During the next two to three years, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will produce the National Atlas of the United States of America It will be a multimedia application containing maps, video, animated maps, audio, and text that will describe the physical, historical, and cultural aspects of the United States. Some basic geographic analysis tools will be available to allow manipulation of the map data. A working prototype of the Atlas was recently developed. The prototype is an interactive application that contains some of the functions that will be included in the final Atlas. The prototype was developed using off-the-shelf software tools for presentation of maps, images, text, audio, and video. ArcView 3.0 and MapObjects are used for map display and analysis, and Asymetrix ToolBook is used for developing the user interface. The data include selected national maps and images and the USGS Geographic Names Information System.
In 1970 the U.S.Geological Survey produced the first and only version of the National Atlas of the United States of America. It was a 417-page volume that contained more than 700 maps, an extensive gazetteer, numerous charts and diagrams, and descriptive text. During the next two to three years, the USGS will produce a new National Atlas of the United States of America that will include a CD-ROM, and a World Wide Web (WWW) application; the Atlas will contain maps, video, audio, animated maps, and text. Selected printed maps will also be available.
The production of the 1970 Atlas was a nearly 20-year process that began in 1952 with a 400-page prototype produced by the American Geographical Society. It was presented to a group of 10 major publishing firms at a meeting in New York, and the consensus of that group was that "compilation and production of a national atlas should be a Government responsibility and they were not prepared to undertake the project." (U.S. Geological Survey, 1970). The National Academy of Sciences established an interagency National Atlas Committee in 1954, and individual Federal agencies began to make looseleaf atlas sheets. To consolidate this work, in 1961 the USGS began the task of producing the first and only National Atlas of the United States of America under the editorship of Dr. Arch Gerlach.
Since the publication of the 1970 Atlas, several attempts have been made to produce a revised printed edition, but have not received funding from Congress. In 1996, the USGS proposed that an electronic atlas be produced in cooperation with private sector partners. Initial funding was received and the USGS began planning the Atlas. It is difficult to describe the number of changes in the production, display, and analysis of map information since 1970. Not only have basic production techniques been revolutionized by the advent of digital cartographic technology, static map displays can now be enhanced by video, audio, animation, and connections to the WWW.
Much of the map information needed to compile an electronic atlas is in digital form. However, this digital data must often undergo transformation from its existing format and (or) projection system to a common format and projection system. Coincident boundaries between different maps are often not aligned, and attribute codes may not be descriptive. The new Atlas will contain data that are in a common format and projection and are aligned between the various layers. A set of map display and analysis tools will be provided to allow users to easily retrieve, display, and conduct basic analysis on data of national extent. Vast amounts of data can be referenced from the Atlas by making use of existing data on the WWW through the use of permanent Universal Resource Locators (URL). The National Atlas of the United States of America will integrate this new technology to produce CD-ROM, printed, and WWW products.
In March 1996, a team of USGS staff members began the design and implementation of a working prototype of the Atlas. The goal was to develop a prototype demonstrating many of the features that will be included in the first version of the Atlas. Commercial off-the-shelf software was used to implement or simulate many of the functions to be included in the Atlas, such as the use of audio, video, and animation, as well as traditional cartographic displays. Among the tools used were Esri's ArcView, MapObjects, and Asymetrix ToolBook, a multimedia authoring program.
An objective of the prototype is to develop an intuitive and easy-to-use interface. ToolBook allowed the development of a relatively simple interface with navigation buttons used to access maps in ArcView and MapObjects. On the opening screen (fig. 1), there are a limited number of options: four main buttons, an exit button, and a return button. The four main buttons, Contents, Search, Analysis, and Help, each contain a pull-down menu used to navigate through the prototype. The Exit button allows the user to quit the prototype. The Return button takes the user to a map displayed in a previously opened ArcView session.
Figure 1. Opening Screen.
Figure 2 displays the pull-down menu for the Contents button. This menu contains the six main subject headings from the 1970 Atlas. Each of these subject headings is further divided into subheadings. Figure 2 also displays the subheadings for the reference data. The reference data consist of the 1:2,000,000-scale digital line graph data that were created by the USGS National Mapping Program. All of the other data were provided by other USGS programs, except for the population data, which came from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. For complete information about this menu, see the section titled "Contents Menu".
Figure 2. Opening Screen showing Contents Menu.
Next to the Contents button is the Search button. The two items under Search are Gazetteer and Index. The Gazetteer button will open the Geographic Names application and is further described in the "Gazetteer" section. The Index button is grayed out, indicating that this button is not functional. It is a placeholder to indicate the need for a word search, which would query the entire contents of the Atlas.
The Geographic Analysis button (fig. 3) contains four categories, All 50 States, Lower 48 States, Select State, and My Project. The purpose of these buttons is to give the user a method for starting an ArcView session with a default geographic extent or with a previously saved session accessed by My Project.
Figure 3. Opening Screen showing Geographic Analysis Menu.
The Help button contains information about the prototype and how to use it (fig. 4).
Figure 4. Opening Screen showing Help Menu.
Most of the information contained in the prototype Atlas is accessed by using the Contents menu. This is where the maps, text descriptions, and multimedia content can be accessed. The Contents menu is a pull-down menu on the main page, which is broken down into subject headings and subheadings. When a subject heading is clicked, the heading page appears (fig. 5). There are six subject headings - Reference, Physical, Historic, Economic, Population, and Administrative. All the heading pages contain similar information. In the center of the page, information about the heading contains hotlinks to the subject subheading pages. When a hotlink is clicked, the subject subheading page is displayed. A Main Menu and an Exit button are on the lower right of the page. The Main Menu button returns the user to the main page of the prototype. The Exit button allows the user to quit the Atlas prototype.
Figure 5. Atlas Subject Heading Page.
Figure 6. Atlas Subject subheading Page (Physical - Animals).
Figure 6 shows an example of a subject subheading page that contains all the possible buttons this type of page can contain. These pages vary depending on the type of information available. A user can get to this page from the main page by using the appropriate button or from the subject heading page by choosing a hotlink. In the center of the page is information about the subheading. Along the right side of the page are from two to four buttons - Map Data, Metadata, WWW Access, and Videos- which allow the user access to the respective subject contents of the Atlas.
The Map Data button is the primary entry point to the geographic data sets related to the selected subheading. See the section labeled "Viewing Geographic Data Sets" for more information about how this button works. The Metadata button gives the user access to the metadata associated with the geographic data sets. Included on some of the metadata pages are pictures and access to audio files. The WWW Access button gives the user the ability to access additional information on the WWW. The Videos button will display videos that are related to the subheading. In the bottom right of the page are four more buttons. The Main Menu button will return the user to the main page. When clicked, the Physical button displays the Physical subject page. The button labeled Return will return the user to the previously displayed ArcView session. If no session is opened, a message box will appear informing the user that no ArcView session has been started. The last button, Exit, allows the user to exit the Atlas prototype.
The Administrative - Federal Lands page provides access to additional prototype functions: the National Parks Database page and the National Forests Database page. The National Wildlife Refuges Database is not active. The Parks and the Forests pages are very similar and work the same way. The page for the National Parks Database is shown in figure 7. The list on the left is a searchable list of all the national parks. The user types the name of the park in the field at the top of the list. On the right is a full description of the park, including name, address, phone number, description, longitude, latitude, and acreage. The URL of the park is shown in the box on the lower left. If the Netscape icon is clicked, the WWW browser opens and goes to the URL. In the upper right corner is a Map Data button. When it is clicked, an ArcView session will open and display the geographic location of the park with flag and park name in the State outline.
Figure 7. National Park Database Page.
Two methods are available to begin a session to view geographic data sets. The first method is to use the Map Data button on a subheading subject page. When the Map Data button is selected, a menu listing the geographic data files relating to the subheading is displayed. The user selects a data set and clicks the OK button. The second method is to use one of the buttons in the Geographic Analysis pull-down menu. When either of these methods is used, an ArcView window and an ArcView project open. The ArcView project contains all the scripts that initialize the project and create the view of the selected data set. Figure 8 shows a typical ArcView session. In addition to opening ArcView, the ToolBook application sends a request to open another book application. This application appears as a tool bar on the left side and contains a list of buttons that are used to interact with ArcView. Figure 9 shows the buttons and describes their functions.
Figure 8. ArcView Session.
Figure 9. ArcView Tool Bar.
Within the ArcView window appears a modified version of the default ArcView graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI was changed to simplify the complex appearance of ArcView and to add functionality that does not exist in the default GUI. There are three pieces to the view window GUI; menu, button, and tool bars, which are described below.
All of these menus except for the AddData menu are from the original ArcView GUI and give the user full access to all ArcView capabilities (fig. 10). The AddData menu is used to select additional data sets to display in the view window. When the user clicks on AddData, the Atlas headings are shown - Reference, Physical, Historical, Economic, Population, and Administrative. When a heading is selected, a pick list menu appears showing data sets that relate to the selected heading.
Figure 10. ArcView Menu Bar.
The pick list menu for Reference is unique (Fig. 11). It displays two pick lists next to each other. On the left is a list of States and on the right is a list of categories. This menu is actually a ToolBook application. When Reference is selected from the AddData Menu, a request is sent from ArcView to ToolBook to create a pick list menu that is used to select the reference data sets to display in the view. After selecting the data sets, click the OK button, which runs the scripts to display the selected data sets in the ArcView Window.
Figure 11. ArcView Add Reference Data Menu.
The two buttons on the left in figure 12 are from the original ArcView GUI; one is the Save button, and the other gives the user access to the ArcView help files. The button with the icon M gives the user access to the metadata files for the data sets. When the icon is clicked, the user can select metadata to be displayed from a list of data in the current view.
Figure 12. Button Bar.
See figure 13. The 12 buttons on the left are from the original ArcView GUI. The five buttons on the right access scripts that are specifically designed for the prototype. These buttons are described below.
Figure 13. ArcView Tool Bar.
Real-time
hydrography tool. This button was designed to be used only with
the U.S. gaging station data. Once a station is selected, the WWW
browser will begin and the home page for the real-time
hydrography data of the selected gaging station will open.
Currently, Virginia and North Carolina are the only States whose
sites can be accessed.
This tool allows
the user to click on an area of interest and play a video.
Currently the only video available is for Yellowstone National
Park.
This tool allows
the user access to an application to determine the population
within a circle drawn by the user. In the prototype, it is used
to estimate the population around a volcano in the Pacific
Northwest.
This tool has
the same function as above, but the user defines a polygon
instead of a circle.
This is the bird
query tool. It allows the user to determine what birds are likely
to be found in a given radius around the point entered. A few
bird abundance maps are used, composing a small sample.
The Gazetteer application allows the user access to the Geographic Names data base. The data base contains nearly 1.5 million feature names and attributes from the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which was developed by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
To begin, the user clicks the Gazetteer button on the main page. The application was developed using MapObjects and Visual Basic. Figure 14 shows the application as it appears upon startup. The user can search the data base in two ways. First, an alphabetical search of features can be performed by typing a name in the text field on the left middle of the form. The name will appear in the grid. Second, the user can build a query using Feature Name, Feature Type, State, and County as query elements. Clicking the 'i' button in the Gazetteer will invoke the build query form (fig. 15). A query uses Structured Query Language (SQL) to retrieve the appropriate records from the data base. The records are then displayed in the grid.
Figure 14. Gazetteer Application.
Figure 15. Build Query Form.
Once records are retrieved, they can be selected and displayed on the map. To select a record, the user clicks the grid row that contains its name, feature type, and State. The name and a more complete list of its attributes will be shown in the text fields on the right side of the form. The selected feature can be displayed on the map by clicking the Show Location button in the middle of the form. The latitude and longitude coordinates of the feature are used to plot its location.
After a feature is plotted on the map, the user can zoom directly to the feature by selecting it from a drop-down list of feature names next to the Show Location button. Additionally, the user can zoom and pan to any part of the map by using the map navigation buttons.
Because of rapid technology change, it was necessary to decide on a development tool on the basis of the best information available and to begin the development cycle, understanding that it might be necessary to change the tools and (or) platform in the future. This requires a flexible development staff that is able to work with a multitude of programming languages, such as Visual Basic or C++ (and the MapObjects extensions), ArcInfo Macro Language, and ArcView Avenue, and possibly an appropriate multimedia authoring program.
Although ArcView allowed the team to develop the application in a relatively short period of time because of familiarity with the program and with the Avenue programming language, MapObjects was an ideal environment for developing the custom applications that were required for the prototype. It allowed the development team to use only those functions required for the application, and its processing speeds were very fast. This can be seen in the gazetteer application, in which 1.5 million records were searched, latitude and longitude coordinates were extracted, and the results were displayed in a matter of seconds.
Since the development of the prototype, many WWW mapping tools have been announced, and the Atlas staff is evaluating the use of both MapObjects and ArcView for Atlas WWW applications. We see the WWW as a supplement to the core map, video, audio, and text data on CD-ROM. We are also developing specifications and some prototypes of selected printed maps. Once partnerships with other organizations are in place, we will begin to integrate appropriate data sets with the USGS 1:2,000,000-scale reference data. If digital, the data will be converted into a common format and projection and vertically aligned with the 1:2,000,000-scale data. Analog data will be converted to digital format and integrated. The development of the prototype has given us a great deal of experience both in developing custom user interfaces and in dealing with some of the data integration tasks.
The 1970 National Atlas of the United States of America set a standard of excellence that will be difficult to surpass. We must deal with the many limitations of producing a quality cartographic reference work using a restricted number of pixels on a computer screen. However, the ability to manipulate the maps included in the Atlas, to rapidly search for names and features, and to include multimedia content will add a level of functionality not found in the original Atlas. A goal is to include all of that functionality and still produce a product that is reasonably priced and accessible to many more people than was the original Atlas.
We wish to thank all the members for the Atlas team but especially Steve Kambly and Debbie Cruse for their help in designing and implementing the prototype. The background image of the opening screen was from a shaded-relief image originally prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Note: Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
U.S. Geological Survey. The National Atlas of the United States of America. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Geological Survey. 1970.
Bruce Wright
Geographer
MS 521 National Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Reston, Virginia 20192
E-mail: bwright@usgs.gov
Telephone: (703) 648-4528
Fax: (703) 648-4165
Brigitta Urban-Mathieux
Cartographer
MS 521 National Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Reston, Virginia 20192
E-mail: burbanma@usgs.gov
Telephone: (703) 648-5175
Fax: (703) 648-4165