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- Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
- Path: sparky!uunet!ukma!darwin.sura.net!paladin.american.edu!auvm!CRDOKOKL.CR.USGS.GOV!AHREA
- Message-ID: <9301261552.AA12425@crdokokl>
- Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.gis
- Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 09:52:16 -0600
- Sender: Geographic Information Systems Discussion List <GIS-L@UBVM.BITNET>
- From: "Alan H. Rea" <ahrea@CRDOKOKL.CR.USGS.GOV>
- Subject: Re: where to get USGS DEMs
- Lines: 67
-
- Apparently, I have missed some messages discussing the availability of
- digital data from USGS, because I see messages quoting other messages
- that I haven't gotten. We've had a few problems with mail in the last
- couple of weeks. If anyone responded to my request for suggestions
- about additional data sets related to water resources in Oklahoma,
- please send me the message again, I haven't received any.
-
- I'm glad to see that some people realize that digital data isn't very
- well funded at USGS. You should understand that Congress allocates
- only a small amount of funding to the National Mapping Division each
- year for basic mapping. NMD also gets matching funds to match state
- funds, and they get funding from other agencies to do mapping that
- meets those agencies' needs. If my memory serves me well, the current
- level of basic-mapping funding will not result in full digital
- coverage of the US at 1:24,000 scale until well into the next century.
- Because of the high demand for broad digital coverage, they have decided
- to emphasize digital production of 1:100,000-scale products, which can
- be finished much sooner.
-
- There are ways, however, to speed up the process for the particular quads
- you may need. First, there is something called the OMB Circular A-16
- process, through which the National Mapping Division solicits input from
- map-using agencies (Fed, State, and Local) on what their future mapping
- needs will be. They use this input to prioritize what they do. There are
- changes in the works to how this solicitation is being done, but there is
- someone in the mapping center which serves your region (Denver; Menlo Park,
- CA; Rolla, MO; or Reston, VA) whose job it is to work with agencies in their
- regions to identify which quads should get higher priority.
-
- Even if a quad you want is given a high priority (meaning it has been
- requested by several agencies, not just one), the reality is that if
- you want a specific quad in some time frame shorter than 3 or 4 years,
- you are best off to enter a cooperative agreement with NMD to produce
- the data you need. If you are a state agency, NMD may have matching funds
- to help with the costs. For example, I'm told that the state share for
- producing a 1:24,000 Digital Orthophotoquad is $400 per quarter-quad.
- Considering that a by-product of that is also a DEM, that's a pretty good
- deal.
-
- As for the practicality of putting all the USGS public domain digital
- data up for ftp, there are some efforts underway to provide access to
- _some_ data sets via WAIS. As someone else pointed out, the data
- storage requirements are a bit of a problem, and I suppose network
- performance may become an issue. There are political issues, too,
- like job security for people who currently distribute data, and
- complaints about USGS "competing with the private sector." All in
- all, I think our situation in the US is a bit nicer than that in
- Britain and several other countries. I try to remember that when I
- complain about the difficulty and cost of getting digital data. I
- don't know about other areas, but the availability of data for
- Oklahoma has improved considerably in the last 3 or 4 years. I see
- progress on several fronts, so there is reason to be optimistic, I
- think. In fact, there is nothing to stop a university or other agency
- from buying all the digital products for their state and providing
- public access. It may be a more manageable problem on a state level.
- I calculated it would cost about $6000 to buy all the currently
- available data for Oklahoma. (That figure includes all available
- 1:24K and 1:100K DEMs, DLGs, and CD-ROM TIGER files.)
-
- Now for a short disclaimer: I work for a different division in USGS,
- and I am not involved at all in the map production business. I am a
- data user, just like most of you out there.
-
- Alan Rea, Hydrologist * ahrea@csdokokl.cr.usgs.gov (USE THIS ONE!)
- U.S. Geological Survey * "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA * who falsely believe they are free" -- Goethe
- "Any opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer..."
-