Global Mapper 19.1 is now available with multivariate attribute querying, exporting 3D profile paths, 3D mesh creation in the Pixels-to-Points TM tool, and much more! [Read more…] about Global Mapper 19.1 is now available
Global
NAtional Snow and Ice GIs data
The NSDIC provides a number of downloadable GIS data products useful for those mapping sea ice. Grab frozen ground maps, sea ice photos, Antarctica datasets and much more – see http://www-nsidc.colorado.edu/
USGS land/sea mask dataset
An excellent free, Global data resource… The land/sea mask has been improved and now includes ocean boundaries from the World Vector Shoreline (WVS) data set. The boundaries for U.S. Great Lakes and St. Lawrence seaway come from the Political/Ocean (ponet) layer of the Digital Chart of the World (DCW). The boundaries of inland water bodies come from the perennial water bodies and polygon features (double line rivers) of the Drainage Network (dnnet) layer of the DCW. The land/sea mask has been generalized during the process of rasterizing the vector data to 1-km grid cells. A 1-km cell is assigned to land or water based on the dominant area of a cell. World Vector Shoreline boundaries have precedence over DCW. Grab it at http://edc2.usgs.gov/1KM/land_sea_mask.php
see also Global Land 1-KM AVHRR Project
HydroSHEDS rfom WWF
HydroSHEDS is based on high-resolution elevation data obtained during a Space Shuttle flight for NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). HydroSHEDS stands for “Hydrological data and maps based on SHuttle Elevation Derivatives at multiple Scales.” At the most basic level, HydroSHEDS will allow scientists to create digital river and watershed maps. These maps can then be coupled with a variety of other geo-spatial datasets or applied in computer simulations, such as hydrologic models, in order to estimate flow regimes. See http://www.worldwildlife.org/freshwater/hydrosheds.cfm
new web site from FAO – GISFish
GISFish is a brand new Web site of the Aquaculture Conservation and Management Service (FIMA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and a number of collaborating institutions. USers will find case studies, training opportunities, data sources, tools and freeware, news and events are featured. Material in GISFish is constantly updated and expanded. Near future improvements will include increased coverage of abstracts and of full papers. Additional links to Cultured Aquatic Species fact sheets will also be made available for each GISFish publication record in which scientific names of plants and animals are mentioned. See http://www.fao.org/fi/gisfish/index.jsp – be sure to check out the fine list of data resurces!
Free online imagery covering Australia
Free online imagery covering the Australian landmass, most of Papua New Guinea, Eastern Indonesia and New Zealand is available from Geoscience Australia, ACRES. For more information visit www.ga.gov.au/acres/prod_ser/modisprice.jsp.
Processed SRTM 90m Digital Elevation Data (DEM) for the Entire Globe
The CGIAR-CSI GeoPortal is now serving up processed SRTM 90M Global DEM data. Digital elevation models (DEM) for nearly the entire globe, covering most of the countries of the world, are available for download on this site. The SRTM 90m DEM’s have a resolution of 90m at the equator, and are provided in mosaiced 5 deg x 5 deg tiles for easy download and use. All are produced from a seamless dataset to allow easy mosaicing. These are available in both ArcInfo ASCII and GeoTiff format – see http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org
NZ Geographical Place Names & Street Names
Names for streets, roads and highways are assigned by the local City or District Council, in accordance with the Local Government Act. Railway names are approved by the NZ Geographic Board, and State Highway numbers are allocated by Transit New Zealand. Downloadable database here – http://www.linz.govt.nz/core/placenames/index.html
FAO Geonetwork
A number of International datasets availble for download from the FAO – much African data to be found here. See http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/srv/en/main.search
ASTER Data (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer)
ASTER satelite data can be used to generate Digital Elevation Models (DEMS) with 30m resolution. EOS archives the DEMs in its database so that they will be available immediately upon request.DEMs not available can be ordered. From the JPL – see http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/