mapping tools, map supplements, mapping alter-
natives, and popular sales items. As a result, it is
responding to these needs through three programs
that provide such products, namely its National
High-Altitude Photography, orthophotography,
and satellite imagery programs.

National High-Altitude
Photography Program

High-altitude photography has been recognized
as a prominent national need within numerous
Federal and State agencies for the last decade.
Until recently, these Federal agencies have been
obtaining this photography independently and
with minimal coordination. Since 1978, to better
coordinate these Federal and State needs and pro-
vide more users with high-altitude photography
on a timely basis, the Survey took the lead in
developing a national high-altitude photography
data base, which has been designed to meet
many of the users' major interests and objectives.
The national high-altitude photography data
base consists of both black-and-white pan-
chromatic and color infrared 9-inch × 9-inch
photographs taken from 40,000 feet above mean
ground level. The black-and-white photographs
are taken by an aerial camera with a focal length
of 6 inches, resulting in a photograph scale of
1:80,000. The color infrared photographs are
taken by a second camera with a focal length of
8.25 inches, resulting in a photograph scale of
1:58,000.

In 1980, the first year of operation, 11 Federal agencies pooled their funds and coordinated their priorities to obtain about 600,000 square miles of high-altitude coverage.

At the end of the second year of a planned 6-year program for one-time national coverage, high-quality high-altitude aerial photographs were available for approximately 25 percent of the conterminous United States. About 500,000 square miles are entered into the program each year.

The data-base design incorporated findings of a Soil Conservation Service study to identify the image needs and coverage requirements for the Department of Agriculture. In addition to the Geological Survey and the Soil Conservation Service, the principal Federal users and contributors to this program are the Forest Service and the Economics, Statistics, and Cooperatives Service of

the Department of Agriculture, the Defense Mapping Agency, and the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Mines, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Surface Mining, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior. Photography obtained under this program is available for purchase by all government agencies and by the public.

The benefits of the National High-Altitude Photography Program include a nationwide aerial photographic data base planned for 1985, elimination of duplicate coverage, reduced costs, and the availability of systematic national coverage. Within the Geological Survey, this data base will make it possible to increase the production of digital elevation models, map revisions, and orthophotoquads and, at the same time, provide a product that will be useful to support natural resources investigations such as geologic interpretations, land use and land cover interpretation, and hydrographic studies.

Orthophotography Program

Orthophotographic products have become increasingly popular as interim mapping aids and map supplements to published line maps. There are three major map products of orthophotography: orthophotographs, orthophotoquads, and orthophotomaps.

Orthophotographs are aerial photographs that have been rectified to eliminate distortions due to camera tilt and to image displacement caused by photographing areas of varying relief on a flat film surface.

Orthophotoquads are monocolor orthophotographs produced in standard quadrangle format. with an minimum of cartographic enhancement such as the addition of a few place names. Basic marginal information such as the Universal Transverse Mercator grid, scale, quadrangle name, and survey date are shown. Standard orthohotoquads do not show contour lines. However, a few experimental products showing contour lines have been well received by users. Orthophotoquads are used primarily as map substitutes for unmapped areas; supplements to line maps in planning, inventory, and management; image bases for land use mapping and for photoinspection and photorevision of published maps; and image-base guides for delineating planimetric features for line maps.

Orthophotoquads are produced mainly at 1:24,000 scale and have proven valuable to engineers, surveyors, foresters, and scientists. They are available for virtually all areas of the

United States, except Alaska, that are unmapped at 1:24,000 scale. About 3,200 orthophotoquads (6 percent of the area of the United States) are produced annually.

Orthophotomaps are full-color topographic maps published over a photoimage base. Information such as roads, boundaries, water features, and contours are overprinted on the image base. Orthophotomaps particularly are well-suited to certain areas of the country where standard line maps cannot portray adequately the terrain, such as marshlands, swamplands, and deserts. Orthophotomaps contain some valuable information not found on conventional maps, such as more detailed drainage patterns, vegetation patterns, cultivated areas, urban area buildings and structures, and field lines. All features are shown to scale.

Satellite Imagery Program

Another activity of the National Mapping Division is to explore and evaluate the present and future applications of remote sensing for its contributions and benefits to mapping. Specifically, three significant projects utilizing Landsat data in mapping were undertaken in 1981.

A satellite image map of Cape Cod and vicinity was compiled at 1:100,000 scale using return beam vidicon imagery. Four return beam vidicom images were mosaicked and fitted to a central base. The black-and-white image map will be used in preparing a geologic map of Cape Cod and in preparing an intermediate-scale planimetric map.

Image maps at 1:500,000 scale were completed of the Berry Islands, The Bahamas. Landsat multispectral scanner images of the Berry Islands were digitally enhanced by the EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and photographically enhanced by the Eastern Mapping Center, Reston, Virginia, to emphasize underwater detail. The resulting product, Berry Islands, The Bahamas, is being distributed by the Defense Mapping Agency and the Survey.

Utilizing Landsat 3 return beam vidicom images, a 1:250,000-scale quadrangle image map of Ikpikpuk River, Alaska, was prepared as a prototype for conservation and mineral development studies of the area.

Geographic Names
Information System

The Geographic Names Information System, an automated data system containing primary information for places, features, and areas in the

United States identified by a proper name, was completed in 1981 and is now fully operational. There are approximately 2 million names contained in the Geographic Names Information System taken mainly from U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps.

The project began in 1976 as an effort to establish uniformity in the use of names and their application throughout the Federal Government. The U.S. Geological Survey worked in conjunction with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, which maintains a close working relationship with State and local governments and with the public. In addition to establishing uniformity in the use of names, the Geographic Names Information System serves as an index of names found on Federal, State, and private maps. It eliminates duplication and the need for other agencies to organize similar data files, provides a means of integrating data from other systems for multidisciplinary use, standardizes data elements and coded representation, and meets Federal and public information requirements as established by law.

For each entry the Geographic Names Information System provides the official name; feature class, location of the named feature (State, county), geographic coordinates (including source if a linear feature, such as a river), variant names, Survey map sheet code, and elevation (where applicable). With this basic information, the Geographic Names Information System can be used as a quick reference tool, or it can be used as a base for more specialized data.

Because information from this System can be retrieved and manipulated to meet user needs, users may incorporate information into their data base for further application to their own needs. For example, the coordinates of populated places are often incorporated into demographic data bases for use in location analyses.

The Geographic Names Information System lists data for various kinds of features identified by a name. The data include all named natural features and most man-related features, such as places, civil divisions, dams and reservoirs, National and State Parks, and airports. Named streets, roads, and highways will be added later.

Edited alphabetical finding lists are currently available for 28 States and the District of Columbia in spiral-bound book form, microfiche, or magnetic tape. Unedited files are available on magnetic tape and as computer printouts for the entire United States and its territories.

The preparation of a National Gazetteer of the United States is now underway. The National

Mission

The Geologic Division conducts programs to assess energy and mineral resources, to identify and to predict geologic hazards, and to investigate the effects of climate. The assessments resulting from these programs are essential to planning for the wise use and management of the Nation's land and mineral and water resources. and to mitigating the disastrous effects of geologic hazards.

In the last several years, the U.S. Geological Survey's responsibility in assessing the Nation's resources has increased markedly, especially in the areas of energy-oil and gas, coal, geothermal, and uranium. Large areas designated by Congress for inclusion as Wilderness Areas have required mineral assessments, and additional areas are likely to be designated in the future. Research and investigative efforts have moved into frontier areas such as identifying and assessing mineral resources on the ocean floor and the energy resource potential of offshore areas in the arctic environment. In addition, a major program for earthquake hazard mitigation and prediction is now underway. Geologic hazards related to nuclear reactor siting are being investigated.

In support of these mission programs, extensive basic research is done continually on geologic processes and events. Basic research continues to be a strong part of the Division's programs and provides the capability needed to respond to emerging national problems. The Geologic Division budget is presented to Congress under five subactivities that fulfill the above programs. A brief description of these subactivities follows: • Geologic Hazards Surveys are conducted to acquire data useful in predicting and delineating hazards from earthquakes and volcanoes and to identify engineering problems related to nuclear reactor siting, ground failure, and construction hazards.

• Land Resource Surveys are conducted to acquire basic information on the Nation's geologic framework and the processes that have shaped it, to develop an understanding of climate change and its effects on land

and water resources, and to measure changes

in the strength and direction of the Earth's
magnetic field.

Mineral Resource Surveys provide an assess-
ment of the distribution, quantity, and quali-
ty of the mineral resources of the United
States. During fiscal year 1981, these surveys
were concentrated in Alaska, Wilderness
Areas, and other public and Indian lands.
Multidisciplinary studies of mineralized areas
in Idaho, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin
were completed, and similar studies are in
progress in 11 other States. Research also is
conducted on the fundamental geologic
processes that result in mineral formation.
Energy Geologic Surveys provide assessments
of the distribution, quantity, and quality of
the Nation's coal, oil and gas, oil shale,
uranium, and thorium, and geothermal
resources. Assessments of these resources are
continually updated so that information is
kept current.

• Offshore Geologic Surveys investigate the con-
tinental margins of the United States and its
territories to assess the potential mineral and
energy resources and to identify environmen-
tal hazards that must be considered when
siting offshore drilling platforms and pipe-
lines.

The following articles describe some of the research and assessments done by the Geologic Division in fiscal year 1981. Although they reflect only a small portion of the current programs, these articles represent typical ongoing activities of the Division.

Budget and Personnel

In fiscal year 1981, obligations of the Geologic and Mineral Resource Surveys and Mapping activity totalled $208.2 million. This amount included $45.5 million in reimbursable programs. About $600,000 in reimbursements came from nine States under cooperative work programs.

At the end of the fiscal year, the Geologic Division has 2,014 permanent full-time employees and 966 employees and 966 employees in other categories.