TransDEM problem with GeoTiff

ldowns

Member
Please let me know if this query should be in a different forum...

I've returned to TransDEM after an interval of several years (2016), and have unexpectedly encountered a problem with importing USGS topo maps. I download these from the USGS National Map Viewer at https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/?basemap=b1&category=histtopo,ustopo&title=Map View and in the past always got GeoPDF files which imported into TransDEM 2.6.0.2 without problems.

I now find that the USGS Map site provides only GeoTIFF files, even though the GeoPDF option is selected in the site's Product Search Filter. Importing these into TransDEM produces an error, telling me that "TIFF/GeoTIFF: JPEG compression support is not configured." Using Photoshop Elements to resave the Tiff without compression appears to destroy the Georeferencing, as on loading it into TransDEM I'm then expected to add georeferencing, which I have absolutely no idea how to do (the manual is clearly written for someone with far more mapping experience than I have).

Am I missing something obvious? Is there an option in TransDEM to enable JPEG compression support on importing these files, either lurking somewhere in a menu or in an update? Searching the provided help/manual for JPEG produces only information about export formats for tiles as far as I can determine.

Any help is as always appreciated.

--Lamont
 
It looks like they've changed the format or something. I've got the current version of TransDem 2.6x and could not open them.

I tried importing the GEOPDF, but could not get the GDALInfo.exe to cooperate on my computer and will try on a different machine tomorrow.
 
Hi John,

I poked around the TransDEM forum and found a post from last October with the same problem. Apparently the poster (WindsorSpring) received a reply from USGS that "There is a temporary issue with the database that is not providing links to the GeoPDF files. It has been reported but in the meantime, you can access the GeoPDF download by clicking the Info/Metadata link in the Results list. On the page that comes up, you will find links for the GeoPDF and GeoTIFF. Another option for the Historical Topographic Maps is our TopoView site which is specifically for the historical maps with 4 formats available (JPG,GeoTIFF,GeoPDF & KML)."

I tried out the first alternative (the Info/Metadata page) and it worked! Since I always pull up the Info/Metadata page in any case to try find the oldest unrevised maps, this isn't too much of an inconvenience. Apparently the problem, known since at least last October, has still not been fixed. We are not alone...

--Lamont

PS: I hope it isn't some kind of violation of forum etiquette to quote a post from another forum. If so, please let me know.
 
Hi John,

I poked around the TransDEM forum and found a post from last October with the same problem. Apparently the poster (WindsorSpring) received a reply from USGS that "There is a temporary issue with the database that is not providing links to the GeoPDF files. It has been reported but in the meantime, you can access the GeoPDF download by clicking the Info/Metadata link in the Results list. On the page that comes up, you will find links for the GeoPDF and GeoTIFF. Another option for the Historical Topographic Maps is our TopoView site which is specifically for the historical maps with 4 formats available (JPG,GeoTIFF,GeoPDF & KML)."

I tried out the first alternative (the Info/Metadata page) and it worked! Since I always pull up the Info/Metadata page in any case to try find the oldest unrevised maps, this isn't too much of an inconvenience. Apparently the problem, known since at least last October, has still not been fixed. We are not alone...

--Lamont

PS: I hope it isn't some kind of violation of forum etiquette to quote a post from another forum. If so, please let me know.

Thanks for info. At least it's not TransDem or something else.

I don't think this violates anything in particular. What you might want to do in the future is to provide a link as well.
 
I had the same problem with the above referenced site, until I found this USGS site: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/. Click on Get Maps, type in the location, and it will give you a choice of Jpeg, KMZ, GeoTiff, and GeoPDF maps. I recently downloaded about 20 GeoPDF maps in 24K, for my current WIP route, and sucessfully georeferenced them. The site also has a date slider to access historical maps.

Joe
 
I had the same problem with the above referenced site, until I found this USGS site: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/. Click on Get Maps, type in the location, and it will give you a choice of Jpeg, KMZ, GeoTiff, and GeoPDF maps. I recently downloaded about 20 GeoPDF maps in 24K, for my current WIP route, and sucessfully georeferenced them. The site also has a date slider to access historical maps.

Joe

It sounds like they finally got that working because awhile ago I tried that, and it did not work as advertised. I must give that a tried again.
 
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