USGS
Which States Have the Highest Percentage of Water Area?
Water shapes U.S. states' geography and ecosystems. Which states have the highest and lowest percentages of area covered by perennial water?
This Tools Helps You Figure Out Which Satellite Bands to Use for Remote Sensing
The USGS developed the Spectral Characteristics Viewer to let users view how different Earth observation satellite instruments can be used for their remote sensing needs.
Free GIS Books
Most of these free GIS books are available in downloadable PDF format and can be read from a computer or on an eBook reader.
USGS Releases Two Decades of Land Cover Change for the Contiguous United States
The USGS has updated land cover maps for the conterminous United States, which show how the country's landscapes have changed over the last 18 years.
Find Your Way Downstream with Streamer
Water is essential for life on the planet, and tool from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) makes it easy and fun ...
This Detailed Map Shows 119 Years of Earthquakes
The USGS has released a highly detailed and updated map of seismicity from 1900 to 2018.
New Report Values Economic Benefits of Landsat Archive at $3.45 billion
A newly released report from the USGS has estimated the 2017 domestic and international economic benefits of Landsat imagery to be $3.45 billion.
Online Landslide Inventory Mapping Tool
The USGS has launched an online web map that compiles existing United States landslide data into a searchable tool called the U.S. Landslide Inventory Map.
Changes to the National Land Cover Database
The National Land Cover Database is a GIS dataset that is seen as critical for monitoring the impact of fires, particularly increased wildfires in the West, general health of ecosystems, biodiversity monitoring, and increasing effects of climate change on land cover.
The USGS Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) Program
Landsat data, referenced with WGS84 and provided as GeoTIFF, can be accessed from EarthExplorer for the contiguous US, Alaska, and Hawaii.
How LiDAR is Being Used to Help With Natural Disaster Mapping and Management
Michael Shillenn, vice president and program manager with Quantum Spatial outlines three projects where LiDAR data from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) has been used to assist in planning, disaster response and recovery, and emergency preparedness.
EPA Issues Report on Fracking and Earthquakes
According to EPA scientists in North Texas, earthquakes there are likely related to fracking and drilling. Although it is not a new discovery that this link is possible or even likely, an acknowledgement from the EPA is significant.
New Earthquake Maps from the USGS Also Factor Human Activity Induced Causes
The United States Geological Survey has created a new map that highlights where natural and man-made earthquakes could cause damage around the country.
Using GIS and a Century of Data to Create a New Geologic Map of Alaska
In 2016, the USGS completed a new geologic map of Alaska using GIS.
2,000 Miles of Ocean Seafloor and Coastline Imagery Available from the USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey offers 2,000 miles worth of coastlines and seafloor imagery surrounding the United States to the public to view.
Landsat 8 Data Users Handbook
Launched in 2013 by NASA, Landsat 8 is the latest satellite in the series. The mission of the orbiting satellite is ...
Mapping the California Drought with Open Data
The Center for Integrated Data Analytics (CIDA) of the United States Geological Survey has created an open source visual description of California's ongoing drought using free and publicly available GIS data sources
USGS Report on the Uses and Benefits of Landsat Imagery in Water Resources
The USGS recently published a report looking at case studies of Landsat Imagery use in water resource management within public ...
Explore Maps of the United States from 1884 to 2006
The U.S. Geological Survey and Esri are working together to make over 178,000 maps of the United States available to the public via an ...
Natural-color Shaded Relief Maps by Hal Shelton
Hal Shelton is a cartographer most notable for his natural-color maps done for Jeppeson Map Company in the 1950s and 1960s.
Crowdsourcing with the USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey is putting out a call for citizen scientists (that means you) to help them track and gather geographic information on what is happening all around the globe. Here are the some of the most well-known USGS crowdsourcing projects.
Timelapse Satellite Imagery – View Changes on Earth over Time
The series of Landsat satellites has been collecting global imagery continuously since 1972. A total of eight satellites and millions ...
SDTS – GIS Data Standard
SDTS stands for Spatial Data Transfer Standard. SDTS was a standard for transferring earth-referenced spatial data across disparate computer programs. The U.S. ...
Where to Look for Historical Maps
The use of extracting data from old paper maps is growing in popularity as a method to understanding historical geography. ...
National Forest Map and GIS Data
Josef Kellndorfer and Wayne Walker of the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) worked with the USGS and the US Forest Service over a six year period to create this forest map of the United States.
New Global Elevation Data Available: Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010
NGA and USGS revised and improved their global elevation model.