Viewer Development for The National Map and Other On-line Atlases

Western Region Geography (WRG) provides leadership and the lead programmers for the development of The National Map Viewer. The National Map Viewer allows you to view a custom map on your screen without having to have expensive, specialized software. You select the area of interest, scale, and map content (such as roads, streams, and aerial photographs). The Viewer provides an array of functions and tools for viewing and creating your map. Plus, there are numerous tools that allow you to find a specific place, identify a feature, determine the elevation, measure a distance, and much more. Viewer development is funded by Geography's Cooperative Topographic Mapping Program and is done in collaboration with multiple Geography centers, other USGS disciplines, and other Federal agencies. Development for the current Viewer was started in the fall of 2003.

WRG also provides programmers for the interactive viewer and for development of a database-backed Web site for the National Atlas of the United States ®. The updated on-line National Atlas is designed to provide a reliable summary of national-scale geographical information and includes products and services designed to help users visualize and understand complex relationships between environments, places, and people. The Map Maker, or on-line map viewer, allows you to view a custom map on your screen without having to have expensive, specialized software. You select the area of interest, scale, base map content (such as roads, streams, and cities) and other map layers (such as agriculture, biology, climate, and many more). The Map Maker provides an array of functions and tools for viewing and creating your map. Plus, there are tools that allow you to find a specific place or feature and identify a feature. Development of the National Atlas is funded by Geography's Cooperative Topographic Mapping Program and is done in collaboration with multiple Geography centers, other USGS disciplines, other Federal agencies, and business partners.

WRG provides the lead programmer for the interactive viewer for the Atlas of Antarctic Research. The Antarctic Atlas is designed to promote greater geographic awareness of the continent and the digital geospatial data that describe it. It provides a common base for displaying research results and data collected, as well as descriptions of ongoing and past projects, when they become available for display. The Atlas’ primary focus is as a tool for Antarctic researchers, but all are invited to view this vast and fascinating part of our world. Viewer development is funded by Geography's Cooperative Topographic Mapping Program and the National Science Foundation and is done in collaboration with multiple Geography centers, other USGS disciplines, other Federal agencies, and academia.

These viewer development projects are ongoing, and the viewers are continually being upgraded and enhanced to make use of the very latest technology. We are able to leverage development among all three viewers to make the most of our resources.

Note: Because on-line mapping services are graphic intensive, a fast Internet connection is recommend for viewing maps on-line.