USGS native format (bil) DOQs can be used in ArcInfo, ENVI, and (using an ArcView extension) in ArcView. A DOS utility is available with which you can convert USGS native DOQs to geo-referenced .tif files with metadata .hdr files. Download and unzip doq2geotiff.zip. The command syntax for converting to .tif is:
doq2geotiff -h oldnativefilename newtiffilename.tif
This invokes the utility (doq2geotiff) to read the existing file (oldnativefilename), output the new .tif image file (newtiffilename), and generate a metadata .hdr file (-h). Note that the conversion does not automatically add the .tif extension to the converted file. You can force the utility to display its command syntax by simply invoking the utility without including filenames. The utility MUST BE RUN from the DOS PROMPT.
More on USGS native format and conversion to .tif.
The mission of the W. M. Keck Earth Sciences and Mining Research Information Center is to provide access for researchers, both on-site and from their remote desktops, to specialized bibliographic databases, scientific visualization and modeling packages, and geospatial data resources.
Updated 9 May 2002
