GIS/Geospatial Data - World
General | Climate | Elevation | Geology |
Hydrography | Landcover |
Population | Satellite Imagery |
Navigational Charts & Shorelines
Finding geospatial data for international countries is not easy, unlike the data for U.S. Starting with general GIS datasets such as ESRI Data & Maps is probably a good idea.. 
= a good place to start.
General
ESRI Data & Maps (2001-2007)
The leading GIS company, ESRI, publishes comprehensive & global geospatial datasets, called ESRI Data & Maps (later, called Media Kit). The series consists of CDs and DVDs.
Access Constraints: Licensed data - NU Member Only. Ask the Map Librarian (email: c-maene) for more information about data access.
Global GIS Database CDs
ftp://ftpflag.wr.usgs.gov/dist/pigpen/globalgis (downloads)
http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/globalgis/index.html (descriptions)
The USGS Global Geographic Information System (GIS) database readily available to educators and the general public in the form of a DVD based world atlas. The USGS Global GIS database contains a wealth of USGS and other public domain data at a nominal scale of 1:1 million.
GEO Data Portal - The Environmental Database
http://geodata.grid.unep.ch/
The GEO Data Portal is the authoritative source for data sets used by UNEP and its partners in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report and other integrated environment assessments. Its online database holds more than 450 different variables. Display them on-the-fly as maps, graphs, data tables or download the data in different formats.
UNGIWG: United Nations Geographic Information Working Group, Data Portals & Links
http://www.ungiwg.org/data.htm
A collection of links to global data portals and similar services maintained by United Nations GI Working Group.
ITSCGM: International Steering Committee for Global Mapping
http://www.iscgm.org/
The ISCGM Global Mapping Project supports development of global scale geographic information through international cooperation. Registration (free) is required for data downloading. This map shows the progress & participants of the project.
USGS HYDRO 1k Elevation Derivative Database
http://edc.usgs.gov/products/elevation/gtopo30/hydro/
HYDRO1k is a geographic database developed to provide comprehensive and consistent global coverage of topographically derived data sets, including streams, drainage basins and ancillary layers derived from the USGS' 30 arc-second digital elevation model of the world (GTOPO30).
FAO GeoNetwork: Find and analyze geo-spatial data
http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/
GeoNetwork allows to easily share geographically referenced thematic information between different FAO units, other UN Agencies, NGO's and other institutions.
CIESIN: The Center for International Earth Science Information Network
http://www.ciesin.org/
The Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is a center within the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Here is a list of downloadable data from CIESIN-sponsored FTP servers.
Global Change Master Directory
http://gcmd.nasa.gov/index.html
The GCMD is an online directory to Earth science data and services. This site includes searchable datasets including agriculture, atmospheric, biosphere, cryosphere, human dimensions, paleoclimate, spectral/engineering, sun-Earth interactions, oceans, land surface, etc.
Climate
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NOAA National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html
NCDC made some data available for free downloading - check under "Free Data". Free items are indicated by FREE in the item descriptions. Click on titles that you want to download. Typically, you will get climate data and a corresponding stations table with latitude and longitude. Try Global Summary of Day, or Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN-Monthly) for basic data.
Elevation
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NASA: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/
SRTM data is a near-global scale and the most complete high-resolution (generally 90-m) digital topographic database of Earth. Check its "Public Data Distribution" site for more data downloading options, such as the Global Land Cover Facility (http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/data/srtm/) and the CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information (http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/) for SRTM data.
Global 30 Arc-second Elevation Data: GTOPO30
http://edc.usgs.gov/products/elevation/gtopo30/
gtopo30.html
GTOPO30 is a gloabal raster Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with a horizontal grid spacing of 30 arc seconds (approx. 1-km.) Probably the most popular, publicly available and complete global DEM dataset.
Geology
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USGS: World Petroleum Assessment 2000 - Description and Results
http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-060/
The assessment is the result of a five year effort to estimate the quantities of conventional oil, gas, and natural gas liquids outside the United States that have the potential to be added to reserves in the 30 years from 1995 to 2025.
USGS: GEO-DATA Explorer
http://geode.usgs.gov/
Use GEO-DATA Explorer (GEODE) to access, view and download information from geo-spatial databases containing broad spectrum f data produced by USGS and other governmental agencies.
USGS: Mineral Resources On-Line Spatial Data
http://mrdata.usgs.gov/
A source for regional and global Geology, Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Mineral Resource maps and data
Hydrography
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HYDRO1k Elevation Derivative Database
http://edc.usgs.gov/products/elevation/gtopo30/hydro/
HYDRO1k is a geographic database developed to provide comprehensive and consistent global coverage of topographically derived data sets, including streams, drainage basins and ancillary layers derived from the USGS' 30 arc-second digital elevation model of the world (GTOPO30).
landcover
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USGS Land Cover Institute: Global Land Cover
http://landcover.usgs.gov/globallandcover.php
Information and links to land cover data sources maintained by USGS. Data includes International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) Global 1km land cover dataset. Make sure to explore this site if you look for land cover data of any regions.
Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF)
http://esip.umiacs.umd.edu/
The GLCF is a center for land cover science with a focus on research using remotely sensed satellite data and products to assess land cover change for local to global systems.
Population
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Gridded Population of the World (GPW v3)
http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw/
GPW v3 is the third edition of a large-scale data product that demonstrates the spatial distribution of human population across the globe.
LandScan: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/
The LandScan dataset, developed as part of ORNL Global Population Project, comprises a worldwide population database compiled on a 30" x 30" latitude/longitude grid.
Satellite Imagery
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Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF)
http://esip.umiacs.umd.edu/
The GLCF is a center for land cover science with a focus on research using remotely sensed satellite data and products to assess land cover change for local to global systems.
NASA GeoCover
https://zulu.ssc.nasa.gov/mrsid/
The GeoCover provides access to (circa) 1990 and 2000 Landsat Imagery in the MrSID format.
USGS: Data Pool at LP DAAC
http://lpdaac.usgs.gov/datapool/datapool.asp
The Data Pool is an online archive that provides, without a charge, FTP access to selected LP DAAC (Land Processes Distributed Active Archive) data products (ASTER & MODIS).
USGS: EarthExplorer
http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/
EarthExplorer is USGS tool for querying and ordering satellite images, aerial photographs, and cartographic products (DLG, DRG, National Atlas products). Registered users have access to more features than guests do. Not all, but some datasets are available for free download.
USGS: Global Visualization Viewer (GLOVIS)
https://glovis.usgs.gov/
Good to find and view various sypes of satellite imagery available - download imagery for a fee (not free).
Navigational Charts & Shorelines
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NOAA Raster Navigational Charts
http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/index.htm
NOAA RNCs™ distributed here are geo-referenced, full-color images of NOAA’s paper nautical charts, published by NOAA in the .BSB format. NOAA updates the RNCs for Notices to Mariners on a weekly basis. They are an official product of NOAA, and meet the S-61 Standard, “Raster Navigational Charts”, of the International Hydrographic Organization.
Prototype Global Shoreline Data (Satellite Derived High Water Line Data)
http://www.nga.mil/
The NGA Office of Global Navigation, Maritime Division is in the process of developing a new version of World Vector Shoreline (WVS®) and in support of this effort has acquired a prototype Global Shoreline Data set.
World Vector Shoreline
http://rimmer.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/coast/getcoast.html
(Note: This file is being replaced by the NGA's Prototype Global Shoreline data.) The World Vector Shoreline (WVS) is a digital data file at a nominal scale of 1:250000, containing the shorelines, international boundaries and country names of the world.
Last updated: April 9, 2008
