Article2009

MAPPING DEVELOPMENTS AND GIS IN THE USGS, 1884-2009

E. Lynn Usery · Dalia E. Varanka · Michael P. Finn

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Historical Geography and Cartography Geographic Information Systems Studies Historical Geography and Geographical Thought

Abstract

Introduction On December 4-5, 1884, John Wesley Powell, then Director of the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), persuaded the United States Congress to approve systematic topographic mapping of the United States Thus, in December 2009, the USGS will celebrate the 125 th anniversary of topographic mapping. This paper is a treatise on the history of topographic mapping and geographic information systems (GIS) in the USGS. Objectives The objective is to illustrate innovations in mapping and GIS within the USGS and the approach and products, including public-domain data, which helped stimulate the current (2009) GIS industry. This paper traces the origins and chronological change of topographic mapping and GIS during the 125-year history of the USGS National Mapping Program, now referred to as the National Geospatial Program. This paper describes the expanding range of topographic mapping techniques from field sketching and the process of producing a three-color lithograph map from copper plates through techniques of advanced field completion, aerial photography, photogrammetry, scribing, and the five-color lithographic press that led to completion of the 1:24,000-scale, 7.5-minute coverage of the contiguous 48 states of the United States in 1991. This coverage resulted in more than 55,000 maps or more when multiple editions are considered. Methodology The mapping process and USGS innovations in mapping and GIS, including developments in photogrammetry are detailed in this paper, including the invention of Kelsh and ER-55 stereo plotters in the 1950s, orthophotographs in the 1960s, digital cartography including Digital Line Graphs (DLGs), Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), the provision of public domain data for GIS and the Geographic Information Retrieval and Analysis (GIRAS) software in the 1970s, and digital orthophotoquads (DOQs) and Digital Raster Graphics

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References

2006Charting the Unknown: How Computer Mapping at Harvard Became GIS 1986The TIGER system: Automating the geographic structure of the United States census 1998Cartography, GIS and the World Wide Web 2002Towards the Automated Map Factory: Early Automation at the U.S. Geological Survey 1986Politics, Science, and Government Mapping Policy in the United States, 1800–1925

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