Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Services:
Spatial Data Online

GIS Librarian Favorites

Federal Data

State and Local Data

Other Online Guides to Spatial Data

GIS Services (at Davis Reference)

Amanda C. Henley
GIS Librarian
Davis Library

USGS Seamless Data Distribution System - Excellent source for many types of data including: Elevation, Land Cover, Orthoimagery, Transportation, Boundaries and Hydrography.

Geospatial Data Gateway - Excellent source for natural resource data. The gateway is searchable by geographic location. Examples of available data include orthoimagery, soils, common land unit (CLU), cultural and demographics data, land cover/vegetation/plants, wetlands, and climate. The data can be downloaded, or ordered on CD/DVD.

National Atlas - "delivers authoritative views of scientific, societal, and historical information", and "provides a showcase for the geospatial data collected by Federal agencies". Data can be viewed in the Interactive Map Maker and downloaded.

The United Nations Environment Programme's GEO Data Portal - an excellent source for international data; data can be displayed on a map, with a graph, in a table, or downloaded. Download formats include adobe PDF, comma delimited, ESRI Shapefile, Microsoft Excel, and XML.

ArcGIS Online - Free Image Services from ESRI including Imagery, Street Data, Topographic Maps, Physical Maps, Shaded Relief Imagery, Boundaries, and more. You can easily add these data into ArcMap - File > Add Data from Resource Center.

Geography Network - "an Internet portal to spatial data". Use the explorer to find map services, downloadable data, and even contact information for holders of data that is not published online.

Census 2000 TIGER/Line Data from ESRI - Download TIGER/Line data in shapefile format, as well as basic attribute tables derived from PL 94-171 (Public Law 94-171) Summary File and SF1 (Summary File 1). There are already many TIGER/Line files in shapefile format on campus AFS. For more information, see our Mapping Census Data page.

Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) from the University of Maryland - "The GLCF develops and distributes remotely sensed satellite data and products concerned with land cover from the local to global scales."

CIESIN Columbia University World Data Center for Human Interactions in the Environment - "The WDC for Human Interactions in the Environment promotes the development, dissemination, and preservation of high-quality global data sets related to population, sustainability, poverty, health, hazards, conservation, governance, and climate."

DIVA-GIS - DIVA-GIS provides a "free and simple but versatile GIS program that is particularly useful for studying the distribution of biodiversity."

Global Change Master Directory - NASA - The goal of the Global Change Master Directory "is to enable users to locate and obtain access to Earth science data sets and services relevant to global change and Earth science research."