LibGuides: EESC 251 Intro to Geographic Information Systems: Finding Data

Quickguide to EES Finding Data

Table of Contents
Tips for finding and using environmental data
Data resources by topic:
Selecting a Data Repository

Getting started with environmental data

Tips for searching for data:

Do you need to manipulate it?
- Many resources provide data back files, and many more merely provide summaries as PDFs. Know what you need as you search, to prevent headaches down the line.
How current do you need it to be?
- Summary statistics and raw datasets both can be susceptible to time lags.
- For the most up to date weather and climate data, NOAA and the USGS can bring you to current raw datasets.
- For the most up to date maps and satellite images, NASA is a good place to start.
Need it to be global?
- Start with UNEP and data.un.org.

Astronomical Data

arXiv.org e-Print archive This link opens in a new window
Full text from research papers in physics, mathematics, nonlinear sciences, and computer science.
Astrophysics Data System (ADS) This link opens in a new window
Indexes, abstracts and preprints in astronomy, astrophysics, physics and arXiv e-prints.
Some fulltext from major astronomy and astrophysics journals, many others back to volume 1.

Data.Nasa.gov
DATA.NASA.GOV is NASA's clearinghouse site for open-data provided to the public.
Kaggle - Astronomy
Astronomy tagged high-quality public datasets. Collected in preparation for AI projects.
Meteoritical Bulletin: Search the Database
Data from the Meteoritical Society
Meteorite Landings (URRR version)
The Meteoritical Society collects data on meteorites landings. This dataset, taken from public available NASA datasets, includes the location, mass, composition, and fall year for over 45,000 meteorites that have struck our planet.
NASA EARTHDATA
The Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program provides open access to NASA’s archive of Earth science data, empowering researchers and decision makers to better understand and protect our home planet.
NASA Image and Video Library
NASA content generally are not copyrighted. You may use this material for educational or informational purposes.
NASA Planetary Data System (PDS) Datasets
The PDS archives and distributes scientific data from NASA planetary missions, astronomical observations, and laboratory measurements.
PlanetScope ESA Archive
The PlanetScope constellation of 430+ Dove and SuperDove satellites is able to image nearly all Earth's land every day. User needs to register.
Sloan Digitial Sky Survey via SkyServer
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey, or SDSS, is an international collaboration of scientists gathering data from two telescopes in North and South America to build the most detailed Three-Dimensional Imagery of the Universe ever made. The SDSS has produced deep multi-color images of one third of the sky, and created spectra of more than three million astronomical objects.SciServer is an NSF-supported project to build a big data platform that brings the computing to the data for extremely large datasets.

Environment

Ecological & Environmental Research Data.

Environmental Data Initiative (EDI)
Data sets curated from projects funded by NSF Divison of Environmental Biology.
Environmental Indicators (United Nations Statistics Division)
UNSD Environmental Indicators disseminate global environment statistics on ten indicator themes compiled from a wide range of data sources.
World Resources Institute Datasets
Provides datasets, maps, data visualizations, charts, and graphs on environmental issues.
National Service Center for Environmental Publications
EPA's National Service Center for Environment publications
Earth Policy Institute Data Center
Provides datasets on environmental issues in the areas of population, health, society, natural systems, climate, energy, transportation, food & agriculture, and economy & policy.

Forest Data

Forest Ecology Monitoring Cooperative
FEMC is a repository for data collected and used by academic, governmental and non-profit partners in the Northeast United States Region.

Climate Data

Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)
CIESIN works at the intersection of the social, natural, and information sciences, and specializes in on-line data and information management, spatial data integration and training, and interdisciplinary research related to human interactions in the environment.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Data (IPCC)
Provides climate, socio-economic and environmental data, both from the past and also in scenarios projected into the future.
NOAA's Weather and Climate Data
Guide by NOAA linking to datasets and climate reports (land-based stations, satallite, radal, modelling, weather balloons, marine/ocian, paleoclimatology, and severe weather).
Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC)
The mission of the Northeast Regional Climate Center is to facilitate and enhance the collection, dissemination and use of climate data and information, as well as to monitor and assess climatic conditions and impacts in the twelve-state, northeastern region of the United States.

Oceans

NOAA's Ocean data
With data about Tides and Currents, Nautical Charts, Harmful Algal Blooms, Sea Level Rise, and more

Fresh Water

Aquastat (FAO)
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) global water information system
UN Water Statistics (SDG 6)
United Nations agency providing data on fresh water issues around the globe.
Universities Allied for Water Research - CUAHSI
Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. is a NSF funded project to provide infrastructure for national and international research on water resources, including a data portal.

Neighborhoods

Nanda
National Neighborhood Data Archive is an open data repository. It was created to facilitate research on the relationship between neighborhoods and health, especially within the context of large federally funded surveys and cohort studies. See Land Cover and Outdoors for Environmental Data.

Energy Data

BP Reports & Sustainability Data
BP, one of the world's largest energy companies, publishes statistical reviews of world energy, projections and historical data.
Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (World Bank)
Data on environmentally sustainable energy programs in developing countries.
International Energy Agency (IEA)
Energy statistics by country
Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI)
Monthly data for the biggest oil producing and consuming countries.
Nuclear Energy Agency
Contains both experimental and evaluated nuclear data including nuclear reaction ((the properties of interacting nuclei, e.g. cross sections) and nuclear structure (the properties of single nuclei) data.
Petroleum Economist
A journal covering the global energy market (1998-present).
U.S. Energy Information Administration Data
Company level data on the supply and disposition of natural gas in the United States, Electric power data collected by surveys, international energy statistics, energy country profiles for 217 countries, state and territory energy profiles for the U.S., financial data collected from major energy producers, short-term and historical energy outlook data & projections, and real energy prices.
UN Energy Statistics Database
Provides energy data for more than 215 countries, areas and regions on the production, trade and intermediate and final consumption for primary and secondary conventional, non-conventional and new and renewable sources of energy from 1990 onwards.
UN Energy Statistics Yearbook
World Resources Institute Data-Lab
Provides data sets on energy, climate, forests, water, & sustainability.
Marine Cadastre
A joint BOEM and NOAA initiative providing authoritative data to meet the needs of the offshore energy and marine planning communities.

Geoscience Data

EarthChem Portal
Geochemical data from a variety of sources worldwide. Advanced search interface allows users to define many parameters to find appropriate information.
National Climatic Data Center
A large archive of climate data.
GeoGratis
Geospatial information from the Canadian federal government, including topographic maps and GIS data.
National Geophysical Data Center
Bathymetry, earth observations from space, geomagnetic data & models, marine geology & geophysics, natural hazards, space weather & solar events.
ShareGeo Open
ShareGeo Open is a spatial data repository that promotes data sharing between creators and users of spatial data. Geospatial data of all kinds is available.

Pangaea
Open access data repository that archives, publishes and distributes georeferenced data from earth system research.

National Geologic Map Database
Database by the USGS and the Association of American State Geologists

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)/Geotechnology

National GeoPlatform (EPA)
Provides shared and trusted geospatial data, services, and applications for use by the public.
Free GIS Data
A database of spatial data sources and other GIS information.
GADM database of Global Administrative Areas
A spatial database of the location of the world's administrative areas including countries and lower level subdivisions such as provinces, departments, bibhag, bundeslander, daerah istimewa, fivondronana, krong, landsvæðun, opština, sous-préfectures, counties, and thana.
GeoNetwork
Find interactive maps, GIS data sets, satellite imagery and related applications.
Geospatial Data Gateway
The Geospatial Data Gateway (GDG) is the One Stop Source for environmental and natural resources data.
Harvard Geospatial Library
A collection of 7,908 worldwide and regional geographic data layers, scanned historic maps and associated descriptive information that can be searched mapped and downloaded for use with your GIS software.
National Climatic Data Center
A large archive of climate data.
National Geospatial Program
A gateway to resources that help visualize national geospatial data in map format.
National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS)
Free aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2015.
National Weather Service GIS Data
GIS data with a Meteorological slant issued by the National Weather Service
Natural Earth
A public domain map dataset available at 1:10m, 1:50m, and 1:110 million scales. includes vector and raster data, can also create maps.
GeoData at Tufts
An open source, federated web application framework to rapidly discover, preview and retrieve geospatial data from multiple repositories.
OpenStreetMap
National Geospatial Program (USGS)
A resource that provides access to free downloads of various layers of National Geospatial Data.
U.S. Census Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER)
Spatial extracts from the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER database, containing features such as roads, railroads, rivers, as well as legal and statistical geographic areas
UNEP - Geo Data
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 500 different variables, as national, subregional, regional and global statistics or as geospatial data sets (maps), covering themes like Freshwater, Population, Forests, Emissions, Climate, Disasters, Health and GDP.
USDA - Web Soil Survey
"Provides soil data and information [in map form] produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey."
USGS - Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
"A component of NASAs Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS). LP DAAC processes, archives, and distributes land data and products derived from the EOS sensors."

Agriculture Statistics

Agricultural Statistics Annual
Published annually by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Statistics provides information on agricultural production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns.
Census of Agriculture Historical Archive
Public archive of Census of Agriculture publications published 1945-1987 in PDF format.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts hundreds of surveys every year and prepares reports covering virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture.
Stanislaus County Crop Reports
Crops reports from 1940 - 2010, compiled by the Stanislaus County Agricultural Commissioner.
USDA Census of Agriculture
The Census of Agriculture is the leading source of facts and figures about American agriculture. It is the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every state and county in the United States.

Selecting a Data Repository

Data Repository Selection Decision Tree
Detailed decision tree to understand all possible criteria that researchers should consider when determining an appropriate repository in which to deposit their data.

EESC 251 Intro to Geographic Information Systems

Quickguide to EES Finding Data

Table of Contents

Getting started with environmental data

Astronomical Data

Environment

Ecological & Environmental Research Data.

Forest Data

Climate Data

Oceans

Fresh Water

Neighborhoods

Energy Data

Geoscience Data

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)/Geotechnology

Agriculture Statistics

Selecting a Data Repository