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USGS topographic maps fall into three primary product categories: 1. The Historical Topographic Map Collection (HTMC) is the set of scanned images of USGS topographic quadrangle maps originally published as paper documents in the period 1884-2006.
- Topographic Mapping
Topographic maps usually portray both natural and manmade...
- Get Maps
Get your topographic maps here! The latest version of...
- What is a Topographic Map
The USGS offers 3 categories of topographic maps: OnDemand...
- Topographic Mapping
Topographic maps usually portray both natural and manmade features. They show and name works of nature including mountains, valleys, plains, lakes, rivers, and vegetation. They also identify the principal works of man, such as roads, boundaries, transmission lines, and major buildings.
Get your topographic maps here! The latest version of topoView includes both current and historical maps and is full of enhancements based on hundreds of your comments and suggestions.
- 2.20
The USGS offers 3 categories of topographic maps: OnDemand Topos enable users to request customized USGS-style topographic maps. These maps utilize the best available data from The National Map. Exclusive to the topoBuilder application is the ability to select from multiple map scales and center maps wherever users choose.
- Background
- How to Read These Maps
- Getting Around
- Zoom to Location
- Map Records Table
- Map Information
- Basemaps
- Downloading Maps
- Previewing A Map
- Map Metadata
Topographic maps originally were produced to support a geological survey of the western United States (Powell, 1888). But they quickly became popular with many other disciplines and with the general public because of their usefulness for viewing and studying the Nation’s vast landscape (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010a, 2010b). Technological capabilit...
The distinctive characteristic of a topographic map is that the shape of the Earth’s surface is shown by contour lines. Contours are imaginary lines that join points of equal elevation on the surface of the land above or below a reference surface, such as mean sea level. Contours make it possible to visualize the height of mountains, depths of the ...
In most web mapping interfaces, there are a variety of ways to zoom/pan around the map. In topoView, panning is enabled by default. Simply click anywhere on the map, hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse. For zooming into an area, we offer the magnifier tool, but instead you may find it easier to: 1. Hold the shift key and drag a box o...
To find maps for a location, such as your house, or town, or larger area, use the location search bar. There, you can enter very specific information, such as your full street address (e.g., 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20192) or latitude/longitude coordinate pair, or more general information (e.g., zip code, town name, or park name). Not...
When you click on any of the colored map boxes, a map records table is populated along the right side of the interface and a marker appears on the point that was clicked. By default the active record is expanded and contains information like quadrangle name, map year, map edition, map scale, and a list of downloadable files associated with the reco...
The information for a particular map can be accessed by simply clicking on the map record. When clicked, the map information window will expand revealing the basic metadata information, the map download options, a list of actions for that particular record (detailed later in this guide), and a preview image of the map (click the preview image to vi...
A base map, commonly shown as a backdrop to give locational information such as cultural or physical features, is essential to help us locate ourselves on the ground. TopoView offers a variety of base maps which can be toggled in the upper left corner of the map window. Our default base map layer is powered by Mapbox using open data from OpenStreet...
TopoView offers the topographic maps in a variety of downloadable file formats, in order to meet a range of user needs. The GeoTIFF, KMZ, and GeoPDF formats are georeferenced file formats. Georeferencing means that the internal coordinate system of a map can be related to a ground system of geographic coordinates. The relevant coordinate transforms...
TopoView lets users preview any of the historical maps within the interfaceand provides tools to compare them to a modern base map. Overlaying historical maps on a modern base allows users to explore things like coastline change, urbanization, geographic name changes, and how people have altered the landscape over time. To preview the map record in...
Metadata is the background information which describes the content, quality, condition, and other appropriate characteristics of the data. Paper maps contain metadata, primarily as part of the map legend. In this form, metadata is readily apparent and easily transferred between map producers and map users. When map data are in a digital form, metad...
TopoView highlights one of the USGS's most important and useful products, the topographic map. In 1879, the USGS began to map the Nation's topography. This mapping was done at different levels of detail, to support various land use and other purposes.
People also ask
What are the different types of USGS topographic maps?
What are USGS topographic quadrangle maps?
What are US Topo maps?
Which cartographic products are available from the USGS?
What is a USGS map?
What are the different types of maps?
USGS topographic quadrangle maps are divided into two product types: US Topo refers to USGS topographic maps published as digital documents in 2009 and later. This current topographic map series uses a 1:24,000 map scale in its printed form.
