Administrative Boundaries
- Global Administrative AreasGADM is a spatial database of the location of the world's administrative areas (or adminstrative boundaries) for use in GIS and similar software. Administrative areas in this database are countries and lower level subdivisions.
- MassGIS
Search "boundaries" within MassGIS Oliver to retrieve municipal and urban census boundaries for Massachusetts. - TIGER Census Boundary FilesDownload boundaries, roads, address information, and water files for the entire US.
- Worldwide Political BoundariesFor worldwide political boundary files, access Esri data either through the HGL (e.g. search for "ESRI Political Boundaries") or by accessing the esridata_10 folder on the Goliath server: Goliath/Geo/esridata_10. These data are licensed to Harvard.
- Global Administrative AreasFreely available global administrative boundary data is available from GADM.
- EuroStatsEuropean spatial statistics
- Zip Code Boundary FilesData by Esri includes US zip code boundary files. They can be accessed through HGL or the Goliath server at the GSD: Goliath/geo/esri_data10
- Historical Country BoundariesListed here are available sites that offer historical country data in GIS file formats for download.
Aerial / Orthophotos
- USGS EarthExplorer
Use EarthExplorer to search the US Geological Survey's products. For a how-to guide on using Earth Explorer, use this link: http://eros.usgs.gov/find-data - Additional USGS Links-Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles (DOQ): Georeferenced aerial photographs ranging from 1987 to present.
-National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP): 1987-2007
-Single Frame Records: 1937-Present
-National High Altitude Photograph (NHAP): 1980-1989 - Harvard Geospatial LibrarySearch the HGL for "orthophotos." There are also many online sources you can use to access aerial photography.
- ArcGIS OnlineYou can access this imagery via the Add Data dropdown button in ESRI ArcMap. This data includes 30cm imagery for the continental United States.
- USDA National Agricultural Image Program (NAIP)Available 2003-Present. For additional information, use this link: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/apfoapp?area=home&subject=prog&topic=nai
- LIDAR: Light Detection and RangingIn addition to EarthExplorer, NOAA can be a good source of coastal LIDAR data.
- MassGISOrthophotos for the state of Massachusetts, ranging from the 1990s through 2008. For additional MassGIS air photos, use this link: http://www.mass.gov/anf/research-and-tech/it-serv-and-support/application-serv/office-of-geographic-information-massgis/datalayers/colororthos2008.html
Satellite Imagery
- Additional USGS Links-Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER): 1999-Present
-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS): 2000-Present
-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
-Spaceborne Imaging Radar C-Band (SIR-C)
-Corona: 1960-1972
-Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) - NASA Worldview DataNear real-time satellite images from NASA.
- ArcGIS OnlineYou can access this imagery via the Add Data dropdown button in ArcMap. This includes 60cm imagery for many parts of the world. The imagery can be used in ArcMap as a basemap, but not downloaded.
- Japan ImageryAdvanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS): 2006-Present
Assessor Data (Property Data)
- City of Boston: Assessor DataProperty parcel data including assessed value, location, ownership and tax information for each piece of property in the city
Bathymetry
- Detailed Map of the Ocean FloorData on slight variations of the pull of gravity over the oceans are recorded with satellite altimetry, and are then combined to map the seafloor globally.
- General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO)GEBCO data can be downloaded from the British Oceanographic Data Centre. The following data sets are available:
GEBCO_08 Grid — a global 30 arc-second grid
largely generated by combining quality-controlled ship depth soundings with interpolation between sounding points guided by satellite-derived gravity data.
GEBCO One - a global one arc-minute grid
Released: 2003, updated: 2008 — largely based on the most recent set of bathymetric contours contained within the GEBCO Digital Atlas. - Marine Geoscience Data SystemSearchable by data types, date, or region. Includes information on marine, continental, and polar environments. Includes a global bathymetry database, which allows users to view maps and download grids.
- NOAA Bathymetry Data ViewerSearch NOAA for bathymetry using this interactive graphical interface
- NOAA Estuarine BathymetryRaster Data for selected U.S. estuaries
- NOAA Grid ExtractDownload elevations above and below sea level (use either ETO option), ice, bedrock, or coastal relief models in a variety of formats. 3-second to 1-minute resolution depending on the data set.
- NOAA Sea Level Rise ViewerSea level rise projections for the US and territories. Data also available for download
- NOAA WCS Grid Extract ToolThe extractor is replacing the online GEODAS grid translator (design-a-grid), enabling creation and download of custom grids of bathymetry/topography.
Building Footprints & Zoning
- Building footprints for the Boston Metro Area, Manhattan, Houston and New Orleans can be downloaded from the HGL. For example, type "Boston buildings 2012" into the search box, and select the layer created by the Boston Dept. of Innovation and Technology.
- Detailed parcel data is available for New York City (Goliath/Geo/nyc/2012) and Boston (accessible through HGL).
- Zoning data for the state of Massachusetts can be downloaded from MassGIS.
- To find building footprints for places outside of the US, search the HGL for "buildings." You'll find building footprints for many places, including The Hague, Jerusalem and Baghdad.
- If you cannot find building outlines for your city through the HGL, you could use OpenStreetMap (OSM). Keep in mind that data in OSM is user-generated, much like information in Wikipedia.
- Parcel Data for South Africa is accessible through HGL.
Business Locations (US)
Harvard has a license for a product named ESRI Business Analyst, which provides information on locations of all of the businesses in the country from 2006 through to 2016. These data are available to the GSD community through the shared network drive: /Geo/esri_business_analyst.
Documentation of these datasets can be viewed in ArcMap through Right-Click > Data > View Item Description.
Climate Datasets
- BedMapBedMap is a tool by the British Antarctic Survey. It provides data on "surface elevation, ice-thickness and the sea floor and subglacial bed elevation of the Antarctic south of 60 degrees S."
- NASA Earth Exchange NEXClimate data by NASA
Each of the climate projections includes monthly averaged maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and precipitation for the periods from 1950 through 2005 (Retrospective Run) and from 2006 to 2099 (Prospective Run). - NASA's SEDAC (SocioEconomic Data and Applications Center)Access a wide variety of data:
climate change, natural disasters, infrastructure (dams, reservoirs, roads), land use, coastal water quality, etc. - UN Atlas of the OceansThis online ocean atlas provides information relevant to the sustainable development of the oceans. It is a collaborative effort between the UN and a number of scientific institutions. Included are maps, links to related sites, and more than 2,000 documents on 900 relevant subjects.
- UNEP Environmental Data Explorer(aggregates raster and vector datasets from various sources including NOAA, UNEP, USGS, NASA ). In the search box on the left, be sure to click on 'more' and to select 'geospatial datasets' under types of data.
Keywords: Temperature data, CO2 emission datasets, land cover, watershed, nightime lights data.
Census Data (USA)
- Social ExplorerAccess both historical and current demographic data. Includes census data and data from the American Community Survey.
Make sure to check the boxes "Output ALL geographic identifiers" and "Output DBF friendly column names" on Social Explorer's download page. Click on the red csv-link to download the file, and on the red Data Dictionary link to download the data dictionary: - American FactFinderCensus data search utility from the U.S. Census Bureau
- GeoLyticsYou can access census data for the census from 1970, 1980, 1990 through the Goliath server at the GSD: Goliath\Geo\Geolytics
US County and City Data Books
- County and City Data BookFeatures more than 1,500 data items for the United States and individual states, counties and metropolitan areas from a variety of sources. Last edition published in 2007.
- Proquest Statistical Abstract of the United StatesSummary statistics on the social, political and economic organization of the United States. The only source for the current Statistical Abstract of the United States (2013 to present). Available in print for last five years. (HKS Ref HA202 .S73)
Historical Census (US)
- Harvard Geospatial LibraryDownload historical county boundary joined with population data through (1790-2000).
- Census QuestionnairesView census questionnaires back to 1790
- Atlas of Historical County BoundaryHistorical County Boundaries from Chicago's Newberry independent library.
- National Historic GIS Data FinderDownload historic census boundary files, going back to 1790.
- Historical Census BrowserHistorical Census Browser by the University of Virginia Library
Elevation
- MA: MassGISMassGIS Oliver offers elevation data for the state of Massachusetts. Available data includes LiDar, Digital Elevation Models (DEM), contours, and elevation points.
- British Antarctic SurveyBedmap by the British Antarctic Survey: Bedmap2 is a new suite of gridded products describing surface elevation, ice-thickness and the sea floor and subglacial bed elevation of the Antarctic south of 60◦ S.
- USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED)Data are typically available at a resolution of 1/3 Arc Second (~10 meters) and/or 1 Arc Second (~30 meters)
- USGS EarthExplorerEarthExplorer provides access to:
-Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM): Available for the US at a resolution of 1 Arc Second (~30 meters) and for the world at 3 Arc Seconds (~90 meters)
-Global 30 Arc-Second Elevation Dataset (GTOP030): The global DEM has a horizontal grid spacing of 30 arc seconds (~1 kilometer) - NASA Reverb ECHONASA's Reverb ECHO provides access to the Global Digital Elevation Model. Type "Aster Global DEM" in the search box on the right.
Reverb ECHO is a comprehensive, statewide database of spatial information for mapping and analysis supporting emergency response, environmental planning and management, transportation planning, economic development, and transparency in state government operations. - GIS Data DepotGeoCommunity's GIS data aggregator
Land Use and Land Cover
- MA: MassGISDownload land use data for the state of Massachusetts. Includes historical and current data. The latest land use dataset is from 2005.
- Global Land Cover Facilty (GLCF)Download satellite images, including Landsat, ASTER, SRTM and more from the ESDI portal.
- National Land Cover DatabaseCovers 50 states and Puerto Rico at a spatial resolution of 30 meters.
- Land Cover Institute (LCI) Data, USGSA list of sources of land cover data worldwide.
- SedacIncludes raster date on land use.
Historical Land Use Data
- Enhanced Historical Land-Use and Land-Cover Data Sets of the USGSHistorical land-use and land-cover data, available from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the conterminous United States and Hawaii, have been enhanced for use in geographic information systems (GIS) applications. The original digital data sets were created by the USGS in the late 1970s and early 1980s and were later converted by USGS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to a geographic information system (GIS) format in the early 1990s.
- National Land Cover Dataset 1992 (NLCD 1992)Derived from the early to mid-1990s Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data, the National Land Cover Data (NLCD) is a 21-class land cover classification scheme applied consistently over the United States. The spatial resolution of the data is 30 meters and mapped in the Albers Conic Equal Area projection, NAD 83. The NLCD are provided on a state-by-state basis.
- Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC) National Land Cover Database (NLCD)The Multi-Resolution Land Characterization (MRLC) consortium is a group of federal agencies who coordinate and generate consistent and relevant land cover information at the national scale for a wide variety of environmental, land management, and modeling applications.
There are datasets from 1992, 2001, and 2006. Many of these can also be downloaded from the National Map: viewer.nationalmap.gov
- US Army Corps of Engineers: US Waterway DataForeign Cargo (Inbound and Outbound) for Calendar Year 2016 by Port and Waterway.
Transportation
- MA: MassGISRailway, ferry, and MBTA public transportation data for Massachusetts
- US Census TIGER dataRailway data available from the Census
- Harvard HGLZoom into specific cities for public transit data available from Harvard HGL, especially for Europe (e.g., type "European Ferries" in the search box).
- OpenstreetmapUse Openstreetmap for some international public transit and roads data.
ArcGIS and QGIS both have plugins that allow you to download OSM data directly into your workspace.
Shipping vessels
- US Army Corps of Engineers: US Waterway DataForeign Cargo (Inbound and Outbound) for Calendar Year 2016 by Port and Waterway.
Roads
- MA: MassGIS OLIVERRoads, pavements and sidewalks available for download among other statewide data sets
- Harvard HGLAccess ESRI Street Data from here for the US
International road data is also available for some countries by zooming into the geographic region you are interested in, then using the search box to look for road data. - US Census TIGER dataRoad data for all of the US
Airports
- US airports (from HGL)The Public-Use Airports database is a geographic point database of aircraft landing facilities in the United States and U.S. Territories. Attribute data is provided on the physical and operational characteristics of the landing facility, current usage including enplanements and aircraft operations, congestion levels and usage categories.
Transportation Statistics
- Transportation Research Board (TRID)Find articles and reports on topics related to transportation in this database by the Transport Research Board
- World Bank: Transport Data and StatisticsTransit statistics for East Asia and the Pacific