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VISIT Guide to Online Sources of Geo-referenced Data by Beverly Hunter Teachers in the VISIT Collaboratory are learning to access, query, and apply geo-referenced data, including data sets and software tools from federal, state and local government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The following are web-based sources of geo-referenced data being used or recommended by VISIT teachers and leaders. Web sites concerning GIS organizations are not included unless they offer data. Click the title to see a description. In some cases we include also:
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| What VISIT Teacher Investigators are learning about sources of geo-referenced data to use in their Investigations. VISIT teachers look for data that will help their students to understand and apply key concepts to their own experience and their own local community's interests. Field data collected by their own students often motivates and provides a starting point for the inquiry. Teachers work with geo-referenced digital data sets available from national, regional, state, and local sources. VISIT staff and collaborating scientists work with individual teachers to assist them in learning how to identify, access, evaluate, and apply existing data bases and student-collected data to their own projects. In the VISIT Collaboratory, teachers learn these skills and concepts by working with data sets that other VISIT teachers have already found to be useful for a particular type and topic of investigation. VISIT teachers, teacher leaders, and staff also work together to perform these data mining steps with data sets that have not yet been evaluated or processed. Teachers sometimes combine data sets from their students' field data collection with other data sources. Steps in locating, accessing, evaluating and applying data sets in VISIT:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet The U.S. Census Bureau's American FactFinder provides data and maps related to population and demographics. The site is designed to help you find the information you need -- with special features like:
Tutorials and training materials are available to teach you how to use American Fact Finder.
Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center The Carbon
Dioxide Information Analysis Center (Robert M. Cushman,
Director), which includes the World Data Center
for Atmospheric Trace Gases, is the primary global-change
data and information analysis center of the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE).
CDIAC responds to data and information requests
from users from all over the world who are concerned with the
greenhouse effect and global climate change. CDIAC's data holdings
include records of the concentrations of carbon dioxide and
other radiatively active gases in the atmosphere; the role of
the terrestrial biosphere and the oceans in the biogeochemical
cycles of greenhouse gases; emissions of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere; long-term climate trends; the effects of elevated
carbon dioxide on vegetation; and the vulnerability of coastal
areas to rising sea level. Subject Areas
Message no. 3497 [Branch
from no. 3384] Thanks to those of you
who responded with site
Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory The Climate Monitoring
and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, conducts sustained observations
and research related to source and sink strengths, trends
and global distributions of atmospheric constituents that
are capable of forcing change in the climate of Earth through
modification of the atmospheric radiative environment, those
that may cause depletion of the global ozone layer, and
those that affect baseline air quality. CMDL accomplishes
this mission primarily through long-term measurements of
key atmospheric species at sites spanning the globe, including
four fully-equipped Baseline Observatories. These key species
include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous
oxide, surface and stratospheric ozone, halogenated compounds
including CFC replacements, hydrocarbons, sulfur gases,
aerosols, and solar and infrared radiation. The measurements
are of the highest quality and accuracy possible, and document
global changes in key atmospheric species, which are all
affected by mankind, identifying sources of interannual
variability. In addition, research programs in key regions,
utilizing an array of platforms including aircraft, balloons,
ocean vessels and towers, complement the land-based information.
CMDL's data are used to assess climate forcing, ozone depletion
and baseline air quality, to develop and test diagnostic
and predictive models, and to keep the public, policy makers,
and scientists abreast of the current state of our chemical
and radiative atmosphere. For more information, visit our
online
overview or find out more about our five research
groups.
In message 3212 on Sun
Mar 03, 2002 15:48, Gerry writes: I have been looking for
annual historical data for CO2 Message no. 3396 [Branch
from no. 3368] Subject Re: Historical
Climate Data http://www.cmdl.noaa.gov/ Joseph Kerski - USGS - jjkerski@usgs.gov DIGITAL GEOLOGIC MAP AND MINERAL The Mineral Resources Program provides and communicates current, impartial information on the occurrence, quality, quantity, and availability of mineral resources.The USGS Mineral Resources Program is the only Federal research effort focused on mineral issues that integrates environmental, resource, and economic factors. Recent changes include increased program emphasis on partnering, database accessibility for decisionmaking, mineral environmental studies, assessments of industrial minerals, applied deposit research, and geochemical backgrounds and baselines. Other changes stemmed from the 1996 transfer of the minerals information functions from the former U.S. Bureau of Mines which added extensive capabilities and responsibilities in collecting, assessing, and analyzing the production, consumption, and materials flow of over 100 commodities from 190 countries. For details - http://minerals.usgs.gov/
http://www.epa.gov/watershed/iwimapper/ The EnviroMapper for Watersheds application provides users with interactive Geographic Information System (GIS) functionality using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spatial data. EnviroMapper for Watersheds allows users to view spatial data at the national, state, and county levels, as well as utilize GIS functionality, such as displaying multiple spatial layers, zooming, panning, identifying features, and querying single points. VISIT has a series of lessons on toxic chemicals in our neighborhood, taking advantage of Enviromapper for Watersheds. See http://maps.acad.emich.edu/smpInv/Sample1.asp For details - http://www.epa.gov/watershed/iwimapper/ Federal Geographic Information Clearinghouse The Geospatial Data Clearinghouse (FGDC) is a collection of over 250 spatial data servers, that have digital geographic data primarily for use in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), image processing systems, and other modelling software. These data collections can be searched through a single interface based on their descriptions, or metadata. The Federal Geographic Data Committee coordinates the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The NSDI encompasses policies, standards, and procedures for organizations to cooperatively produce and share geographic data. The 17 federal agencies that make up the FGDC are developing the NSDI in cooperation with organizations from state, local and tribal governments, the academic community, and the private sector. The Clearinghouse Activity, sponsored by the FGDC, is a decentralized system of servers located on the Internet which contain field-level descriptions of available digital spatial data. This descriptive information, known as metadata, are collected in a standard format to facilitate query and consistent presentation across multiple participating sites. Clearinghouse uses readily available Web technology for the client side and uses the ANSI standard Z39.50 for the query, search, and presentation of search results to the Web client.A fundamental goal of Clearinghouse is to provide access to digital spatial data through metadata. The Clearinghouse functions as a detailed catalog service with support for links to spatial data and browse graphics. Clearinghouse sites are encouraged to provide hypertext linkages within their metadata entries that enable users to directly download the digital data set in one or more formats. Where digital data are too large to be made available through the Internet or the data products are made available for sale, linkage to an order form can be provided in lieu of a data set. Through this model, Clearinghouse metadata provides low-cost advertising for providers of spatial data, both non-commerical and commercial, to potential customers via the Internet. VISIT participants have access to lessons called "Using Metadata and Data Clearinghouses" that assist in using the FGDC. Contact bev@piedmontresearch.org for more information. For details - http://www.fgdc.gov/ http://www.geographynetwork.com/ The Geography Network is a global community of data providers who are committed to making geographic content available. This content is published from many sites around the world, providing you immediate access to the latest maps, data, and related services. This portal to the Geography Network enables you to discover this content and share your own. For details - http://www.geographynetwork.com/ The GIS Data Depot houses data in support of the GIS industry. The majority of the data has been downloaded by their staff from a wide range of GIS Web sites located on the Internet. There is also value added data where they have performed some translation, attribution, analysis, or other data enhancing operations. By providing all of these resources from one convenient location, GeoCommunity has made every effort to ensure that you can locate the data you are searching for in a quick and efficient manner.
Some of the data
are free. There is also a help desk to assist with downloads.
GeoPortals.com is a collection of free sites designed to help you organize and simplify your searches. These sites are brought to you by the creator of the Software Publishers Association Codie Award winning GeoHistory Maps CD ROMs and the GeoHistory Internet sites.The sites in the GeoPortals.com network are designed to save you countless hours of sifting through limitless information about your subject and to make your time more useful, enjoyable, and productive. For details - http://www.geoportals.com/ http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/pub/info/holdings.html This site contains data sets from the USGS Global Change research program. http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/globalgis/ The Global GIS is built from relatively small scale data (1:1 million scale or 1 Km resolution) and put on seven CD-ROM's organized by regions of the world. Each CD-ROM integrates data for a given region and includes a user-friendly GIS viewer. Also a single DVD-ROM will be created that includes all the data with a refined interface. The atlases contain the following datasets: Combining existing global datasets in this manner enhances the impact of individual data products and make the aggregate product attractive to a larger and more diverse customer base. The Global GIS database is designed to be used with the full version of ArcView 3.0 or higher, or the included free software, ArcView Data Publisher. Each CD will contain a suite of customized ArcView tools specifically designed for the datasets, making it useful for beginners or advanced GIS users. Interface Snapshot Application of GIS in the geosciences has grown explosively over the past few years as scientists and land-use specialists have been able to prepare thematic maps and determine spatial relations among multiple datasets. Although GIS applications hold great potential for most organizations, their availability and application largely have been limited to institutions that can afford and assemble the necessary hardware, software, datasets, and hard-to-find technical expertise. Our approach can provide a good source of data and GIS tools to the community at large. The USGS has a well-deserved reputation for the collection, interpretation, and distribution of geologic, hydrologic, cartographic, and biologic data. Although the Bureau's mission is primarily domestic in focus, many of the datasets we develop are global. These include the recently released Global Digital Elevation Model (DEM), a wide variety of remotely sensed products, data on world oil, gas, coal, and mineral deposits, biodiversity, and geologic hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides). Virtually all of these datasets are readily available in digital form, either on the Internet or on CD-ROM. However, most of them are stand-alone products, and, even though they are readily available, they often require specialized software access. Very few have been combined into integrated products. See the website for more information and ordering info.
Guide to Mostly On-Line and Mostly Free
U.S. Geospatial and Attribute Data This list provides a starting point when beginning to track down sources of digital geospatial data and attributes related to the US. The site is not updated frequently, but it contains a large number of topics and sites. It isn't meant to suggest one data set or source over another. "I've tried my best to bring you as close as possible to the data and metadata. Please expect some duplication of links. At this time there is no "major" concerted effort being expended on developing this page though I do tinker with it from time to time." Maintained by volunteer Stephan Pollard. Historic USGS Maps of New England and New York http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm The United States Geological Survey began its topographic atlas of the United States in 1882. The University of New Hampshire's Library's Government Documents Department holds a working collection of over 55,000 paper USGS maps. This online collection of over 1500 USGS topographic maps includes complete geographical coverage of New England and New York from the 1890s to 1950s. Searchable by quad index, town index, and map. Message no. 2981 posted
by Henrietta List (v_hlist) on Mon Feb 25, 2002 00:21 (In response to a teacher's
request for historic maps of Bangor, Maine): Here is the URL: LandView III http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/lv3desc.html LandView III is a desktop mapping system that includes database extracts from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of the Census, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Transportation, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These databases are presented in a geographic context on maps that show jurisdictional boundaries, detailed networks of roads, rivers, and railroads, census block group and tract polygons, schools, hospitals, churches, cemeteries, airports, dams, and other landmark features. LandView III is a geographic reference, like an atlas. It displays: - A detailed network of roads, rivers, and railroads based on TIGER/Line® 1995 files. - Jurisdictional and statistical boundaries - a set of generalized boundary files for states, congressional districts (105th), metropolitan areas (June 30, 1996), Native American Indian Areas, Alaska Native lands, counties, and minor civil divisions (for 20 selected states where minor civil divisions function as general purpose governmental units or constitute legal entities), census tracts and block groups. - EPA-regulated sites, a subset of the facilities, sites, and monitoring stations represented in five EPA data bases Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS), Biennial Reporting System (BRS), CERCLA Information System (CERCLIS), Permit Compliance System (PCS), and the Toxic Release Inventory System (TRI). - Selected demographic and economic information from the 1990 Census, and Key geographic features of the United States provided by the United States Geological Survey and other Federal agencies. LandView III enables you to:
For details - http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/lv3desc.html
http://musashi.ogis.state.me.us/catalog/catalog.asp The purpose of this Data Catalog is to provide the public with access to the digital geographic data in the Maine Geographic Information System, maintained by the Maine Office of GIS (MEGIS). Users may use this site to download geographic data and the associated metadata. Maine GIS data is referenced by the following coordinate system, units, and datum: UTM Zone 19, meters, NAD 83 The four 'tabs' near the top of this page correspond to the different ways in which our data layers are distributed, 24k Tile (7.5-minute USGS quadrangle map extents), 100k Tile (30x60-minute USGS quadrangle map extents), Town Boundary (township boundaries), and Single Coverage (single continuous coverages, often statewide). http://www.state.ma.us/mgis/massgis.htm The Mass GIS web site contains just about every imaginable dataset for Massachusetts, including shapefiles and many other formats. MassGIS data can be divided into two broad categories: base map data and environmental data. These data have been developed at a variety of scales (see the section Understanding Scale for a brief description on map scale). The data may also be categorized further, based on types of geographic features, such as infrastructure, physical resources, and political boundaries. For descriptions on individual layers see the Available Datalayers page, on which the data are organized within the more-detailed categories. Datalayer descriptions may also be found in the MassGIS Catalog. VISIT Lesson "Downloading Data from MassGIS" is available at http://www.emich.edu/visit/modules/HohnDownloadingData.pdf Michigan Center for Geographic Information The Michigan Center for Geographic Information (CGI) provides leadership, technical expertise and policy for the development, use, dissemination, promotion and sharing of geographic information in the state of Michigan. Their Geographic Data Library serves as the state's repository of digital geographic information. This site currently contains over 60 unique statewide datasets including the state's basemap (MI Geographic Framework), aerial imagery, geology, hydrography, land ownership, topography, and much more. The MI MAP GALLERY stores a multitude of maps produced by and for various agencies throughout State Government. The MI Mapper offers a variety of "web" mapping applications that state departments are currently making available in subjects from schools to forest pests.
http://www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/MichSeis/ "MichSeis is the concept that a network of independent, yet cooperative, digital seismographic stations can be operated by schools and institutions throughout Michigan*." Real-time, recent, and historical data on seismic activity in Michigan. National Earthquake Information Center http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/states/ Search for national and world earthquake data on any imaginable parameter: State, magnitude, date or range of years, number of deaths, frequency of occurrence, seismograph station. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ The National Geographic Society is the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organization. With their Map Machine you can generate all sorts of thematic maps. They have many different types of map products online and for sale. For details - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a comprehensive
set of digital spatial data that contains information about
surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers,
springs and wells. Within the NHD, surface water features are
combined to form "reaches," which provide the framework for
linking water-related data to the NHD surface water drainage
network. These linkages enable the analysis and display of these
water-related data in upstream and downstream order. National Hydrography Dataset Tutorial Series. http://nhd.usgs.gov/tutorials.html Each tutorial provides students with the opportunity to actively learn about and use NHD data. The tutorials come with sample NHD datasets and ArcView project files. The purpose of the NHD Tutorials is to acquaint users with the NHD data model, learn how to use NHD data in simple query-and-display applications, and to access and query NHD metadata. The NHD Tutorials are meant to be a companion to the NHD Technical References documentation. There is a great deal of conceptual information, background information, and detailed data-specific information on the NHD Technical References web site. Students are encouraged to consult digital or hard copies of the documents posted on the NHD Technical References site while going through each Tutorial. Each
Tutorial should take you about 30 to 45 minutes to complete.
The NHC provides comprehensive data source on hurricanes and tropical storms, including historical data, imagery, models, and many other forms of information. National Park Service Nationwide Rivers Inventory (NRI) http://www.ncrc.nps.gov/rtca/nri/ The NRI is a listing of more than 3,400 free-flowing river segments in the United States that are believed to possess one or more "outstandingly remarkable" natural or cultural values judged to be of more than local or regional significance. Under a 1979 Presidential directive, and related Council on Environmental Quality procedures, all federal agencies must seek to avoid or mitigate actions that would adversely affect one or more NRI segments. The NRI is a source of information for statewide river assessments and federal agencies involved with stream-related projects. For any group concerned with ecosystem management, the inventory can provide the location of the nearest naturally- functioning system which might serve as a reference for monitoring activities. It also serves as a listing of plant and animal species for restoration efforts on a similar section of river. For the recreationalist, it provides a listing of free-flowing, relatively undisturbed river segments. For details - http://www.ncrc.nps.gov/rtca/nri/ http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/nssc/ This appears to be the compleat source
of soils information for the U.S.A. More soil surveys are being
made available in electronic format. Some are in Portable Document
File (PDF) or HTML and are available online. Some have been
put on CD's. Some of the more recent online surveys are in Adobe®Acrobat® 5.0. Some are scanned copies and
as such are "Historic Replicas". Others have been put into electronic
format and are "intermediate" prior to publication. Some of
these electronic soil surveys are text only, no maps and other
have soils maps available. These electronic format soil surveys
are indicated in the "Individual
State Listing" "List of Published Soil Surveys". They are
also listed in "Online
Soil Survey Manuscripts". Not all states have electronic
soil surveys available. Check with the state office of the state of your interest. National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) http://www.nsgic.org/indexframe.html You can learn all about the GIS organizations and developments in your state government, including your state government's GIS web sites, from the States in Review section of NSGIC web site. You can download a pdf file about your state. The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) is an organization of States committed to efficient and effective government through the prudent adoption of information technology. Members of NSGIC include delegations of senior state geographic information system managers from across the United States. Other members include representatives from federal agencies, local government, the private sector, academia and other professional organizations..NSGIC is particularly concerned with geographic data and systems. For details - http://www.nsgic.org/indexframe.html Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA) http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/land/ "State of the Land" provides data and
analysis on land use, soil erosion, water quality, wetlands,
and other issues regarding the conservation and use of natural
resources. In "Major Land Resource Areas" you can
click on the map to zoom in to regional MLRA maps. When you click on an individual map or table on the subject index pages, you will get --
Most of the analysis products on this site were created at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and are National in scope. If you seek more local analysis, contact NRCS state and regional offices or other sources referenced on our NRCS GIS and Data page.
New Jersey Spatial Data Clearinghouse The clearinghouse is operated by the NJ Office of Geographic Information Systems. The goal of this site is to provide New Jersey citizens and the GIS community with a comprehensive site to find and share GIS information, spatial data, interactive mapping applications and resources. The NJ Spatial Data Clearinghouse is part of a national network of spatial resources that comprises the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The New Jersey Spatial Data Clearinghouse stores metadata from organizations across the state. Use the metadata library to discover and obtain New Jersey GIS datasets.
Message no. 3357 Branch
from no. 3247 Posted by Alan Subject New Jersey GIS data After http://njgeodata.state.nj.us/ http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/education/tutorial Hope this helps someone!
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/ Welcome to NatureServe Explorer, a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities of the United States and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.
New National Land Cover Dataset http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/programs/lccp The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have teamed up to compile the first seamless National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) using satellite imagery for the conterminous United States. At 30-meter resolution, the NLCD is the most detailed land cover information ever compiled at a national level. The new CD-ROMs include data for the states east of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Data for the remaining states will be available within the next six months. The first eight CD's of a planned 31-volume disc set contains 21 categories of land cover information across the lower 48 states. These data are used in a variety of national and regional applications, including watershed management, environmental inventories, transportation modeling and land management."Many federal, state, and local agencies rely on land cover data in making critical decisions related to managing natural resources," said USGS associate director for geography Barbara Ryan. "Land cover has changed considerably since the last data set was developed in the 1970's, and it's important to provide resource managers with the most up-to-date information available."The release of the CD's is the culmination of a five-year effort by the USGS, EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Forest Service to purchase and analyze the necessary Landsat satellite Thematic Mapper imagery used in the NLCD. Scientists at the USGS used a variety of supporting information in addition to the satellite data, including topography, census, agricultural statistics, soil characteristics, other land cover maps, and wetlands data to determine and label the land cover type for each 30-meter pixel. This imagery database is also being used by the partner organizations for their own programs.The NLCD was designed to be compatible with the earlier Land Use/Land Cover data set compiled from 1970's and 1980's aerial photography. The data from these two time periods provide an opportunity to investigate the land cover change in the United States over the last 30 years. The experience gained from this mapping effort will be used to improve the next-generation national land cover data set, which will use Landsat-7 data collected over the next three years. The CD-ROMs can be ordered from Customer Services at the USGS EROS Data Center (605-594-6151; email custserv@edcmail.cr.usgs.gov; FAX 605-594-6589), contact any other USGS Earth Science Information Center or order online from this address: http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/programs/lccp/mrlcreg.html. For more information about the NLCD and the USGS Land Cover Characterization Program, please visit: http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/programs/lccp As the Nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2,000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the sound conservation and economic and physical development of the Nation's natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources. For details - http://www.usgs.gov/public/press/public_affairs/press_releases/pr1299m.html Joseph Kerski, geographer at the USGS, provided the following additional information in the VISIT Collaboratory: I have briefly examined
the new USGS CDs of the National Projection: Albers Conical Equal Area Datum: NAD 83 Spheroid: GRS 80 Standard Parallels:
29.5 degrees north latitude
45.5 degrees north
latitude Central Meridian:
96 degrees west
longitude Origin of the Projection: 23 degrees north
latitude False Easting:
0 meters False Northing:
0 meters You can't do much analysis
with these raw geoTIFFs
http://precip.fsl.noaa.gov/hourly_precip.html Message no. 4475 posted
by Al on Sat Apr 20, 2002 09:37 Here is a source for
precip data. This site also contains links to several other
potentially HOURLY/DAILY RAIN DATA:
from NOAA, “this web site Rouge River National Demonstration Project (RPO). http://maps.acad.emich.edu/dataview/ Water quality data for the Rouge River watershed in Michigan, and GIS DataView software tools for mining and analyzing the data, are available both on CD-ROM and online from the VISIT office at EMU. TerraServer Since mid-1998, Terraserver (terraserver.microsoft.com) has been serving up millions of images each month from compressed USGS Digital OrthoPhoto Quads (DOQs), Russian SPIN-2 imagery, and more, USGS topographic maps in digital format (Digital Raster Graphics), and links to the USGS stream gaging stations from these DRGs. The Microsoft TerraServer web site is one of the world's largest online databases, with 25 terabytes of disk storage, allowing anyone to quickly and easily use maps and images to explore the United States and certain places around the world with a standard web browser. An average of 40,000 users request 4,000,000 images from the site everyday. This magnificent site grew out of a USGS cooperative research and development agreement with Microsoft tocompress Terrabytes of images using MrSID compression routines. Some images have been available for download and for purchase. Arkansas Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies http://www.cast.uark.edu/site_map/site_map.htm#interactive_mapping One of their services, GeoStor, is an on-line data delivery system that allows the user seamless access to digital map data (GeoData) of any area in Arkansas with no subscription fee. The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) was established at the University of Arkansas in september of 1991 in order to bring together the consideration expertise of a network of researches with a long standing history of GIS development at the University For details - http://www.cast.uark.edu/ The National Atlas of the United States of America Work on a new National Atlas of the United States® began in 1997. This Atlas updates a large bound collection of paper maps that was published in 1970. Like its predecessor, this edition promotes greater national geographic awareness. It delivers easy to use, map-like views of America's natural and sociocultural landscapes. Unlike the previous Atlas, this version is largely digital. The new National Atlas includes products and services designed to stimulate children and adults to visualize and understand complex relationships between environments, places, and people. It contributes to our knowledge of the environmental, resource, demographic, economic, social, political, and historical dimensions of American life.This Atlas serves the interests and needs of a diverse populace in many ways, including:
Maps.com is your one stop shop for maps. From driving directions to USA and world maps, Maps.com has it. Use our search feature or browse our map channels to find what you're looking for.Maps.com Site Map For details - http://www.maps.com/ Resources for Earth Science and Geography Instruction http://personal.cmich.edu/~franc1m/homepage.htm The links are organized around the sequence of topics typically taught in an introductory earth science or physical geography class. The sites selected are based on image quality, ease with which lesson plans can be developed, organization, authenticity, scope, and format.Would you like to receive a weekly e-mail featuring reviews of some of the best sites in earth science, environmental science, and geography? Contact Dr. Mark Francek (Mark.Francek@cmich.edu) to be added to the "Earth Science Site of the Week" listserv. Message no. 2928 Posted by Al on Sat Feb 23, 2002 17:33 Hello All, Includes real-time data, analyses and forecasts. This web site contains thousands of weather related images. Links to these images are grouped by data type, image type and region. Links to images generally appear in on each page under a specific heading such as "Regions". Since many
of the images are rather complex or contain data of meteorological
value, image explanation pages are needed. Explanation
documents are provided through links like: In some documents,
access to these documents can be gained by clicking on the DETAILS
icon The images on the site are grouped by data type, image type, or other means. An index on each HTML page provides an easy means for getting to other main HTML pages. Message no. 2236 [Branch
from no. 2154] Subject Re: Climate and
Weather Almost all the objectives
that John would like to do from Bill Hamilton, VISIT http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wfront.htm Weather briefs; alerts; radar & satellite images; science; weather basics; hurricanes; severe storms; almanac; week ahead; extremes; safety; regional maps; more. Message no. 2172 [Branch
from no. 2166] Subject Re: Climate and
Weather In response
to John's request for sources of weather and climate data:
U.S. Census Bureau TIGER files http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/index.html The term TIGER® is the acronym for Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing which is the name for the system and digital database developed at the Census Bureau to support its mapping needs for the Decennial Census and other Bureau programs. The TIGER/Line files are a digital database of geographic features, such as roads, railroads, rivers, lakes, political boundaries, census statistical boundaries, etc. covering the entire United States. The database contains information about these features such as their location in latitude and longitude, the name, the type of feature, address ranges for most streets, the geographic relationship to other features, and other related information. They are the public product created from the Census Bureau's TIGER data base of geographic information. TIGER was developed at the Census Bureau to support the mapping and related geographic activities required by the decennial census and sample survey programs.These files are not graphic images of maps, but rather digital data describing geographic features. To make use of these data, a user must have mapping or Geographic Information System (GIS) software that can import TIGER/Line data. The Census Bureau does NOT provide these data in any vendor-specific format. With the appropriate software a user can produce maps ranging in detail from a neighborhood street map to a map of the United States. To date, many local governments have used the TIGER data in applications requiring digital street maps. Software companies have created products for the personal computer that allow consumers to produce their own detailed maps. There are many other possibilities. To learn how to use TIGER files, you can download a series of ESRI lessons "Don't be afraid of the TIGER" from http://www.emich.edu/visit/modules/ACF90C4.zip THE TIGER/LINE PRODUCT DOES NOT INCLUDE DEMOGRAPHIC STATISTICS. The Census Bureau's TIGER® System automates the mapping and related geographic activities required to support the decennial census and sample survey programs of the Census Bureau starting with the 1990 decennial census. The TIGER® System provides support for the following: - Creation and maintenance of the digital geographic data base that includes complete coverage of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, the other Pacific entities that were part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia), and the Midway Islands. - Production of maps from the TIGER® database for all Census Bureau enumeration and publication programs. - Ability to assign individual addresses to geographic entities and census blocks based on polygons formed by features such as roads and streams. The design of the TIGER® data base adapts the theories of topology, graph theory, and associated fields of mathematics to provide a disciplined, mathematical description for the geographic structure of the United States and its territories. The topological structure of the TIGER® data base defines the location and relationship of streets, rivers, railroads, and other features to each other and to the numerous geographic entities for which the Census Bureau tabulates data from its censuses and sample surveys. It is designed to assure no duplication of these features or areas. For details - http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/index.html http://www.epa.gov/OST/BASINS/ The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s water programs and their counterparts in states and pollution control agencies are increasingly emphasizing watershed and water quality-based assessment and integrated analysis of point and nonpoint sources. Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) is a system developed to meet the needs of such agencies. It integrates a geographic information system (GIS), national watershed data, and state-of-the-art environmental assessment and modeling tools into one convenient package. BASINS provides a useful source of information for creating a GIS base map of your locality.Originally released in September 1996, BASINS addresses three objectives: (1) to facilitate examination of environmental information, (2) to provide an integrated watershed and modeling framework, and (3) to support analysis of point and nonpoint source management alternatives. It supports the development of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), which require a watershed-based approach that integrates both point and nonpoint sources. BASINS can support the analysis of a variety of pollutants at multiple scales, using tools that range from simple to sophisticated.The heart of BASINS is its suite of interrelated components essential for performing watershed and water quality analysis. These components are grouped into five categories:
The following is a quote from Charlie Fitzpatrick, education specialist at ESRI: (BASINS = Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources) It's a rich website with data about watersheds in the 48 conterminous states that can be used for detailed GIS projects. It's even a bit intimidating. BASINS was designed for people doing hardcore watershed analysis, and they have created sophisticated applications using ArcView which can be downloaded or ordered for free. This can all be a bit much for school use, but they also have elevation files plus streams and other data sets, all neatly carved out by 8-digit watershed. All the data are in decimal degree shapefiles, so they work perfectly with ArcView or ArcVoyager. They're great for doing a Community Atlas project, in combination with downloadable TIGER data from the Census. It's a little tricky working with the BASINS site because there is so much there, and EPA just released the BASINS 3 update. For a page of instructions for accessing, downloading, and using the BASINS data, which covers the version 3 update, see: http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/basins.html If you don't know your 8-digit watershed, the directions link you to the EPA's "Surf Your Watershed" site, where you can find it. Or, if you have ESRI's "GIS for Schools & Libraries" CD, you'll find the 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-digit watersheds on that CD. This year, go beyond just awareness of rivers. Look at what students can do to ensure the long-term health of our rivers. Charlie ----- Charlie Fitzpatrick ESRI Schools & Libraries Getting BASINS OnlineOne teacher in VISIT found that EPA was "out of stock" on the BASIN CD's for his region. The following procedures for getting BASINS online were suggested by Al in the VISIT Collaboratory: It may be
the CD is currently unavailable, however the For details - http://www.epa.gov/OST/BASINS/
U.S. EPA CAMEO, MARPLOT and ALOHA http://www.epa.gov/swercepp/cameo/what.htm CAMEO ® Computer Aided Management of Emergency Operations is a system of software applications used widely to plan for and respond to chemical emergencies. It is one of the tools developed by EPA’s Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Response and Restoration (NOAA), to assist front-line chemical emergency planners and responders. They can use CAMEO to access, store, and evaluate information critical for developing emergency plans. In addition, CAMEO supports regulatory compliance by helping users meet the chemical inventory reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA, also known as SARA Title III). CAMEO also can be used with a separate software application called LandView ® to display EPA environmental databases and demographic/economic information to support analysis of environmental justice issues. The CAMEO system integrates a chemical database and a method to manage the data, an air dispersion model, and a mapping capability. All modules work interactively to share and display critical information in a timely fashion. The CAMEO system is available in Macintosh and Windows formats.MARPLOT ® - Mapping Applications for Response, Planning, and Local Operational TasksMARPLOT is the mapping application for CAMEO. It allows users to "see" their data (e.g., roads, facilities, schools, response assets), display this information on computer maps, and print the information on area maps. The areas contaminated by potential or actual chemical release scenarios also can be overlaid on the maps to determine potential impacts. The maps are created from the U.S. Bureau of Census TIGER/Line files and can be manipulated quickly to show possible hazard areas. ALOHA ® - Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres -- ALOHA-- is an atmospheric dispersion model used for evaluating releases of hazardous chemical vapors. ALOHA allows the user to estimate the downwind dispersion of a chemical cloud based on the toxicological/physical characteristics of the released chemical, atmospheric conditions, and specific circumstances of the release. Graphical outputs include a "cloud footprint" that can be plotted on maps with MARPLOT to display the location of other facilities storing hazardous materials and vulnerable locations, such as hospitals and schools. Specific information about these locations can be extracted from CAMEO information modules to help make decisions about the degree of hazard posed. VISIT Lesson: HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE EPA TRILOGY OF GIS APPLICATIONS: CAMEO, MARPLOT AND ALOHA i is available at http://www.emich.edu/visit/modules/DOWNLOADGIS_APPs.pdf For details - http://www.epa.gov/swercepp/cameo/what.htm U.S. EPA EnviroMapper and Envirofacts http://maps.epa.gov/enviromapper/ The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the Envirofacts Warehouse to provide the public with direct access to the wealth of information contained in its databases. The Envirofacts Warehouse allows you to retrieve environmental information from EPA databases on Air, Chemicals, Facility Information, Grants/Funding, Hazardous Waste, Risk Management Plans, Superfund, Toxic Releases, and Water Permits, Drinking Water, Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence, and Drinking Water Microbial and Disinfection Byproduct Information.You may retrieve information from several databases at once, or from one database at a time. Online queries allow you to retrieve data from these sources and create reports, or you may generate maps of environmental information by selecting from several mapping applications available through EPA's Maps On Demand. For a short lesson from VISIT on using Enviromapper, see http://www.emich.edu/visit/modules/spatialEnvMaplsn.pdf For a series of lessons on toxic chemicals in our neighborhood, taking advantage of Enviromapper, see http://maps.acad.emich.edu/smpInv/Sample1.asp VISIT
Collaboratory Message no. 2144 posted by Marge
on Wed Nov 07, 2001 21:24 Where has this program
been all my life? Each
year we For details - http://maps.epa.gov/enviromapper/ http://www.epa.gov/compliance/whereyoulive.html The Environmental Justice Query Mapper (EnviroJustice Mapper) was developed as an information resource for the general public . Access to the EnviroJustice Mapper application is being provided via the Internet to provide the general public with easy access to information on EPA permitted facilities and their surrounding communities. EnviroJustice Mapper through a combination of facility and Geographic Information System (GIS) data, creates a facility profile which is then illustrated through the use of GIS maps, in three easy steps. Query, Verify and Go! Surf Your Watershed contains the following databases. Adopt Your Watershed - Is a database of Watershed groups throughout the nation. You can search for a group in your area either by State, Zipcode, Group Name, Keywords or even Stream Name. Currently over 5537 groups are indexed. Sites and groups are voluntarily submitted. Sites are reviewed. Wetlands Restoration Projects - View ongoing Wetlands Projects, add information about your own project or update previous information about your project. Organized by State and watershed. Currently there are 45 projects.Speak Out Discussion Database - offers you the opportunity to add to online dialog about environmental issues. This moderated bulletin board allows you to compose a comment or view other comments by: Category, Topic, Author or Date.American Heritage Rivers Services - A multi-agency initiative to help communities find support for their rivers. The database offers a "yellow pages" directory of services to help communities revitalize their rivers environmentally, economically and culturally. Currently indexes more than 1163 records. Voluntarily submitted. Sites are reviewed.SURF -Environmental Websites Database- A directory of websites dedicated to environmental issues and information. Search this SURF database using Keywords, Geography, Organization or even by the information medium you desire. You can locate your place and find relevant information. Currently 4941 web sites are indexed. Voluntarily submitted. Sites are reviewed. For details - http:/www.epa.gov/surf3/ U.S. EPA Watershed Information Network Atlas http://www.epa.gov/wateratlas/ The Watershed Atlas is a catalog of geo-spatial displays and analyses of information and data important for watershed protection and restoration. You can use the catalog by geography, theme, key word, source/organization, and age of source data (under construction). Or search it using your words. Message no. 5860 posted
by Donna on Mon Aug 12, 2002 20:51 Subject
Watershed Data/Toxic Overloads Data for Lesson 2 Hi all! For details - http://www.epa.gov/wateratlas/ U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory This site provides all imaginable information about the Hawaiian volcanoes. The Hawaiian Islands are at the southeastern end of a chain of volcanoes that began to form more than 70 million years ago. Many of these volcanoes formed islands that have subsided and eroded beneath sea level, and some of the old volcanoes probably never reached sea level. Each Hawaiian island is made of one or more volcanoes, which first erupted on the sea floor and only emerged above the ocean's surface after countless eruptions. The largest and most southeastern island of the chain, Hawai`i, consists of five volcanoes. Kilauea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai have erupted in the past 200 years. Lo`ihi, the youngest volcano of the Hawaiian Volcanic Chain, is still about 1,000 meters beneath the ocean's surface. East Maui Volcano, commonly known as Haleakala, on the island of Maui, is the only other Hawaiian volcano to have erupted since the late 1700's. U.S. Geological Survey Real Time Water Data http://water.usgs.gov/realtime.html Using a map you can select the 10 nearest stations to the point you click, a list of all the stations in a state, or an interactive map of a state. You also may use a list to obtain data by state. The stream-gaging program of the USGS does not represent a single "network" of stations, but is an aggregation of networks and individual stream flow stations that originally were established for various purposes. Because the data from about 4,200 of the 7,292 stations are telemetered by an earth-satellite-based communications system, those data are available in realtime for many agencies to conduct water-resources projects and for the National Weather Service (NWS) to forecast floods. Data from the active stations, as well as from discontinued stations, are stored in a computer data base that currently holds mean daily-discharge data for about 18,500 locations and more than 400,000 station-years of record, or more than 146 million individual mean daily-discharge values. Additional data are added to the database each year. The stream-discharge data base is an ever-growing resource for water-resources planning and design, hydrologic research, and operation of water-resources projects. Increasing the length of individual station records is valuable for at least two reasons. Additional years of record provide ever-improving accuracy of estimates of stream flow characteristics, such as the magnitude of extreme infrequent floods or low flows, and an opportunity to determine how stream flow characteristics are changing over time due to such causes as agricultural practices, urbanization, ground-water development, or climate change. Today, more than one-half of the currently operating stations have equipment that permits immediate transmission of data by means of satellite from the data-collection site. By using the telemetry, data are transmitted around the clock by means of two geo-stationary operations environmental satellites (GOES) that are positioned above the Earth at an altitude 22,300 miles above the Equator over the eastern Pacific Ocean and Brazil. The satellites are operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These data then are retransmitted by means of a domestic satellite, and the resulting signal is received by the USGS and other users. The transmission and receipt of the signals are automated, as are the provisional discharge computations that are available for meeting current data needs. For details - http://water.usgs.gov/realtime.html Virginia Geographic Information Network (VGIN) The Virginia Spatial Metadata Clearinghouse
Search Tool lets you customize your search in four different
areas:
A Virginia Spatial Metadata Clearinghouse search
returns titles of data sets that match your selection criteria.
Each title links you to a detailed description of the data,
called metadata, which includes the most important facts about
the data and information on how to obtain a copy. Data often
can be downloaded directly through the metadata. Water on the Web WOW's primary goal is to train students to understand and solve real-world environmental problems. Water on the Web (WOW) offers unique opportunities for high school and first year college students to learn basic science through hands-on science activities, in the lab and in the field, and by working with state-of-the-art technologies accessible through a free web site. Teacher and student lesson plans can be found on the site under the headings "Teacher" and "Student". Real water quality data, provided in real-time and archived formats, is obtained through the project's Remote Underwater Sampling Stations (RUSS). Currently we are providing data from five RUSS units that are located in four Minnesota lakes. Data visualization tools embedded in the web site allow students to see and explore relationships that might be lost to them when the data appears as just arrays of numbers. The data visualization tools and data are both found under the "Data" portion of the site. Message no. 2861 Posted
by Cris on Thu Feb 21, 2002 17:44
Message no. 2895 Posted by jacklyn on Fri Feb 22, 2002 12:33 I found the WOW material very useful in applying to any topic. The material is well organized and gives strong student instruction as well good teacher support. It shows student application directly so there is no real need for a busy teacher to reinvent activites. It has very interesting initial research questions that students could take to a variety of levels and easily expand upon. The data is obtained from a WOW site and analyzed using excel, a program most of us have access to. They use poster presentation for reporting out and give very good hints as to what makes a good reseach poster. It is a good lead in for science projects in science fairs as well in poster design, scienctific method and data analysis. This activity also gives strong support for student sto use graphs to display data as an effective communication tool. I think it could be a great early lesson for students, especially young students. Jackie This user-friendly and very popular weather information site was originally designed by a graduate student in meteorology at the University of Michigan to provide real-time weather data to school children. The name "The Weather Underground" is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the 1960's radical group that also originated at the University of Michigan in 1991. The web site matured in 1998 with the addition of several foreign languages, leading the Weather Underground toward its current state as the most widely translated weather site in the world - over 35 languages. Media Metrix named the wunderground.com site as the #5 most used sites by kids.
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