Digital Spatial Data

This research guide lists major guides and collections of digital spatial data, organized by the following geographic areas. World United States California California (Northwestern)

World

• Data Guides
  • Free GIS Datasets (Wilson) Categorized by physical geography, human geography and by individual country/area.
  • GeoConnections Discovery Portal (Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure) Guide to geospatial data, organizations that provide data, and services provided by Canadian and other international organizations.
  • Geographic Network Explorer (Geography Network) Directory of free and commercial GIS data. Search by placename, data content, and data theme.
  • International Geospatial and Attribute Links (University of Arkansas Libraries) Lists resources by country or region.
• Data Warehouses/Servers
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN (Columbia University) Specializes in data and applications related to human interactions with the environment.
  • FAO GeoNetwork (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Includes interactive maps, GIS datasets, satellite imagery and related applications.
  • Environmental Data Explorer (United Nations Environment Programme) Includes data sets used in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report and other environment assessments. The database holds more than 400 variables that are available as national, subregional, regional and global statistics or as geospatial data sets (maps). Topics covered include themes like Freshwater, Population, Forests, Emissions, Climate, Disasters, Health and GDP. Data can be displayed on-the-fly as interactive maps, graphs, data tables or downloaded in different formats.
  • GeoCommons (GeoIQ)
  • GIS Data Depot (Geocommunity) Includes GIS data for the individual countries, states and counties. Some data products are free (DEM, NWI, DLG, LU/LC, and TIGER). Other data products (DRG, DOQ, DOQQ, FEMA) are available for purchase at a nominal fee.
  • Natural Earth (North American Cartographic Information Society and other sponsors) Contains public domain vector and raster map datasets at 1:10m, 1:50m, and 1:110 million scales. For each scale, datasets are listed under Cultural, Physical, and Raster themes. Unlike other datasets intended for scientific analysis or military mapping Natural Earth datasets are designed to meet the needs of production cartographers.
  • ShareGeo (EDINA)

United States

• Data Guides
• EarthExplorer (US Geological Survey) Identify geospatial products available from the US Geological Survey including aerial photography, satellite imagery, digital orthophoto quads, digital line graphs, digital elevation models, digital raster graphics, and other map products. Determine spatial coverage by defining coverage on a map, entering geographic coordinates, or entering a place name.
• GIS Inventory (National States Geographic Information Council) Gateway to state, county and city data.
• Geo.Data.gov (US Geological Survey) Major gateway to national, state and local geospatial data. Browse or search 400,000 records.
• Geospatial and Attribute Links (University of Arkansas Libraries) Lists attribute and geospatial resources available at a national level and individually by state.
• Maps and GIS Resources: United States, by State (University of Oregon Libraries) Lists major data servers for each state.
• Data Warehouses/Servers
  • Data Basin (Conservation Biology Institute) Search for spatial datasets, maps, people and centers of expertise that focus on conservation. Download available datasets.
  • Geospatial Data Gateway (U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service) Includes data sets available from the USDA agencies, USGS and other sources.
  • Geospatial Platform (Federal Geographic Data Committee) Provides common geospatial data, services and applications contributed by federal sources and hosted on a shared infrastructure for use by government agencies and the public. Includes the ability to build your own map.
  • GIS Data Depot (Geocommunity) Includes GIS data for the individual countries, states and counties. Some data products are free (DEM, NWI, DLG, LU/LC, and TIGER). Other data products (DRG, DOQ, DOQQ, FEMA) are available for purchase at a nominal fee.
  • Nationalatlas.gov (National Atlas of the United States). Most map layers cover the full geographic extent of the United States.
  • OpenGeoportal.org Open source, federated web application to discover, preview, and retrieve data housed in geospatial respositories.
  • webGIS (Lakes Environmental Software) Provides easy to use map interface for downloading DEMs, DLGs,and Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) data.

California

• Data Guides
  • Cal-Atlas Geospatial Clearinghouse (CERES) Discover and download geospatial data contributed by California government agencies, local governments and other partner organizations. Replaces the California Spatial Information Library (CalSIL).
  • California Environmental Information Clearinghouse (CERES) Catalog of information (metadata) about environmental data sources in California. Includes GIS data. Contributors include cities, counties, utilities, state and federal agencies, private businesses, and academic institutions. Searchable by organization, resource type, geographic region, or keyword.
  • California Geoportal (California Technology Agency) Search and discover geospatial data on California. Searches can include California, federal, ArcGIS online and Oregon sources.
  • California Geospatial Data (University of Arkansas Libraries) Links to California state agencies and other sources that have geospatial data available.
  • California GIS Map and Information Sites (Coordinated Legal Technologies) Directory of county GIS sites.
  • California Vegetation Map Catalog (International Center for the Environment) Contains metadata records for more than 50 California vegetation map data sets. Searchable by county, ecoregion, or hydrologic unit.
  • Geofinder (CERES) Use a map interface to find and retrieve geographic and environmental data from the California Resources Agency and other partner organizations. Drill down through a map of California using predefined geographies like zip code, watershed, bioregion, county, urban area or by place name. Once an area of interest is identified, you can retrieve digital orthophoto quads; scanned USGS map sheets; a list of rare species and natural communities inventoried by the California Natural Diversity Data Base; and other datasets and projects.
  • GeoData (State of California) Part of Data.CA.gov
• Data Warehouses/Servers--Statewide
  • Cal-Adapt (California Energy Commission) Includes GIS data sets that identify potential climate change risks in specific geographic areas throughout California.
  • California GAP: GIS Data (California GAP Analysis Project) Contains GIS data sets developed for the California GAP Analysis Project. Data is available in statewide datasets or in subsets by ecological region and is available in ARC/INFO export file format. Datasets include landcover, land stewardship and ownership, Jepson ecological region boundaries, predicted distribution of 455 terrestrial vertebrate species, and other basic reference datasets. The same data is available on the GAP Analysis of Mainland California: An Interactive Atlas of Terrestrial Biodiversity and Land Management (Atlas QH 76.5 C2 C34 1995).
  • California Geographical Survey (California State University, Northridge) Includes DEM data for California.
  • DFG GIS Clearinghouse (California Department of Fish and Game)
  • FRAP Data (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Fire and Resource Assessment Program) Contains approximately 50 datasets in ARC/INFO or shapefile export format that relate mainly to California forestry, fire, land use, and vegetation.
  • Geospatial Data (US Forest Service. Pacific Southwest Region) Includes geospatial data for national forests in California, along with regionwide, provincewide, and statewide datasets. Includes existing vegetation on national forests and other lands in California through a cooperative mapping program with California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
  • GeoData@UC Berkeley MapUp interface allows users to discover geospatial data holdings, preview geospatial data, create custom maps using a web browser, and download geospatial data in a variety of formats. Currently contains over 9,000 geospatial data layers from UC Berkeley, Harvard University, and MIT that are sourced from national, state, county, and local government sources of freely available data, purchased by the library, or contributed by users of GeoData@UC Berkeley. All government-provided data is free for anyone to use. Some data purchased by the library and contributed data are restricted for use by UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff.
  • GeoSpatial Data Downloads (US Bureau of Land Management.California Office)
  • GIS Data Library (California Department of Transportation Office of GIS)
  • GIS Data Depot: California (Geocommunity) Includes Statewide Data and Countywide Data.
• Data Warehouses/Servers--Regional
• Association of Bay Area Governments Includes Census, earthquake and other hazard geospatial data.
• Central Coast Joint Data Committee Encompasses the central coast of California
• Lake Tahoe Data Clearinghouse (U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center) Includes general information, digital data, online maps and images of Lake Tahoe.
• Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program The Data Explorer and the Data Index can be used to identify and access natural resource geospatial data for the entire Mojave Desert ecoregion.
• Northern Sierra Nevada Geographic Information Systems (Sierra Planning Organization and Sierra Economic Development District)
• Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) Mapping Center Includes reference maps, downloadable gis data and an interactive mapper for the counties of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.
• SANDAG Maps and GIS (San Diego Association of Governments) Includes several interactive mappers and downloadable geospatial data.
• San Diego Geographic Information Source (SanGIS) (City and County of San Diego) Geographic data warehouse that includes a map gallery,an interactive mapper and downloadable geospatial data.
• San Francisco Bay Area Regional Database (BARD) (U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center) Includes the Bay Area Digital Map Library.
• SNEP Map/Data Site (Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project)
• Southern California Association of Governments Data Center (Southern California Association of Governments) Search metadata information and download data.

California (Northwestern)

• Data Guides -- See also United States and California data guides above for datasets that also include northwestern California data.
  • Humboldt Bay and Eel River Delta Data Inventory Prepared by the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District and PhotoScience
• Data Warehouses/Servers
  • Arcata Maps/GIS (City of Arcata)
  • Eureka Geographic Information System (City of Eureka)
  • GIS Data Depot: Humboldt County, Del Norte County, Siskiyou County, Trinity County and Mendocino County (GIS Data Depot) Datasets available for downloading for each county include DEMs, DLGs, DOQs, DRGs, FEMA Q3 Flood Data, Land Use/Land Cover and 2000 TIGER/Line files.
  • Humboldt Bay Atlas (Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District) Geographical information system containing biological, physical and infrastructure data for Humboldt Bay; includes interactive maps, pdf maps and a depository of downloadable gis coverages.
  • Humboldt County GIS Data Download (Humboldt County Planning Division)
  • Northern California (US Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program) Dataset produced for the Western EMAP Northern California Pilot Study Area (NCPSA). The dataset study area boundary includes the Pacific Ocean coastline from Tomales Bay in California extending to the mouth of the Rogue River in Oregon on the west, trends along the Oregon-California state line to near Goose Lake on the north, and follows the western edge of California’s Central Valley to a location near the community of Petaluma on the east and south. The purpose of the dataset is to help resource managers better "understand and access the status and trends in the condition of the area's ecological resources and the stressors affecting these systems." The GIS dataset includes layers for hydrograhy, land cover, roads, vegetation, soils, land ownership, mines, regulated facilities, and demography. Also included is the Analytical Tools Interface for Landscape Assessments (ATtILA) ArcView extension that allows users to calculate common landscape metrics, including landscape characteristics, riparian characteristics, physical characterics,and human stresses.