CARTOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AT THE U.S.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR
GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE
E.L.
Usery, M.P. Finn
U.S. Geological Survey, Center of Excellence
for Geospatial Information Science,
USA
usery@usgs.gov
In February 2006, the U.S. Geological
Survey’s Geospatial Information Office established the Center of Excellence
for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS). The vision for CEGIS is to conduct, lead, and influence the research and
innovative solutions required by the National Spatial Data Infrastructure
(NSDI) of the USA
and the emerging GeoSpatial Web. The mission is to 1) provide leadership to
identify, conduct, and collaborate on GIScience research issues of national
importance; 2) to assess, influence, and recommend for implementation
technological innovations for geospatial data and applications; and 3) to
maintain world class expertise, leadership, and a body of knowledge in support
of the NSDI. To accomplish this mission much of the research of CEGIS is
cartographic in nature. Current cartographic projects include research
investigations of data integration, generalization, multi-resolution raster
projection in near real-time using parallel and grid computing on the World
Wide Web, fractal and variogram analysis of scale and resolution effects on
geospatial processes, and developing an ontology for The National Map. This paper and presentation will provide the
scientific hypotheses, approach, and results of several of these
investigations. Examples of cartographic products generated from these research
investigations will be presented and the significance of those products to
serve as prototypes for system developments for the USGS effort to develop The National Map and the NSDI will be
provided.