New elevation data released: The April 2013 update of the National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1-, 1/3- and 1/9-arc-second collections has been posted. The release incorporates 27,895 square miles of new light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data into the NED 1/9-arc-second layer primarily over CONUS. The NED 1- and 1/3-arc-second layers were updated with 54,762 square miles of migrated high resolution source data and 13,700 square miles of 5-meter Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR) source data over Alaska. The update also includes topobathymetric data covering the North Carolina Outer Banks. April Release Notes. NED data are available via The National Map Viewer

ASPRS Awards: The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) recently presented the 2013 Outstanding Service Award to USGS scientist: George Y. G. Lee for his service as Technical Editor of the Manual of Photogrammetry and his dedicated efforts to fully endow the Francis H. Moffitt Memorial Scholarship. Also, USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) Director Kari Craun was recognized for her achievements as part of a working group which developed guidelines for procurement of commercial geospatial mapping products. http://bit.ly/10W7SX7

New Database Maps Biodiversity: The UGS Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) system allows users - often land managers, researchers, refuge managers, citizen scientists, agriculture professionals, fisheries managers, water resource managers, educators and others - to search for hundreds of thousands of species records in search fields ranging from the entire country and U.S. territories down to specific towns or parks. BISON displays search results in list or interactive map formats, and each species occurrence point can be clicked on to find more information about who provided or collected the data. http://go.usa.gov/TETj

USGS Cited in GCN: The USGS-sponsored National Enhanced Elevation Assessment was referenced in the recent edition of Government Computer News. The study found that a national program of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data collection could result in net benefits ranging from $116 - $620 million per year. Biggest savings would be found in flood risk management, infrastructure and construction management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and water supply management. http://bit.ly/13MZQwu

CEGIS Director Elected ASPRS VP: E. Lynn Usery, a Research Physical Scientist and Director of the USGS Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS) has been elected as the Vice President of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) for the coming year. Usery has been very active in national and international geospatial governance and management organizations and is currently the Chair of the U.S. National Committee to the International Cartographic Association. For more on his career and achievements: http://bit.ly/WqxTZW

New Elevation Report: A recently posted USGS Open-File Report titled, "A Conceptual Prototype for the Next-Generation National Elevation Dataset" is available for download at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1023/ Authors: Jason Stoker, Hans Karl Heidemann, Gayla Evans, and Susan Greenlee (This publication is online only).

Landsat 8: Launched by NASA, the new Landsat 8 satellite is expected to transmit images and data about the Earth within 100 days. Landsat data from more than 3 million current and archived images of Earth - available free of charge the USGS - have spurred extensive research and innovations, ranging from scientific investigations around the globe to the development of applications like Google Earth. If you missed the launch, you can access a replay at: http://1.usa.gov/VRsblN

New lidar data: The February, 2013 update of the National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1-, 1/3- and 1/9-arc-second collections has been released. This marks the 70th update of the 1-arc-second layer since bi-monthly revisions began in June, 2000. This release incorporates 22,996 square miles of new light detection and ranging (lidar) data into the NED 1/9-arc-second layer. The NED 1- and 1/3-arc-second layers were updated with 18,613 square miles of migrated high resolution source data. All NED data are available via The National Map Viewer: http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/

New Fact Sheet: A new fact sheet titled "USGS Natural Hazards Response", is now available. The primary goal of USGS Emergency Operations is to ensure that the disaster response community has access to timely, accurate, and relevant geospatial products, imagery, and services during and after an emergency event: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3061/

3DEP Reports: "The Benefits of Improved National Elevation Data" by USGS scientist Gregory Snyder is featured in the current issue of Photogrammetric Engineering andRemote Sensing (PE&RS) Magazine along with a forward by USGS scientist Jason Stoker, titled, "Are We Moving Past the Pixel?" (p. 133) .Elevation data are essential for flood hazard mitigation, agricultural productivity, infrastructure and energy development, resource conservation, national security, and many other applications. Under the leadership of the USGS and the National Digital Elevation Program (NDEP), Federal agencies, State agencies, and others work together to acquire high-quality elevation data for the US its territories.

2013 Gannett Award: The USGS is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the 2013 Henry Gannett award. This award commemorates the first USGS Chief Geographer, (1882-1914) Henry Gannett, and his tremendous contributions to topographic mapping in the United States. The Henry Gannett award is designed to recognize and celebrate talented individuals or groups of individuals for outstanding accomplishments to the topographic mapping mission of the USGS. Individuals, both internal and external to the USGS are eligible to make nominations or receive this award. The call for nominations is made biennially through the USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP). Each nomination package must be submitted no later than February 26. 2013. Details on award criteria and processes are found at http://nationalmap.gov/gannett/. The award will be presented at The National Map Users Conference and Community for Data Integration Workshop and Training during an award ceremony in May 2013. This is a unique opportunity for the USGS to honor significant contributions in our community. We look forward to receiving a broad range of nominations of individuals that have furthered USGS topographic mapping of the Nation.

USGS ASPRS Fellow: Scientist Dr. George Y. Lee, national lead for the USGS orthoimagery program, has been named a 2013 Fellow in the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. The award is in recognition of more than 38 years of professional service and excellence to science, the ASPRS and the USGS. Among his various accomplishments, Lee was instrumental in the development and implementation of a program to complete first time national coverage with Digital Othrophoto Quarter Quadrangles (DOQQ's). More information: http://www.asprs.org/Press-Releases/ASPRS-2013-Fellows-Named.html

"Science.gov: The Power of 10": Science.gov - the Federal government's "one stop" real-time science data website, is now celebrating its 10th anniversary. The USGS is a founding member of Science.gov and, along with 12 other Federal agencies, has created a web portal to provide wide, public access and a unified search of the government's vast stores of scientific and technical information. Moving into its second decade, the website recently launched a Spanish language version and added multimedia content such as videos, images and audio files. Also, to highlight interesting science facts from the Alliance members, the website added "cool stuff" webpage: http://go.usa.gov/gXxF

Aerial Scans of Sandy's Destruction: USGS researchers coordinated and are analyzing before-and-after lidar images of Hurricane Sandy in at Ocean Bay Park on Fire Island National Seashore. The lidar data will check the accuracy of storm predictions, improve future USGS storm modeling and can help scientists and decision-makers identify the areas along the shore that have been made more vulnerable to future coastal hazards in the storm's wake. http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/sandy/lidar/

NAS Report: The National Academy of Sciences recently released a report on the USGS titled, "Advancing Strategic Science: A Spatial Data Infrastructure Roadmap for the U.S. Geological Survey". The report examines the USGS Science Strategy and supports the framework of spatial data, metadata, tools, and a user community that is interactively connected to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way--known as a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13506