Topographic Maps

Paper topographic maps

Geoscience Australia produces paper topographic maps at scales of 1:100 000, 1:250 000 and 1:1 million. For many years, these topographic maps, or NATMAPs as they are commonly known, have provided Australians with the information they need to navigate and explore this vast continent.

In conjunction with the Department of Defence, Geoscience Australia produces more than 2000 different topographic map titles. All of these maps are available through Geoscience Australia, which also distributes the Department of Defence's 1:50 000 scale topographic map series for northern Australia.

Digital topographic maps

Geoscience Australia has identified a growing market demand for digital versions of its paper map products. Digital Maps are just that, digital versions of the map. They are an image of the map and not the digital data that the maps are produced from.

Geoscience Australia released its first digital map product in 1996 and since then the demand, technological foundations, and expectations of digital mapping products has grown significantly. Due to high demand and popularity, Geoscience Australia launched two updated versions of its renowned NATMAP Raster digital maps in March 2005 entitled, NATMAP Raster 2005, and NATMAP Raster 2005 Premium. NATMAP Raster digital maps are exact digital copies of Australia's 1:250 000 scale topographic paper maps which cover the whole of Australia and have a wide variety of professional and recreational uses including real-time navigation with global positioning system, route and adventure planning and for map based presentations. For more information on NATMAP Raster 2005 products, follow the link to NATMAP Raster.