The Libre Map Project is an online collection of all digital
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
1:24K scale
topographic maps
In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...
(as well as various other GIS data) covering the United States, available as a free download.
The Libre Map Project was started by Jared Benedict and around 100 additional individuals contributing money to purchase (or "liberate") a full set of 1:24K scale
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
topographic maps
In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...
in
Digital raster graphic
A digital raster graphic (DRG) is a digital image resulting from scanning a paper USGS topographic map for use on a computer. DRGs created by USGS are typically scanned at 250 dpi and saved as a TIFF. The raster image usually includes the orig ...
form. The map files were then hosted by
archive.org
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...
to ensure the map data will continue to be freely available to everyone indefinitely. 56,000 maps in
Digital raster graphic
A digital raster graphic (DRG) is a digital image resulting from scanning a paper USGS topographic map for use on a computer. DRGs created by USGS are typically scanned at 250 dpi and saved as a TIFF. The raster image usually includes the orig ...
form were acquired on DVDs for $1600 to make the data available. Additional data made available through the project includes
SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an XML-based vector image format for defining two-dimensional graphics, having support for interactivity and animation. The SVG specification is an open standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium sinc ...
boundary files for every US state,
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing, or TIGER, or TIGER/Line is a format used by the United States Census Bureau to describe land attributes such as roads, buildings, rivers, and lakes, as well as areas such as census tra ...
(Tiger)/Line 2003 vector map data, and the
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
GeoNames database.
Libre Map Project
/ref>
See also
*TopoQuest TopoQuest is a free web mapping service built on open source software that provides internet-based topographic maps for most of the United States.
The site is one of three internet services used by Wikipedia for providing topographic maps. It aros ...
- Topographic map viewer using the maps
References
External links
Libre Map Project
Internet Archive USGS Map Page
Topography techniques
Web Map Services
Internet Archive collections
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