Resources
Geospatial Datasets: local, regional, and global scales
Local and Regional (North Carolina) Data Resources
Many county and city governments allow data downloads from their websites. For the most current local data links, go to the Counties or Cities pages. Many public download sites for statewide datasets are listed on the webpages found linked under the Libraries Geodata Collection.
General
NC OneMap - Provides comprehensive discovery and access to North Carolina's geospatial data resources.
State Data Center – Demographics and other tabular data – can be mapped by county or other geographies in the tables.
North Carolina County Government GIS Inventory – downloadable PDF with links to all of North Carolina’s county GIS portals
Center for Geographic Information and Analysis – portal for statewide information on services and data provided by a multitude of organizations
Asbestos exposure - Asbestos and Natural Disasters Guide
Mapping Services
Topographic Map Indexes – 1:24,000, 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 scale index maps from the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources.
Department of Transportation – Listing of GIS and Mapping resources offered by NCDOT, including the Official County Boundary file.
NC Geodetic Survey – Numerous GIS and GPS resources and tools, including Geodetic Monuments
NC LIDAR Data download – Includes QL2 (2 points/meter) circa 2010's and legacy data circa early 2000's. Sign up for an NCID to log in if you don't already have one.
Environmental Quality
Department of Environmental Quality – Open Data website that aggregates data from multiple departments. Home Page | Online GIS | Data Portal
Air Quality Permits – GIS files and databases provided by the NC DEQ
Animal Feeding Operations
Water Resources
Water Quality Monitoring Data (including STORET)
Water Resources Information, Storage, Anlysis & Retrieval System (WRISARS) – collaborative information portal on river basins between NCDWR, NC Climate Office, US Army Corps, and USGS
NC Groundwater database
NC DEQ Water Resources Data, Statistics and Maps – Maps and data downloads pertainng to water quality - GIS DATA
NC DEQ Water Resources – Water Science Section – Data from numerous monitoring and assessment programs
Flooding and Storm Water Control
Floodplain Mapping Program – Flood Risk Information System
NC Flood Risk Information System – Interactive map making and download service for flood data
Stormwater Permitting: Map | Data
Waste Management
NPDES Wastewater Permitting and Compliance Program – Data is under the "Permit Info" tab
Waste Management – Maps and data downloads
Coastal Resources and Management
Coastal GIS Data – Data resource portal provided by NCSU with data from NOAA, universities, and more
Coastal Management – Maps and data downloads
NC Coastal Atlas – Multi–partner mapping and data for NC Coastal Plain and Outer Banks data
Vegetation and Wildlife Resources
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Survey
National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) – Maps and data downloads
Albemarle–Pamlico National Estuary Partnerships – Maps and data downloads
Health, Social, and Cultural
North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics
NC Natural Heritage Program – Interactive maps and data downloads for cultural and natural resources
General
NC OneMap - Provides comprehensive discovery and access to North Carolina's geospatial data resources.
State Data Center – Demographics and other tabular data – can be mapped by county or other geographies in the tables.
North Carolina County Government GIS Inventory – downloadable PDF with links to all of North Carolina’s county GIS portals
Center for Geographic Information and Analysis – portal for statewide information on services and data provided by a multitude of organizations
Asbestos exposure - Asbestos and Natural Disasters Guide
Mapping Services
Topographic Map Indexes – 1:24,000, 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 scale index maps from the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources.
Department of Transportation – Listing of GIS and Mapping resources offered by NCDOT, including the Official County Boundary file.
NC Geodetic Survey – Numerous GIS and GPS resources and tools, including Geodetic Monuments
NC LIDAR Data download – Includes QL2 (2 points/meter) circa 2010's and legacy data circa early 2000's. Sign up for an NCID to log in if you don't already have one.
Environmental Quality
Department of Environmental Quality – Open Data website that aggregates data from multiple departments. Home Page | Online GIS | Data Portal
Air Quality Permits – GIS files and databases provided by the NC DEQ
Animal Feeding Operations
Water Resources
Water Quality Monitoring Data (including STORET)
Water Resources Information, Storage, Anlysis & Retrieval System (WRISARS) – collaborative information portal on river basins between NCDWR, NC Climate Office, US Army Corps, and USGS
NC Groundwater database
NC DEQ Water Resources Data, Statistics and Maps – Maps and data downloads pertainng to water quality - GIS DATA
NC DEQ Water Resources – Water Science Section – Data from numerous monitoring and assessment programs
Flooding and Storm Water Control
Floodplain Mapping Program – Flood Risk Information System
NC Flood Risk Information System – Interactive map making and download service for flood data
Stormwater Permitting: Map | Data
Waste Management
NPDES Wastewater Permitting and Compliance Program – Data is under the "Permit Info" tab
Waste Management – Maps and data downloads
Coastal Resources and Management
Coastal GIS Data – Data resource portal provided by NCSU with data from NOAA, universities, and more
Coastal Management – Maps and data downloads
NC Coastal Atlas – Multi–partner mapping and data for NC Coastal Plain and Outer Banks data
Vegetation and Wildlife Resources
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Survey
National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) – Maps and data downloads
Albemarle–Pamlico National Estuary Partnerships – Maps and data downloads
Health, Social, and Cultural
North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics
NC Natural Heritage Program – Interactive maps and data downloads for cultural and natural resources
U.S. Geospatial Data Sources
ArcGIS.com – Data downloads, WMS links, and/or access via ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS layer files
Esri Maps and Data Group – As well as other groups "owned by Esri" are highly recommended for their various basemap layers. Predominantly US–based data, but also some from international sources
Geoplatform.gov – Comprehensive source for data from federal executive branch agencies in multiple formats
USGS National Map – Download site for multiple data layers, including topography, hydrography, transportation, geographic names, boundaries, land cover, and more. The Small–Scale collection is good for contextual (overview) or large extent maps as most of the data were compiled at a scale of 1:2,000,000
USGS Links to Maps and Other Products – Links to many sources of Aerial Photographs & Satellite Imagery, Digital Maps & Data, Publications, Software, etc.USGS EarthExplorer – Imagery, DEMs, Landcover, and other satellite and derivative data
The National Geologic Map Databse - distributed archive of standardized geoscience information for the USA
USDA Geospatial Data Gateway – Natural resources and environmental data, including soils, climate, and many other features
USGS Water Resources – Downloadable spatial data files for exploration and analysis of water resources
US Fish and Wildlife Services – Geospatial Services from the USFWS
US Census Bureau Maps and Data – Links to online resources, including TIGER data, from the Census Bureau
NOAA National Weather Service – National Weather Service data sets available in downloadable shapefiles, web services and KML files
FEMA GeoPortal – Geospatial data and analysis that informs emergency management
GIS Inventory – An inventory of GIS data and directory of GIS people nationwide, maintained by the National States Geographic Information Council
Land Boundary Information System – maps, images and boundary data files for Florida
Esri Maps and Data Group – As well as other groups "owned by Esri" are highly recommended for their various basemap layers. Predominantly US–based data, but also some from international sources
Geoplatform.gov – Comprehensive source for data from federal executive branch agencies in multiple formats
USGS National Map – Download site for multiple data layers, including topography, hydrography, transportation, geographic names, boundaries, land cover, and more. The Small–Scale collection is good for contextual (overview) or large extent maps as most of the data were compiled at a scale of 1:2,000,000
USGS Links to Maps and Other Products – Links to many sources of Aerial Photographs & Satellite Imagery, Digital Maps & Data, Publications, Software, etc.USGS EarthExplorer – Imagery, DEMs, Landcover, and other satellite and derivative data
The National Geologic Map Databse - distributed archive of standardized geoscience information for the USA
USDA Geospatial Data Gateway – Natural resources and environmental data, including soils, climate, and many other features
USGS Water Resources – Downloadable spatial data files for exploration and analysis of water resources
US Fish and Wildlife Services – Geospatial Services from the USFWS
US Census Bureau Maps and Data – Links to online resources, including TIGER data, from the Census Bureau
NOAA National Weather Service – National Weather Service data sets available in downloadable shapefiles, web services and KML files
FEMA GeoPortal – Geospatial data and analysis that informs emergency management
GIS Inventory – An inventory of GIS data and directory of GIS people nationwide, maintained by the National States Geographic Information Council
Land Boundary Information System – maps, images and boundary data files for Florida
Global Geospatial Data Sources
Trimble Data Marketplace – interactive map for discovering datasets provided by Trimble
Open Street Map – Comprehensive crowdsourced data. Several online services provide shapefiles, CAD files, and other formats of OSM data for download
World Database on Protected Areas – source for worldwide designations and data on protected areas
GRID Arendal – news, media and publications from around the globe on environmental issues
Freshwater Ecoregions of the World (FEOW) – data and resources for ecoregions across the globe
Major River Basins of the World – polygon and polyline shapefiles for river basins across the globe
ISRIC World Soil Information – world wide data related to soil dynamics and geology
Climate Change Knowledge Portal – Data hub for information concerned with climate change across the globe
10 Free GIS Data Sources – global raster and vector datasets
Global Surface Water Explorer – European Commission for mapping the extent and change of water surfaces across the globe
ISRIC World Soil Information – open source global gridded soil information
European Commission Global Human Settlement – datasets on global human settlement created by the European Commission GHSL in both raster and vector data
Thematic Exploitation Platform – collaborative Earth Observation network site for remotely sensed datasets on coastal regions, forestry, geohazards, hydrology and more
ESA Climate Change Initiative – news, information, tools and data provided by the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative Data Portal
IPUMS Terra – collection of population data, land cover/land use images, weather/climate data, and surveys across the globe integrated into a single source
Ecological Marine Unit Explorer – interactive map for exploring temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and more profiles of waters across the globe by longitude and latitude
DIVA–GIS – free to download vector and raster data on infrastructure, topography, land cover, population and more available for countries around the globe
University of Maryland Global Forest Change – interactive map showing a time series analysis of Landsat images tracking forest change
NASA WorldView – interactively browse global satellite imagery from NASA with layers including air quality, drought, fires, floods, storms, vegetation, atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, land surface, oceans and more. Search for downloadable files here NASA Earth DATA
GEOSS International Geospatial Data and Services Portal – Maintained by the European Space Agency
UN Food and Agriculture Organization GeoNetwork – Search for spatial databases, digital maps, satellite images and related statistics covering areas worldwide, produced by UN organizations
Global Change Master Directory – Directory of many earth science data sources and services available worldwide
Natural Resources Canada – free data downloads provided by GeoGratis
Ordnance Survey UK – free digital maps of Great Britain
University of Michigan China Data Center – Univ. of Michigan center that provides variety of data resources on China, including GIS
Natural Earth – raster and vector data at varying scales
Imagery and Remote Sensing Sources
Planet Labs – historical satellite imagery available with a qualified research account (free to apply). Offers extremely high return time with high resolution Red, Green, Blue, NIR multispectral imagery
Open Topography – high resolution topography data (Primarily the United States) and tools
CADMapper – compiles data from public sources into CAD files. Alternatively, you can generate shapefiles using OSM XML files with OSM Shaper
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center – processed imagery provided by NASA and USGS focused on Earth processes viewed with remotely sensed images
USGS GloVis – grants access to multiple remote sensing platforms with historical and current images available to search and download. Includes Landsat, ASTER, Earth Observatory and more
Earth Observatory – offers historical and current global scale satellite data on aerosols, carbon monoxide, chlorophyll, clouds, fire, etc.
USGS Land Remote Sensing Program – remote sensing portal for data and products provided by the USGS. Imagery available under the DATA tab
MODIS Imagery – data portal for MODIS satellite imagery products
USGS EarthExplorer – interactive map to explore and download data from a wide array of satellite remote sensing imagery platforms (Landsat, DEM, Radar, UAS, Aerial Imagery and many more)
Global Landcover Facility – data portal provided by University of Maryland to download satellite imagery including specialty products
USGS EROS Aerial Imagery – Aerial imagery provided through the USGS EROS EarthExplorer
European Space Imaging – search and order imagery provided by the European Space Imaging
DigitalGlobe – search and order imagery from multiple platforms
Software and Tools
14 Open Source Remote Sensing Software – list of free to download software
Data Visualization Tools – 430 data visualization tools for programs such as R, Matlab, Google, Python etc
US FWS National Wetlands Inventory Wetlands Mapper – interactive tool to create maps based on the data provided by the US FWS National Wetlands Inventory
USGS Data and Tools – downloadable data and software tools for common GIS programs
BBBike.org – extract map data in numerous file formats that can be used to create custom maps
Education, Tutorials, and More
Remote Sensing Core Collection – University of Minnesota remote sensing lessons and example projects
Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth – search and explore images taken from the International Space Station
NSSDCA Photo Gallery of Earth– historical images of the Earth taken the Apollo, Clementine and Galileo space missions
Virtually Hawaii – Remote sensing informational guides and tutorials utilizing Hawaii as a case study
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Radar Science and Engineering – informational site on the science and technology behind radar imaging
NASA Visible Earth – collection of NASA images and animations of the planet and regions of the globe
WWW Virtual Library Earth Science – informational website with articles on cartography, oceanography and urban environmental management
Tutorial: Fundamentals of Remote Sensing – extensive catalog of information on remote sensing platforms, science, technology and application provided by Natural Resources Canada. Glossary of Terms
Open Street Map – Comprehensive crowdsourced data. Several online services provide shapefiles, CAD files, and other formats of OSM data for download
World Database on Protected Areas – source for worldwide designations and data on protected areas
GRID Arendal – news, media and publications from around the globe on environmental issues
Freshwater Ecoregions of the World (FEOW) – data and resources for ecoregions across the globe
Major River Basins of the World – polygon and polyline shapefiles for river basins across the globe
ISRIC World Soil Information – world wide data related to soil dynamics and geology
Climate Change Knowledge Portal – Data hub for information concerned with climate change across the globe
10 Free GIS Data Sources – global raster and vector datasets
Global Surface Water Explorer – European Commission for mapping the extent and change of water surfaces across the globe
ISRIC World Soil Information – open source global gridded soil information
European Commission Global Human Settlement – datasets on global human settlement created by the European Commission GHSL in both raster and vector data
Thematic Exploitation Platform – collaborative Earth Observation network site for remotely sensed datasets on coastal regions, forestry, geohazards, hydrology and more
ESA Climate Change Initiative – news, information, tools and data provided by the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative Data Portal
IPUMS Terra – collection of population data, land cover/land use images, weather/climate data, and surveys across the globe integrated into a single source
Ecological Marine Unit Explorer – interactive map for exploring temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and more profiles of waters across the globe by longitude and latitude
DIVA–GIS – free to download vector and raster data on infrastructure, topography, land cover, population and more available for countries around the globe
University of Maryland Global Forest Change – interactive map showing a time series analysis of Landsat images tracking forest change
NASA WorldView – interactively browse global satellite imagery from NASA with layers including air quality, drought, fires, floods, storms, vegetation, atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, land surface, oceans and more. Search for downloadable files here NASA Earth DATA
GEOSS International Geospatial Data and Services Portal – Maintained by the European Space Agency
UN Food and Agriculture Organization GeoNetwork – Search for spatial databases, digital maps, satellite images and related statistics covering areas worldwide, produced by UN organizations
Global Change Master Directory – Directory of many earth science data sources and services available worldwide
Natural Resources Canada – free data downloads provided by GeoGratis
Ordnance Survey UK – free digital maps of Great Britain
University of Michigan China Data Center – Univ. of Michigan center that provides variety of data resources on China, including GIS
Natural Earth – raster and vector data at varying scales
Imagery and Remote Sensing Sources
Planet Labs – historical satellite imagery available with a qualified research account (free to apply). Offers extremely high return time with high resolution Red, Green, Blue, NIR multispectral imagery
Open Topography – high resolution topography data (Primarily the United States) and tools
CADMapper – compiles data from public sources into CAD files. Alternatively, you can generate shapefiles using OSM XML files with OSM Shaper
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center – processed imagery provided by NASA and USGS focused on Earth processes viewed with remotely sensed images
USGS GloVis – grants access to multiple remote sensing platforms with historical and current images available to search and download. Includes Landsat, ASTER, Earth Observatory and more
Earth Observatory – offers historical and current global scale satellite data on aerosols, carbon monoxide, chlorophyll, clouds, fire, etc.
USGS Land Remote Sensing Program – remote sensing portal for data and products provided by the USGS. Imagery available under the DATA tab
MODIS Imagery – data portal for MODIS satellite imagery products
USGS EarthExplorer – interactive map to explore and download data from a wide array of satellite remote sensing imagery platforms (Landsat, DEM, Radar, UAS, Aerial Imagery and many more)
Global Landcover Facility – data portal provided by University of Maryland to download satellite imagery including specialty products
USGS EROS Aerial Imagery – Aerial imagery provided through the USGS EROS EarthExplorer
European Space Imaging – search and order imagery provided by the European Space Imaging
DigitalGlobe – search and order imagery from multiple platforms
Software and Tools
14 Open Source Remote Sensing Software – list of free to download software
Data Visualization Tools – 430 data visualization tools for programs such as R, Matlab, Google, Python etc
US FWS National Wetlands Inventory Wetlands Mapper – interactive tool to create maps based on the data provided by the US FWS National Wetlands Inventory
USGS Data and Tools – downloadable data and software tools for common GIS programs
BBBike.org – extract map data in numerous file formats that can be used to create custom maps
Education, Tutorials, and More
Remote Sensing Core Collection – University of Minnesota remote sensing lessons and example projects
Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth – search and explore images taken from the International Space Station
NSSDCA Photo Gallery of Earth– historical images of the Earth taken the Apollo, Clementine and Galileo space missions
Virtually Hawaii – Remote sensing informational guides and tutorials utilizing Hawaii as a case study
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Radar Science and Engineering – informational site on the science and technology behind radar imaging
NASA Visible Earth – collection of NASA images and animations of the planet and regions of the globe
WWW Virtual Library Earth Science – informational website with articles on cartography, oceanography and urban environmental management
Tutorial: Fundamentals of Remote Sensing – extensive catalog of information on remote sensing platforms, science, technology and application provided by Natural Resources Canada. Glossary of Terms