first. You will notice the additional toolbar with GeoPDF functions and the list of layers. I have annotated the toolbar indicating the button titles.
GeoTool – This one has lots of functions depending on how you click (single, double, or right). The image below shows the dialog that appears when you single-click this button. It details the rest of the things the button can do.
If you right-click it to display the extra functions, you get an additional menu that lets you choose.
GeoLocator – This one is simple enough. Click the button and this tool shows the coordinates of the location of your cursor on the screen.
GeoMeasure – This one has two tools, a linear measure and an area measure. I illustrate the linear measure below. Select the tool and the measure window displays. Left click to add points to measure (you can select many for long routes or odd shapes) and right click to remove points.
GeoTrack – Attach a GPS, then select this tool to show your actual position on the map. Very cool. I’m not going to give you my home coordinates, so all you get is a screenshot of your options when you click this tool. Below I show the little dropdown menu. If you click the large icon it brings up a menu to select the frame in this particular map within which to show my location. Since I’m nowhere near San Francisco, I wouldn’t show up, anyway.
The full US Topo series maps will be offered in GeoPDF format. Accessibility of this format will be pretty good, since it’s essentiall a pdf document with geospatial attributes. A free plugin to Adobe Acrobat from TerraGo Technologies gives the average user the capability to use GIS layers without expensive, specialized software. This blog, apparently from TerraGo, gives all sorts of updates on the GeoPDF format and relevant software.
Unfortunately, the software to author GeoPDF files still costs money. There are multiple versions, including one that works with existing GIS software to save as a GeoPDF, one that works on mobile devices, one that works with ESRI ArcGIS, one that works on its own to combine geo-enabled PDF, KML files, and others into a GeoPDF, and one that combines several utilities (including the mobile application, the free toolbar, and others).
Overall, the GeoPDF format is an interesting one and is yet another step to put GIS products into the hands of the average consumer. Its implementation to the National Map/US Topo program makes one think about the future applications. Will Google add these map products to its Maps and Earth services? Will Garmin or someone else add support for these maps on their receivers? I think time will tell as the final products begin to get released. Certainly it will take some years before the US Topo maps are produced for the whole United States, so the various players in the consumer products market will have time to decide whether they want to support this data or not. The future for this is fascinating and bright, however.
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