Bulk Download USGS Topo Maps – Best Sites and Methods

datadownload

I am trying to create seamless topomap WMS or TMS layer that covers the entire US (not interested in geo-pdfs). To do that, I need either the rasters (geo-tiffs, etc) or preferably vectors (whatever vector format readable by ArcGIS or GDAL/OGR) that are used to generate those maps – and I want to download it them in bulk (without having to click through one thousand interfaces to get each 1 degree quad).

Hard drive disk space is not an issue

Any link? 🙂

Update: this is what the terraserver images look like and hence my preference for the vector data.

terraserver tile

The TopoOSM layer generation looks promising, Topo OSM layer

but it seems the data for the entire US is not available from one location.

Best Answer

I don't know if it still works, but a couple of years ago I hacked together a method for downloading the US Seamless National Elevation Dataset in bulk that might work for topo raster maps too.

To bypass the map viewer put the coords on the URL like so:

http://extract.cr.usgs.gov/Website/distreq/RequestSummary.jsp?AL=71.0,56.0,-140.0,-150.0&PL=NAK01HZ

where this is your region of interest north,south and east,west in decimal degrees.

AL=71.0,56.0,-140.0,-150.0

and this is data set to choose from, in this case “National Elevation Dataset Alaska (NED) 2 Arc Second”

PL=NAK01HZ

If you use this technique, please be gentle. It’s not in our interests to force them to take protective measures and close this avenue.

Also don't overlook snail mail, it's high latency but has almost limitless bandwidth:

With regard to ordering the regional CD’s:

“You can order the entire U.S. in 30 meter resolution in either ArcGrid or GridFloat format. The data will be provided on a 250 GB external drive at a total price of $1005.00. This includes shipping and handling. This will cover the Conterminous U.S., Alaska (at 60 meter res), Hawaii, and the territorial islands. We no longer provide this on CD or DVD media.”

An incredibly good price in my opinion.

The contact address is webmapping@usgs.gov

Customer Service/Webmapping

Data and Applications Support
Department Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC) at
U.S. Geological Survey - EROS (Earth Resources Observation and Science)
47914 252nd Street Sioux Falls, SD
57198-0001

Phone: 1-800-252-4547
Fax: (605)-594-6589

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