How is USGS implementing SDTS?
The U.S. Geological Survey, as the FIPS 173 maintenance agency, has taken the lead in converting its digital cartographic data holdings to SDTS format . For the next couple of years, the USGS will offer all SDTS formatted data FREE via the Internet. Data holdings that conform to the Topological Vector Profile, the first profile developed and approved for FIPS 173, are the first to be converted. Please note that not all datasets were available at the time of the mass conversions but will be available at a later date. The Large-Scale DLG data are now available. These DLG data files are derived from USGS topographic maps published as 7.5-minute quadrangles at 1:24,000 or 1:25,000-scale. Where 7.5-minute coverage was not available, other sources were used. The Large-Scale DLG data are sold in nine layers, including: Public Land Survey System (PLSS), boundaries, transportation, hydrography, hypsography, surface cover, non-vegetative surface features, survey control and markers, and manmade
