USGS Topographic Map Update
Looks like a lot of people are using the Google Earth USGS Topographic maps. Couple updates that I thought I’d pass on.
First of all, I recompiled the index to be much easier to use. You no longer have to navigate through two index levels. Now, simply zoom down and the index will appear automatically as you navigate around the US. Click on one of the map outlines to open up a window with a button to download the map.
At the same time, the new index fixes a major bug that prevented many maps from loading. You should now be able to view all of the maps south of 48 latitude. If you find one that doesn’t work, please let me know so I can fix it. I hope to have the remaining maps north of 47 latitude done by next month. When done, this collection will have about 55,000 maps (~150 gigabytes) available to view in Google Earth. I’m also going to try to add Alaska.
Several people have asked about Canadian Topo Maps. I have been downloading them and I could add them to the collection. But I think those will be another 200-300 gigabytes, and I don’t want to push my luck with my web host. So that project is on hold until I figure out a way to host them. If you happen to have a 200-300 gigabytes of server space laying around and want to help out please contact me.
I have also added some instructions on the Google Earth USGS Topographic maps page to show you how these topographic maps can very easily be embedded on your own web page or blog using the Google Earth Browser Plugin.
Lastly, I am still working on my Historic Topographic Map collection. I know there are some maps in that collection that are broken. The update I’m working on will fix those and probably double or triple the number of historic topo maps in the collection. Sorry, but no time frame on when that will roll out. The historic maps are a lot more work than the current maps.
