GEOSPATIAL DATA REPORT : Finding and Using GIS Data

http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tgrshp2009/tgrshp2009.html
(or directly from http://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/)

2009 version just came out on 10/1/09! Previous versions are also linked from this site.

The TIGER/Line Shapefiles are extracts containing selected geographic and cartographic information from the Census Bureau’s MAF/TIGER® database. Unlike the previous Cartographic Boundary Files site, this site includes block boundary files as well as hydrography, transportation/streets and landmark data files. Users can also download multiple TIGER/Line Shapefiles at a time via this FTP site.

Again, these files contain no demographic information but are designed to be used with decennial census population and housing data as well as other related federal datasets.

http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_atlas_database/_database/

NTAD is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, including public transit networks and associated infrastructure. The latest dataset is available for downloading from this site (now 2008.)  If you want previous editions, check a local library. (For example, our library, the Northwestern University Library, has 1995 – 2007 CDs.)

http://www.esri.com/data/download/census2000_tigerline/

Another resource for GIS census data. TIGER base line data, streets & railroads, and also detailed boundary files, blocks, (not available from the US Census boundary files site above) are available. Users can also download accompanying basic demographic and housing data from the 2000 Census Summary File 1 for various geographic levels.

Click on “Preview and Download” on the left to access the files.

http://dcrp.ced.berkeley.edu/research/footprint/index.php

“The Berkeley/Penn Urban and Environmental Modeler’s Datakit consists of a series of viewable and downloadable ESRI shapefiles and grids describing many of the physical, administrative, transportation, demographic, economic, land use and land cover, and environmental characteristics of the 48 contiguous United States. This website and the accompanying data were constructed as part of the URBAN & ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT 2050 PROJECT at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) at the University of California, Berkeley under a grant from the National Science Foundation.  “

http://seamless.usgs.gov/

The USGS Seamless Server, like the National Map Viewer, is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other Federal, State, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information.  Seamless Server is the primary site for downloading USGS imagery, elevation and land cover data. Data downloading is limited up to 3 Gbytes of data in 250 MB files in one request.

Currently available datasets include:

• Orthoimagery (DOQ, NAIP, Urban High-resolution)
• Elevation (NED & SRTM)
• Land Cover (NLCD)
• Satellite Imagery (MODIS, Landsat Mosaic)
• Scanned topographic maps (DRG)
• Transportation (BTS)
• Various data map layers from National Atlas

http://www.nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html

Nationalatlas.gov™ provides a comprehensive, maplike view into the enormous wealth of geospatial and geostatistical data collected for the United States. Nearly all data available in the National Atlas Map Maker can be downloaded at no cost.

The data categories posted are:

• Agriculture: Agriculture Census 2002 – Crops, Expenses, Farmland…
• Biology: Bat Ranges, Butterflies, Forests, Invasive Species, Land Cover…
• Boundaries: Congressional Districts, Counties, Federal lands, States…
• Climate: Precipitation, Hazard Events, Hurricanes, Sea Temperature…
• Environment: Air Releases, Hazardous Waste, Toxics Release…
• Geology: Earthquakes, Landslides, Shaded Relief, Volcanoes…
• History: Presidential General Election 2000 County and State Results.
• Map Reference: Cities and Towns, Urban Areas…
• People: Census, Crimes, Energy Consumption, Mortality…
• Transportation: Airports, Parkways and Scenic Rivers, Railroads, Roads…
• Water: Aquifers, Dams, Watersheds, Streams and Waterbodies…