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INTRODUCTION
Leo of the initial charges (see the Preface) to the Mapping Science Com-
mittee requested by the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) were
addressed in the committee's 1990 report, Spatial Data Needs: The Future of the
National Mapping Program.i That report analyzed the USGS mapping programs
in light of the user requirements and geographic information system (GIS)
involvement of the broader community. This report assesses the research and
development (R&D) plans and activities within the USGS National Mapping
Division (NMD) and is responsive to the charge: "Examine and advise on USGS
programs of research and development of hardware and software for original
data acquisition, processing, storing, marketing, and distribution of digital
cartographic data and synthesized information products to the user community."
This report focuses on the R&D plans and activities of NMD. The committee
recognizes that the Geologic Division and the Water Resources Division of the
USGS also conduct a substantial amount of research using GIS and other
techniques, but we did not attempt to analyze the applications research compo-
nents of these two divisions.
Over the years, NMD's R&D orientation has been focused more toward the
applied, operational system development aspects of the cartographic process
central to its major mission, producing a wide variety of printed maps, and it
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remains so. Meanwhile, NMD's mission has grown to include the production of
digital cartographic data bases.
When examining NMD's R&D efforts, the committee was aware that the
USGS is primarily a data producer and that others largely determine the use of
its data. Applications within NMD serve primarily to help it learn about poten-
tial value to the broader user community of the various data sets that it collects
or manages.
Much R&D needs to be done, both in NMD and throughout the mapping
community. Within NMD, the key should be balanc~between production of the
printed map and spatially referenced digital data in the face of ever changing user
needs and changing technology.
In our previous report, the committee identified the critical need for a
coordinated and efficient national spatial information "infrastructure" to facilitate
sharing and communicating spatial information resources. Future map making
will be just one aspect of a larger enterprise~ne focused on acquiring, manipu-
lating, and distributing spatial data in various forms to solve problems and meet
various spatial information needs. Because the demand for consistent geographic
data is so vast, the committee concluded that the most important function of
NMD In the future is for it to act as the overall administrator of the national geo-
graphic (or spatial) data infrastructure. Indeed, the Department of the Interior
(DOI) was recently given the responsibility for "archiving and distributing space-
and land-based earth science data"2 as part of the U.S. Global Change Research
Program. Acceptance of the responsibility for performing this task is a major
step toward NMD's assumption of a broader data administration role.
This increased administrative role would require NMD to emphasize, for
example (1) managing existing data sets, (2) identifying, characterizing, providing
access to, and, in some cases, capturing other data sources, and (3) providing
directories and catalogs with browse capabilities. Together, these functions
would define a comprehensive data administration/management role. In carry-
ing out such an expanded administrative role, a range of R&D activities is critical
not only to advancing the understanding of spatial data in general but also to
maintaining up-to-date technological capabilities and improving NMD data
products to meet changing user requirements. This future spatial data user
community is diverse (see Table 1), involving, for example, the recreational user,
industrial and governmental planners and resource managers, and academics
with teaching and fundamental research information needs.
NMD's current R&D program focuses on the immediate (1 to 4 years)
needs associated with the specification and implementation of an advanced
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TABLE 1 Examples of User Communities
Bust sales, advertising, and marketing managers; product planners; site location, marketing,
credit, and financial analysts; recruiters; demographers; statisticians; and actuaries.
Economy Development chambers of commerce, economic development agencies, lending institu-
tions, and economic planning and financial consultants.
Education Adminis~tiion. facility and transportation planners, principals, and school boards.
Engineer engineering, transportation, architecture, and environmental planning and design.
Buility Management public housing agencies, architects, space planners, and facility managers.
Health Sen~oes: groups involved with organizing the geographical distribution and access of health
manpower and facilities.
Inha~uIe Manag mend groups involved in the management and maintenance of facilities
comprising the national infrastructure: roads and highways; bridges; tunnels; railroads; airports;
ports and harbors; and gas, electric, water, sewer, telecommunication, and pipeline networks.
~icsandDi - ~utionManagement logistic, circulation, and distribution managers, dispatchers,
and schedulers; the postal service; private package and document delivery services; over-the-road
freight haulers; and logistical support agencies of the US. Department of Defense and other
governmental agencies.
MineralAss~ment and Extraction: groups involved with the exploration and extraction of mineral
resources other than oil and natural gas.
Notional D~:fcose combat arms and support services of the national defense establishment when
involved in field operations and training.
Petroleum l~loratiion and Production groups involved with the exploration and extraction of oil
and natural gas both on- and off-shore.
Political Adminis~abon: groups involved with the administration of local, state, federal, and other
elections and/or the political redistricting process.
Public Health groups involved with the tracking, analyzing, and reporting of contagious diseases
and other hazards to public health.
Public T'ansportatiion. groups involved with the movement of people on public carriers.
Publishing and Media public and private organizations involved in the collection, production, and
distribution of cartographic products and geographically related statistical data.
Real Estate Information Management groups involved in the marketing, sale, transfer, manage-
ment, and taxation of real property.
Renewable R`:souroe Management groups involved with the conservation and exploitation of the
earth's renewable resources: air, water, fish and wildlife, forests, and agricultural and range lands.
Rcsean~h: groups involved in theoretical or applied research requiring the use or management of
spatially indexed information.
Surfing, Mapping, and Data Conversion: groups involved in the preparation of control, engineer-
ing, and property surveys; the production of large-scale planimetric, topographic, ownership, and
utility system maps; and the conversion of said maps and drawing:; to a digital format.
Teaching: groups directly involved with the instruction of students at all academic levels.
Urban and Regional Planning: groups involved in land use planning and land use code enforcement.
After F.L. Hanigan, ea., "The GIS Forum," ARC News, Winter 1990, pp. 16-17.
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cartographic system (Mark-II). This system, which is being developed parallel
to and cooperatively with the Defense Mapping Agencis (DMA) Mark-9O
modernization effort, is designed to automate the production and revision of the
standard series of USGS maps (both analog and digital forms) on a more timely
basis. Although the committee understands and appreciates the need for such
a focus, we also believe that more emphasis should be given to both the funda-
mental and long-term applied aspects of spatial data handling in support of
national needs. To date, only a small part of the R&D effort within NMD is
associated with such activities.
NMD is currently aligning its research plans within seven initiatives and its
development activities in six categories. For each, a single coordinator is respon-
sible for advising NMD management of the activities and suggesting areas that
need further attention.
This report is organized in three major chapters. Chapter 2 discusses
NMD's current plans for technological development of its cartographic and
production systems and its research initiatives. The material presented is extract-
ed from internal NMD planning documents, and it discusses specific activities
that NMD is either currently undertaking or planning through its R&D program.
The committee is aware, and the reader should note, that most of the specifics
presented in this section are proposed activities. At present, research is con-
strained by the sizable commitment of resources (funds and personnel) to the
Mark-II development effort. Chapter 3 discusses R&D opportunities both within
the USGS and throughout the broader spatial data infrastructure (e.g., federal
and non-federal governmental entities, the private sector, and universities).
Chapter 4 presents the committee's conclusions and recommendations. The
recommendations are made within the context of the committee's recommenda-
tions in its earlier report.)
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
spatial information
