I got the latest on GeoPDF today at the Denver stop of the GeoPDF roadshow from TerraGo Technologies – more on that later. One of the cool things we heard about in a wrap-up was the next version of USGS quads that will be converted to GeoPDFs over the next 5 years. Granted, these daya are currently available as free GeoPDFs from the USGS, however, this next version (the next generation) will add loads more functionality and usefulness to these data. Look for GeoPDF quads to include 37 layers of information (yes, 37!) where the user can toggle on/off any of the layers of information (names, contours, transportation features, etc…) The quads will be searchable and users can query for required strings (like a place name, feature, road name) and these quads will also be color separated… perhaps coolest of all, these GeoPDFs will be easily ingested into ArcGIS! Stay tuned on this! See below for an image showing the next-gen USGS GeoPDF quadsheet as displayed by Jaymes Pardue of TerraGo Technologies. For more information on working with USGS Quadsheet GeoPDFs see this article Locate and Download free USGS GeoPDF maps using the Map Downloader – see also http://store.usgs.gov/locator and http://www.terragotech.com/support
