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.transtats.bts.gov/Tables.asp?DB_ID=630&DB_Name=Census%20Transportation%20Planning%20Package%20%28CTPP%29%202000&DB_Short_Name=CTPP%202000

(Check also : 1990 CTPP data from BTS transtats. Or, get 1990 & 2000 data CDs from BTS Bookstore..)

CTPP, Census Transportation Planning Package, formerly known as “journey to work” data, is a collection of special summary tables which are tabulated from decennial censuses for transportation planning.  The smallest geographic levels are either census tracts, block groups, or TAZ (Traffic Analysis Zone) – depending on the MPC (Metropolitan Planning Council?)  In Chicago, the smallest geography is census tract in 2000, and TAZ in 1990.

History: In 1970 and 1980, this dataset was called “Urban Transportation Planning Package (UTPP)” which is not publicly available – check local MPOs (Metropolitan Planning Organizations).

Use Part 2 data, place of work, to obtain job/employment counts. Part 1, place of residence, data are basically the same as decennial population census data with more detailed “transportation” related variables. Part 2 is uniquely tabulated – counting people not by place of residence (part 1) but by place of work. Hence, you can find how many people work in a specific census tract, or a specific place.

Though CTPP isn’t meant to be used to count jobs, part 2 data can offer good alternative estimates.  To learn more about the use of CTPP part 2 data as a source of employment estimates, I highly recommend this article by Nanda Srinivasan – CTPP Workers-at-Work Compared to Other Employment Estimates (on page 2).

[Image left: %  female and male employees - by place of employment. The maps show different employment/job location patterns by gender in space. Source: CTPP 2000, Part 2, Table 3.]

Part 3, journey to work, data is equally unique and useful if you are interested in commuting patterns. The Part 3 tells you how many people travel/commute from one place (residence) to another (work place.)

[Image right: Employee residential patterns - Northwestern University (Evanston Campus, tract 8087.02) & Univ of Chicago (North & The Quadrangle campuses, tract 4113). Source: CTPP 2000, Part 3, Table 3. ]

Another CTPP like data source for employment analsyis is LED On The Map data. See the next posting..

http://www.greenmapping.org/

Click on MAP DATA ARCHIVE to download a variety of geospatial data files for the metropolitan Chicago area from this very comprehensive data clearinghouse. This is a collaborative effort by non-profit organizations and local government to share the natural resources related spatial data for anybody who is interested in environmental analysis.

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://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://openstreetmap.org/

“OpenStreetMap creates and provides free geographic data such as street maps to anyone who wants them. The project was started because most maps you think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, holding back people from using them in creative, productive, or unexpected ways.” http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/

With Map Quest, Google Maps and Google Earth, street data seems to be available anywhere and to everybody but it really wasn’t. Data may have been developed very slowly at a local government (i.e. developing countries) or data isn’t freely available because of data proprietorship issues. But wait – we have OSM now! OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a unique and innovative data initiative, making hard-to-get street data available to everybody who needs them. Data submitted by contributors are available for downloading for various purposes, including GPS.

Data downloading options at OSM are limited to XML, images and HTML, but shapefiles/GIS data format option is available at the following sites:

http://www.geofabrik.de/data/download.html

Geofabrik downloads server makes OSM derived shapefiles available for free, which are updated everyday.

http://downloads.cloudmade.com/

CloudMade downloads site also offers OSM derived free shapefiles (and other useful datasets.) I don’t know how frequently data have been updated.. I like the way the data are organized by country.

I downloaded the OSM derived shapefiles for Mali and Japan. Mali street networks weren’t many. The Japan street data were fairly good for free, covering major roads of Tokyo for example. Attribute data are fairly limited – like street names. Even the street names of Tokyo major streets are sporadic. BUT, it’s free – I definitely look forward to the future OSM data development.

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://nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov

The National Map Viewer is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other Federal, State, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information.  Products and services of the National Map are easily accessible via two primary data viewers: The National Map Viewer and the Seamless Server.

The , National Map Viewer has the primary role of viewing distributed data sets from many contributing Federal State and Local Partners through dynamic web map services. It provides public access to high-quality geospatial data. Some, mostly basic, data layers are also available for downloading.

Data categories are  (again, primarily for viewing) :

• Biology
• Boundaries
• Climatology/Climate Change
• Coastal Studies
• Digital Atlases
• Elevation
• Environmental Monitoring/Assessment
• Geographic Names
• Geography
• Geology
• Gulf Coast Risk Assessment
• Hydrography
• Imagery
• Land Use/Land Cover
• National Grid
• Natural Hazards/Weather
• Public Land Records
• Structures
• Topographic Maps
• Transportation

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1179/

Another USGS Open File report, 06-1179. This site offers various GIS project data, presenting the results of a petroleum resource assessment of Northern Afghanistan, and other data used in the petroleum assessment. Geologic, structural, field, well, political, and other GIS layers covering Afghanistan, Northern Afghanistan and adjacent areas, along with associated geochemical and other data tables pertinent to a petroleum assessment are included.

(Image left from GeoCommunity.com)

http://geoengine.nga.mil/geospatial/SW_TOOLS/NIMAMUSE/webinter/rast_roam.html
(Official NGA site, Raster Roam)

http://www.mapability.com/info/vmap1_index.html (My favorite)

The NGA Raster Roam is an official site to access VMAP1 (Level 1, vectorized files based on 1:250K JOG map sheets) data. Level 1 data, like VMAP0 (Level 0, 1:1000K scale,)  includes basic map layers, such as boundaries, elevation, hydrography, and transportation. The coverage (availability) of this dataset is quite limited, but if a file is available for your study area, you would probably enjoy this large scale dataset. VMAP data are in the VPF (Vector Product Format.)  See the example below – Bogotá, Colombia (v1155).

Data categories are:

• Boundaries (bnd)
• Elevation (elev)
• Hydrography (hydro)
• Industry (ind)
• Physiography (Phys)
• Population (pop)
• Transportation (trans)
• Utilities (util)
• Vegetation (veg)

To download VMAP1 from the NGA Raster Roam, start with “VMAP Level1 Legend”, click on the area I need, and then download the files you need.. The alternative source for VMAP data is http://www.mapability.com/info/, which is much easier to use and also comes with good data description. I would choose this website over NGA Raster Roam.. VMAP1 is also available on sale from GeoCommunity.com (formerly known as gisdatadepot.com.)

http://www.aims.org.af

The AIMS project is building information management capacity in government and delivers information management services to organizations across Afghanistan. Visit also this GIS/Mapping Services website to obtain geospatial data in shapefiles.

Data files included are:

• Political and adminitrative boundaries
• Hydrography (rivers, lakes and watersheds)
• Transportation
• Landocver
• Settlements
• Health facilities, etc.

http://www.africover.org/system/africover_data.php

Africover lets a user access metadata and geospatial data produced by the Africover project and the participating countries. The Multipurpose Africover Databases on Environmental Resources (MADE) includes a main geographic information layer (i.e. land cover) and several additional layers that vary for each country (e.g. roads, rivers and water bodies, etc.)

http://earlywarning.usgs.gov/adds/mapdata.php

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) is an information system designed to identify problems in the food supply system that potentially lead to famine, flood, or other food-insecure conditions, in sub-Saharan Africa. Administrative boundaries are the main available data. Other additional data layers availabilities vary for countries. Please visit http://earlywarning.usgs.gov/adds/index.php for more information.

http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss/Data/Data_e.cfm

Census geography covers a wide range of geographic areas – from provinces and territories down to city blocks. These geographic areas have boundaries, names, and other information that make it possible to locate them on the ground and to relate census data to them.

Two major datasets available from here are:

• Census boundary files
• Road network file, 2005

The Canadian Road Network includes address ranges for street segments and thus probably the best free source for geocoding Canadian address locations. I believe this is the source data for the free Canadian geocoder site, http://geocoder.ca/ .

See also: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/mgeo/index-eng.htm

http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/

GeoGratis is a portal provided by the Earth Sciences Sector (ESS) of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) which provides geospatial data at no cost. GeoGratis uses both File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to distribute geospatial data via its portal. To access data files, click on “Download Directory” on the left, select data types (vecor, raster, tabular), select geographic levels, select subjects/themes, and then files.

Data available from GeoGratis include:

• Administrative boundaries
• Protected areas
• Hydrography
• Tail and toad netowrks (?)
• VMAP0
• CanVec (50K, sort of like DLG and VMAP)
• NTDB (National Topographic Data Base, older version of CanVec)
• Land inventory (250K & 50K)
• Electoral districts
• Census data
• Ecosystems data
• AVHRR land cover data
• Satellite Imagery
• Scannded maps
• Airborne data
• DEM
• Conservation area database

http://www.geobase.ca

GeoBase is a federal, provincial and territorial government initiative that is overseen by the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG). Through the GeoBase portal, users have access to quality geospatial information at no cost and with restricted use.

Current datasets include:

• Canadian Digital Elevation Data (CDED)
• Geodetic Network
• Geographical Names
• Geopolitical Boundaries
• National Hydro Network (NHN)
• National Road Network (NRN)
• Satellite Imagery

http://www.bts.gov/publications/
north_american_transportation_atlas_data/

North American Transportation Atlas Data (NORTAD) is a CD-ROM produced by the department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), whose files are also available from this website. NORTAD is a set of geographic data of transportation facilities for each country on the continent. These data include geospatial information for transportation modal networks and intermodal terminals, and related attribute information.

http://mapserver.inegi.gob.mx/data/inf1m/?c=720

The National Institute of Statistic, Geography and Informática (INEGI) provides with various vector geospatial data in the shapefiles format.  To access files, you must be a registered user on our site. Registration is free.

Data files available from the site are (translated from Spanish):

• Municipal/administrative boundaries
• Data relief
• Utilities (Power & pipelines)
• Water infrastructure
• Towns
• Hydrographic features
• Tourist sites
• Communications (airports, roads, faro, puente, boat routes, railroads)
• Reefs, perpetual snow ans salt (??)
• Climates
• Physiography
• Geology
• Soils
• Vegetation
• Mud, flood, sand and marsh areas
• Natural protection areas

http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/ISGSindex.html

A gateway to GIS data and imagery for Illinois – find and download scanned topographic maps, aerial photographs, and a variety of base maps including geology, land use, natural resources, and infrastructure dataset.

Notable data sets & categories:

• DRG (Scanned topographic maps)
• Historical aerial photograhs
• High resolution urban area orthoimagery
• NAPP & NAIP orthophotos
• Geological data
• Land use
• Natural resources
• Infrastructure
• and various base map data (boundaries)

http://www.cityofchicago.org/gis

City of Chicago GIS dataset, printable maps and interactive maps are available from this site. To access GIS data files, click on “GIS Data” or select categorized datasets.

Note: Come back often to this site to get the latest data – the City of Chicago GIS irregularly updates data files – and you cannot tell which files were updated until you download data and compare!  For example, well sought after geocodable Chicago streets shapefiles, TRANSPORTATION_DSLV_1.zip, are now available from the site. Still, no metadata comes with the files..

Datasets available from the site area are categorized into the following groups:

• Base data
• Boundary data
• Incentive programs
• Points of interest
• Transportation Data