#USGS CD-ROM
21 messages in this thread
Just got the US Geologic Survey's catalog of digital maps. Several
of these are on cd-roms, but they mention an ISO spec (ISO-9600, I
think — left the darned brochure at work). What does this mean? Can
I use my DAK cd-rom player? The maps sound incredible, so I'm hoping
I can use them.
You are referring to ISO-9660, a standard version of the original
High Sierra format. It is used to provide compatibility across
platforms -MSDOS, MAC, UNIX, VMS, AMIGA, etc. Virtually all CD-ROM
driver software supports it. The standard addresses things like
directory structure, file name lengths (kept down to 8 chars and 3
char extension due to MS-DOS limits), etc.
Where did you get the catalog (address/phone/fax #)?
Thanks for the info. You can get all sorts of catalogs via the USGS
Earth Science Information Center, 1-800-USA-MAPS. Their Washington,
DC, address is 1849 C Street NW.
Thanks, somehow I had missed some of that – probably a case of too close to
the trees to see the forest. I get their monthly 'New Publications of the
U.S. Geological Survey'. The place I work is the Lamont-Doherty Geological
Observatory of Columbia University in Palisades, NY.
By the way, the observatory is having an open house on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Mike
Mike – or too close to the rocks to see the …. <g>.
The open house next week sounds interesting. I live in Morristown, NJ, so
its relatively close. Can you send me more details, including when and
exactly where it is (someplace on the Palisades isn't going to hack it).
Ollie
Mike,
I'll see if I can make it to the open house. I hear your place is
neat.
Charlie In NYC
Mike; Where can the publication you mentioned frm the USGS be ordered?
as Mike said the disks are probably ISO-9660 and should be readable in
your Dak player. However, you will need special software to deal with
the USGS map data. They have an odd format as i recall. Powerful, but
not immeadiately useful. The folks at Virtual Reality Labratories
make a product called VistaPro and they can convert USGS data files
to their VP format for you (for a fee of course). Vista Pro allows
you to do 3D flythroughs of the landscape. VRL also has flybys of
Mars available <g>.
The catalog talks about some level of software that comes with the
disks, so I would hope they are at least minimally useable without
addition. OTOH, doing fly-bys sounds interesting…. (wonder if
esteemed spouse is interested in an early Christmas gift?). Who is
VRL? Their software affordable by mere mortals, or do I need NASA's
budget? Thanks for the comments.
VistaPRO is available on Amigas and on MS-DOS systems (maybe more).
On the Amiga they have two versions with differing features and
costs. The less expensive version is about $60 typical retail.
There are also some companies which reformat the USGS data and
re-offer it. This would probably be available through a company in
the Denver area called RockWorks (don't have address/phone # at home
– sorry). They are a dealer in software for geology and earth
sciences.
We have retired Vista on the Amiga and only have VistaPro now.
VistaPro Amiga lists for $99.95 and typically is seen mailorder at
around $65 or so.
I have a 9 track tape drive available and will convert USGS tapes
to disk for a reasonable fee (basically covers my time spent doing
it).
We try to keep our software affordable by mere mortals. <grin>
VistaPro on the PC lists at $129.95, and can be found at dealers and
mailorder in the $80-$90 range. We have a program called MCNV.EXE
that will read most USGS DEM's, and convert them to VistaPro format,
and it can be found in our Library over in the GraphVend forum (GO
VRLI).
Clint –
Thanks for the note. Seems like fly-bys are cheap these days <g>.
Do you have a catalog? If so, could you send to meat:
14 Normandy Pkwy.
Morristown, NJ 07960.
For me, its more fascination, but I have a daughter majoring in geography at
George Washington Univ. who could probably really use your products.
I'll look in on GraphVend.
Ollie
Ollie:
I think I uploaded a list of the DEM's available from VRLI to the VRLI
Lib section in GraphVend. I'm traveling this week, and don't have that
stuff with me, but I'll send a catalog out as soon as I'm back next
Monday.
Clint <VRLI>
What is the phone number for Virtual Reality Lab?
Albert:
VRLI – (805) 781-2250.
For data conversion, VRLI Data Services – (805) 925-7732.
Clint <VRLI>
Thanks for the update.
It must be ISO-9660 which is the only standard currently available on
CD-ROMs so with a PC you can read it just fine.
Which DEMs are on the new CD-ROMs sold by the USGS?
John –
I got a 20 page packet from a fairly random inquiry to USGS's phone
(800-USA-MAPS), which I can't/won't reproduce here. I get the impression
there is a fairly huge number of different things available.
Some of the cd-roms were:
– 1:2,000,000 DLG sectionals of all 50 states – $32.
– 1:1,000,000 vector basemap of the world – 4-cd-rom's $200
The packet I got indicates DEM's are still on tape.
Ollie