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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Mapping Science Committee believes that the National Mapping
Division (NMD) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) should expand its
research activities. We also believe that NMD research should span the spec-
trum from applied to fundamental; from improved methods for determining user
data product requirements to advanced visu~li~tion and modeling of spatial and
temporal land-cover changes; from advanced hardware and software for acquir-
ing, extracting, storing, managing, processing, analyzing, and outputting spatially
referenced digital data to standards for the electronic transfer of spatial data.
Within NMD, the key should be balance maintaining the production and pro-
cessing of spatially referenced digital data in the face of ever changing user needs
and changing technology.
The majority of NMD's current research and development (R&D) program
is focused on the immediate (1 to 4 years) needs associated with the specification
and implementation of an advanced cartographic system (Mark-II). Although
we understand and appreciate the need for such a focus on operational system
development activities, we also believe that increasing emphasis should be given
to the fundamental and long-term applied aspects of spatial data handling in
support of national needs.
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The committee was frustrated in its attempts to recommend a balance
between fundamental research and system development efforts because the
overwhelming focus of NMD's current activities is the Mark-II development
effort. In fact, little fundamental research is being done at this time. Only when
all the R&D plans prepared by NMD and discussed in this report become
ongoing activities would an appropriate balance be achieved. However, NMD
does not have the resources (either scientific and budgetary) to carry out the
ambitious program presented in its plans.
There is much to be done, both within NMD and throughout the broader
mapping community. NMD should craftits research agenda to satisfyits mission
needs in both the short- and long-term while still addressing the larger needs of
the mapping infrastructure. Accurate and up-to-date spatially referenced infor-
mation will form the basis upon which resource management and other impor-
tant decisions will be made. NMD should provide leadership in the research
required to support these national spatial data needs.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The committee recommends that the National Mapping Division
develop a multlyear research agenda and commit the necessary resources to
undertake the priority research.
2. The committee recommends that the National Mapping Division estab-
lish an external grants program to use the expertise of the academic and indus-
trial sectors in addressing portions of its research agenda.
3. The committee recommends that the National Mapping Division
maintain technological and institutional flexibility in meeting its operational
needs to ensure that current development efforts berg., Mark-II) can accommo-
date changing user needs and technological capabilities.
4. The committee recommends that the USGS, and the National Mapping
Division in particular, continue to pursue and expand the development of
standards, procedures, and specifications for spatially referenced digital data.
5. The committee recommends that the National Mapping Division
develop programs to produce and facilitate a wider variety of ~non-standard"
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spatial data products in support of diverse user requirements for data and
information within and beyond federal agencies.
To achieve sustained development on both national and global scales,
accurate and timely information on the characteristics of the environment is
crucial. A robust national mapping infrastructure is vital to achieving this goal.
Establishing and sustaining this infrastructure, however, requires an expanded
NMD research commitment—to both fundamental and applied research. This
commitment must be well coordinated with other federal and state agencies and
with academia and industry as well.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
mapping division
