GEODE (Geo-Data Explorer) is a free service offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on the Internet at http://geode.usgs.gov (fig. 1). It provides digital geographically referenced data to the desktop computers of any user, including policymakers, land and resource managers, educators, industries, and private citizens. The ultimate goal of GEODE is to provide diverse users a gateway (data portal) that will supply real-time data and analysis over the Internet without the need for special hardware, software, and training.