Digital topographic data
- Data held
- Data format
- Other services
- Conditions of supply
- Federal data-capture programs
- Further information
Topographic data on an area includes information on one or more of the following themes:
- relief—contours and spot heights
- culture—may include infrastructure such as roads, railways or buildings
- drainage—rivers, creeks, waterbodies
- vegetation—density and specific purpose areas
- transport—may include infrastructure such as roads and railways
- digital elevation model (DEM) ~ a regular or irregular grid of elevation heights from photogrammetric projects or current and proposed Airborne laser Scanning (LiDAR) projects (PDF, 176K)*.
The department has converted selected themes (overlays) of all its existing topographic paper maps to digital form and placed this data in a library. Digital data from new topographic mapping is also included.
Because most of the data in the library has been captured through projects, its scale ranges from 1:2500 to 1:25 000, and types of data available are not consistent across the state.
The department will consider entering into joint projects to capture up-to-date data if the library has no topographic data over a particular area, or if data has not been updated for some time.
Data held
- List of digital topographic data (PDF, 353K)*
- Keys to available data (PDF, 56K)*
- 1:100 000 list of maps (PDF, 86K)*
- Orthographic/Image mapping availability (PDF, 424K)*
- Digital Elevation Models (PDF, 453K)*
- Relief and Drainage data - 5 sheets
Data format
- All digital topographic data held by the department is stored in, and complies with, the AS2482–1989 format (Geographic Information Systems: Geographic Data—Interchange of Feature Coded Digital Mapping Data).
- Digital topographic data:
- is usually supplied in AS2482 format; digital elevation data is supplied in ASCII format.
- can be translated to other formats.
- is usually supplied on CD, but can be supplied by email if the file is small enough.
- Data from all themes are available in separate files and are output in standard map sheet format.
Other services
The department provides services to assist land planning or investigation projects.These include aerotriangulation of photography, data capture, and advice on photogrammetric projects.
Conditions of supply
Digital topographic data is provided for use under licence from the department.
Federal data-capture programs
The department's digital capture program complements the programs of the National Mapping Division of Geoscience Australia and the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation of the Department of Defence. Both these agencies capture topographic data over parts of Queensland, but this information is not available through the department and must be obtained directly from the federal agencies.
Further information
Digital topographic data can be ordered from:
If you have problems downloading these documents or would like a copy sent by mail, please contact Geographic Information
* Requires Acrobat Reader
Last updated: 26 June 2009