Suggest geospatial data sites
Data source: USGS Global Earthquake Search Suggest geospatial data websites. Got a good source to share? Send us your link. |
A variety of vector (point, line, and polygon) and raster (images with color/black & white cells and resources with numerically-valued grids) GIS data is available for download and use within a desktop GIS, like AEJEE or ArcGIS.
The good news is that there is a lot of geographic data. The bad news is that it’s messy out there: Sites offering geospatial information do not neatly slice into shapefiles, tables, georeferenced images, and other raster data. Likewise, data downloaded might not always add nicely to your favorite GIS application, and it can be an “adventure” navigating your way around a site. It’s important that you understand the data you are retrieving and the capacities/needs of the GIS tools you are using.
The listing below is organized in three large geographic swathes: US, selected US states, and global (which also can include the US)…and another that is out of this world.
International
- Australia: Geoscience Australia (https://www.ga.gov.au/products/servlet/controller?event=DEFINE_PRODUCTS)
- ESRI World Basemap Data (http://www.esri.com/data/download/basemap/index.html)
- NASA Earth Observations (http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html)
Select GeoTIFF from the Download area. (ArcMap Tip: Before use, remove the second “F” in the file extension .TIFF of your downloaded image for proper display.) - NEW! 2007 country demographic, economic, and social data at ArcLessons (http://gis.esri.com/industries/education/arclessons/search_results.cfm?id=393)
- Smithsonian-USGS: This Dynamic Planet (http://mineralsciences.si.edu/tdpmap/downloads.htm)
- UN Environment Programme GeoData Portal (http://geodata.grid.unep.ch/)
Search on keyword, select dataset, time, and option to retrieve ESRI shapefiles. - USGS Earthquake Search (http://gldss7.cr.usgs.gov/neis/epic/)
Data download as ASCII point file, Mapping Our World Module 2, Lesson 3 for steps - USGS GEODE (http://geode.usgs.gov/)
- USGS Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data - International (http://tin.er.usgs.gov/)
- USGS Seamless Data Distribution Center - International (http://seamless.usgs.gov/)
- Arizona Electronic Atlas (http://atlas.library.arizona.edu/))
- California USGS San Francisco Bay Area Regional Database (http://bard.wr.usgs.gov/htmldir/doq_html/doq-he.html)
- Illinois Natural Resources Geospatial Data Clearinghouse (http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/ISGSindex.html)
- Montana Geographic Information Clearinghouse (http://nris.mt.gov/gis/default.asp)
- Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (http://www.pasda.psu.edu/uci/SearchPage.aspx)
- Texas Natural Resources Information System (http://www.tnris.org/DataCatalog.aspx)
- EPA BASINS (http://downloads2.esri.com/EdComm2007/commatlas/learn/comatlas/basins.html)
See the handy ESRI tutorial. - ESRI Census 2000 "TIGER" (http://downloads2.esri.com/EdComm2007/commatlas/learn/comatlas/tiger.)
geographic and demographic attribute data. - Geospatial One Stop (http://www.geodata.gov/)
Select "Search" with "Advanced Options" and choose "Content Type = Downloadable Data" - GIS Data Depot (http://data.geocomm.com/catalog/)
Mix of free and for-fee datasets including DRGs and DOQs - Microsoft TerraServer (http://terraserver-usa.com/)
Select area of interest and click "Download" and "World File" above image - National Historical GIS (http://www.nhgis.org/)
Select shapefiles of historical boundary files and matching census data files - Starting the Hunt: Guide to Mostly Online and Mostly Free US Geospatial and Attribute Data (http://libinfo.uark.edu/GIS/us.asp)
- USGS Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data (http://tin.er.usgs.gov/)
- USGS National Atlas Raw Data Download (http://www.nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html)
Select from shapefiles, DBFs, and GeoTIFFs - USGS National Map Viewer (http://nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov/viewer.htm)
Select "Data Download" on left hand navigation - USGS Seamless Data Distribution Center (http://seamless.usgs.gov/)