-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        USGS Press Release, 1/22 - NRC Calibrates Research for The
National Map
Date:   Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:38:38 -0500
From:   Jon C Campbell <[log in to unmask]>
To:     Maps-L




USGS News Release - January 22, 2008

Publication URL -- _http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1855_

Contacts:
Jon Campbell         703-648-4180        [log in to unmask]
Vicki Lukas         703-648-4646        [log in to unmask]

*National Research Council Calibrates Research for /The National Map/*

A report recently issued by the National Research Council (NRC) of the
National Academies sharpens the research focus of /The National Map/.
The report, A Research Agenda for Geographic Information Science at the
United States Geological Survey, advocates the integration of highly
diverse data from state and local agencies into a consistent, national
framework as a unique feature of /The National Map/ that distinguishes
it from other online geospatial data sources.

/The National Map/ is being developed by the USGS as a trusted,
nationally consistent geospatial framework to serve a broad range of
uses by scientists, communities, government officials, and the public.

"Comprehensive and authoritative baseline geospatial data are crucial to
the Nation and to the USGS mission of integrated, multi-disciplinary
natural science," said USGS Director Mark Myers. "The USGS is strongly
committed to the vision that this NRC report lays out. These research
directions will enhance /The National Map/, and with it, the National
Spatial Data Infrastructure."

The USGS commissioned the NRC Mapping Sciences Committee to assess
current and future needs for USGS geographic information science
(GIScience) capabilities. The committee was also asked to make
recommendations concerning research and collaboration at the Center of
Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS) established by the
USGS in 2006.

One element of /The National Map/ - the National Hydrography Dataset
(NHD) - serves as an example of a nationally standardized dataset that
is not available from any other online geospatial data source. The NHD
was built, and is beginning to be maintained, in partnership with its
users who understand the local hydrography and who also require precise,
current data to meet their business needs. These contributing partner
stewards manage data maintenance activities in their geographies while
the USGS facilitates the overall process, providing national
coordination, standards, training, quality assurance, archival, and data
distribution. Downstream flow data in NHD, one of its many information
capabilities, is used extensively in pollution control analysis by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to study the relationship between
impaired waters and drinking water use.

To accelerate the incorporation of partner data into national databases,
the NRC study calls for further research to advance automated
integration, fusion, and generalization of data at widely varying
scales, resolutions and qualities. The report also calls for new high
priority research in user-centered design of Web map interfaces,
re-invention of topographic maps in electronic form, and robust data
characterization that conveys geographic context.

Looking ahead, the NRC study recommends additional research to transform
/The National Map/ database into a geographic knowledgebase. This long
term effort would enable knowledge discovery and analysis to, in the
words of the report, go "far beyond the typical mapping portal" to
"deliver enormous power to /The National Map/ application and lead to
its clear differentiation from other web-based products."

The report is available online for free download at
www.nap.edu/catalog/12004.html.

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit
www.usgs.gov.

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