The newest sets of US Topo maps cover the states of Texas and New York. The 4,309 quadrangles for Texas and 972 quads covering New York replace the existing US Topo maps for those states, and will be added to the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection. All of these maps are available for free download from The National Map and the USGS Map Store website.
Last September the USGS marked the important milestone of completing the initial round of US Topo map production for the 48 contiguous states. The agency is continuing to improve the US Topo map product, moving into the next round of national map revisions. Hawaii is currently in production and Alaska production will start later this year.
"The US Topo program is a dynamic product and the new maps over Texas and New York demonstrate our commitment to a very aggressive three year revision cycle while at the same time adding new content", said Mike Cooley, the US Topo Project Manager. "I encourage you to take a look at these maps and drop us a comment on how we are doing via our drop box, as your input is important to us."
New feature additions and improvements on the updated US Topo maps include:
- Woodland tint derived from the National Land Cover Dataset
- Fire stations
- Hospitals
- State and county boundaries
- Forest service boundaries
- Commercial roads in lieu of census roads
- Forest Service roads and road numbers
US Topos are derived from key layers of geographic data found in The National Map, which delivers visible content such as high resolution aerial photography, which was not available on older paper-based topographic maps. The new US Topo maps provide modern technical advantages that support wider and faster public distribution and on-screen geographic analysis tools for users.
Future enhancements to the US Topo are scheduled to include additional tools and map content such as a shaded relief layer, updated structures, enhanced transportation, additional federal boundaries and Forest Service trails. Wyoming, which was added in the fall of 2012, also featured Public Land Survey System (PLSS). The USGS expects to produce more than 18,500 revised quadrangles annually. US Topo maps are updated every three years.
The new digital electronic topographic maps are delivered in GeoPDF image software format and may be viewed using Adobe Reader, available as a no cost download.
For more information, go to: http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/