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Maps and Spatial Data: Finding GIS Data
Searching Google
Finding GIS data using Google
- You can oftentimes find GIS data using straightforward Google searches, such as "oklahoma city gis data".
- If you want to get fancier, you can limit search results to governmental websites using the site: modifier, for example "oklahoma city gis data site:*.gov". This can help weed out less helpful/trustworthy results.
- If results are lacking, broaden your geographic scope a bit. For example, instead of gis data for a specific city, look for gis data for that county or state.
When searching Google fails you, the list below might help you locate what you're looking for. You can also email me at kdyke@okstate.edu or call 405.744.4869 for additional help.
Oklahoma
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OKMapsOKMaps brings together a broad variety of data from across Oklahoma, including county boundaries, lakes, rivers, and many others.
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Oklahoma Data WarehouseFrom the University of Oklahoma's Center for Spatial Analysis.
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Oklahoma Water Resources Board Open DataThe OWRB produces and maintains many GIS datasets relating to Oklahoma's water resources. Each dataset contains descriptive metadata documentation and usage limitations.
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Oklahoma Department of Transportation Open Data PortalOpen data from OKDOT, including bridge locations, construction projects, and many others.
Local (Cities/Counties in Oklahoma)
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Oklahoma City Open DataIncludes data such as sidewalks, park facilities, building footprints, and others.
States other than Oklahoma
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GIS Data for US StatesPurdue has put together a great list of state specific GIS resources.
National
- The US Census Bureau provides many datasets for download
- The USGS National Map contains a wide variety of datasets covering the US
- The Protected Areas Database provides the "best available aggregation of federal land and marine areas provided directly by managing agencies" for the United States
- The National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Geospatial Data Gateway
- Bureau of Land Management Navigator
- EPA Geospatial Resources
- Data.gov is a behemoth that is difficult to filter down to a useful level, but is worth checking out
Worldwide
- OpenGeoportal can be a helpful source of data. Its map-based search combines results from a number of institutions from across the world.
- IPUMS Terra is a source for demographic and environmental data.
- OpenStreetmap (OSM) varies widely from place to place, both in quantity and quality, but for many areas it is the only source of freely available data. Downloading raw OSM data is tricky, so I recommend downloading Shapefiles from Geofabrik.
- USGS Earth Explorer is a great place to go for remotely sensed data, such as satellite imagery, aerial photography, and LIDAR.
- For LIDAR data, OpenTopography
- The Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) provides a variety of data at a coarse global scale.
- Natural Earth Data is the best place to go for GIS data suitable for use in polished cartographic products.
Countries (non-US)
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GIS Data by CountryMIT has a useful list of where to find GIS data for different countries.