Appendix A: GIS Data Repositories

The following data repositories host publicly available and widely useful GIS datasets. Depending on the source, datasets may be in the public domain or openly licensed. Check each individual repository for licensing information.

NASA Earthdata Search

A repository of raw and analysis-ready datasets from Earth Observing System satellites as well as derived data and maps covering all parts of the globe. Downloading data requires a free account. Navigating the site takes some getting used to, and it’s best to know what you are looking for first. The data can also be viewed online using the NASA worldview web application. Search for data by:

• Features
• Keywords
• Platforms
• Instruments
• Organizations
• Projects
• Processing levels
• Data format

Natural Earth

A repository of global datasets curated by a network of cartographers. Data conform to international standards and United Nations naming and sovereignty recognitions.

• Data covering the entire world at three scales: 1:10,000,000 (sub-regional), 1:50,000,000 (world regional), 1:110,000,000 (global)
• Cultural datasets:
  • Countries
  • Sovereignties
  • Boundary lines
  • Disputed areas
  • States and provinces
  • Populated places
  • Roads
  • Railroads
  • Airports
  • Ports
  • Urban areas
  • Parks and protected lands
  • Timezones
  • Cultural building blocks
• Physical datasets:
  • Coastline
  • Land
  • Minor islands
  • Reefs
  • Ocean
  • Rivers and lake centerlines
  • Lakes and reservoirs
  • Physical labels
  • Playas
  • Antarctic ice shelves
  • Glaciated areas
  • Bathymetry
  • Geographic lines
  • Graticules
  • Physical building blocks
• Raster datasets:
  • Cross-blended hypsometric tints
  • Natural Earth 1 land cover and shaded relief
  • Natural Earth 2 land cover and shaded relief
  • Ocean bottom
  • Shaded relief
  • Gray Earth
  • Manual shaded relief of Contiguous U.S.

OpenStreetMap Planet.osm

A list of repositories for downloading OpenStreetMap datasets. Planet.osm is the database file that contains the entire contents of OpenStreetMap; sites providing the full download are listed in the first table. The second table lists sites that provide country, area (e.g., individual states or provinces), and do-it-yourself extracts. A list of feature types included in OpenStreetMap data is available on the OSM Wiki Map Features page.

U.S. Census TIGER/Line Shapefiles

Geographies used by the United States Census Bureau. Use these datasets to join tabular Census data (see below) for mapping demographics in the United States. Geographies are updated annually and are currently available for 1992, 2000, and 2006-2019. Geographic areas and features:

• American Indian Areas
• Blocks
• Block Groups
• Census Tracts
• Congressional Districts
• Consolidated Cities
• Core Based Statistical Areas
• Counties (and equivalent)
• County Subdivisions
• Estate
• Places
• Public Use Microdata Areas
• School Districts
• States (and equivalent)
• State Legislative Districts
• Subbarrio (SubMinor Civil Division)
• Urban Areas
• Zip Code Tabulation Areas
• All line features
• Coastline
• Landmarks
• Roads
• Rails
• Military installations
• Water

U.S. Census Tables

Demographic data collected by the United States Census Bureau for every household in each decadal census (2000 and 2010), and 1- and 3-years estimates from the American Community Survey for 2011-2018. Geographies match TIGER/Line geographic areas. Download tables in CSV format and follow the steps in Chapter 3 to join table data to geographies. Topics include:

• Business and Economy
• Education
• Employment
• Families and Living Arrangements
• Government
• Health
• Housing
• Income and Poverty
• Populations and People
• Race and Ethnicity

USGS EarthExplorer

Federally produced imagery and imagery-derived datasets covering the United States, including historic aerial and satellite imagery. A free account is required for some downloads. Data categories:

• Aerial imagery
• AVHRR
• CEOS legacy
• Commercial satellites
• Declassified data
• Digital elevation
• Digital line graphs
• Digital maps
• EO-1
• Global Fiducials
• HCMM
• Land cover
• Landsat
• LCMAP
• NASA LPDAAC Collections
• Radar
• Sentinel
• UAS
• Vegetation Monitoring
• ISRO Resourcesat

USGS The National Map

Federally produced data covering the United States, with a focus on vector and landscape features. Data categories:

• Topographic maps
• Political boundaries
• Elevation products
• Elevation source data
• Hydrography
• Aerial imagery
• Map indices
• Geographic names
• Small-scale datasets
• Structures
• Topo map data and stylesheet
• Transportation
• Woodland tint
• Topobathy DEM
• Topobathy lidar

Wikipedia List of GIS Data Sources

This page lists additional GIS repositories with global, national, and regional datasets.