If you use ESRI’s Collector for ArcGIS in your organization, it looks like they have updated the software to 10.2.7 for both iOS and Android platforms.

For the iOS platform, Collector now fully supports the new resolutions introduced with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.  In addition, a number of key software defects were addressed.

For more info, visit the announcement here.

More scary pictures about the drought, this one about California groundwater loss.  NASA used satellites to measure the Earth’s gravity field, which is influenced by many factors including stored water in the soil and rocks.  Click on the image to read the article.

The National Map is now offering a collection of small-scale datasets that can be downloaded for free. Although the 1997-2014 Edition of the National Atlas of the United States was retired in September 2014, The National Map recognizes the importance of continuing to make a collection of the small-scale datasets, originally developed for the National Atlas, available to users.  Click image below for more info.

New Policy Regarding the Maintenance of Administrative Feature Names in the GNIS

Effective October 1, 2014: As a result of reprioritized budgets and resources, the decision has been made to suspend the maintenance of feature categories classified in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) as administrative (i.e., cultural or manmade).

However, a select number of administrative features will continue to be maintained by other USGS programs supporting The National Map. These features will be updated in GNIS on a periodic revision cycle. If you are interested in participating in the USGS National Map Corps program, which “encourages citizens to collect structures data by adding new features, removing obsolete points, and correcting existing data for The National Map database,” please visit the following web site: http://navigator.er.usgs.gov. To identify the administrative features to be maintained through The National Map Corps program, click Structures List, located on the left-hand side of the web page.

If you have further questions, please visit The National Map home page at: http://nationalmap.gov. Inquiries may be submitted to The National Map via the link at the bottom of the page.