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Geospatial Data Resources on the World Wide Web


Canadian Sources

  • Archived Hydrometric Data. This website features stream discharge and water level data for Canada. It also allows you to access archived hydrometric data from HYDAT for stations of interest by specifying the search criteria such as the Station Name or Station Number.

  • Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) is responsible for the provision of a national service for the reception, processing, archiving and dissemination of remotely sensed data for Canada and, in conjunction with the private sector, for the development of remote sensing technology and applications.

  • Canadian Climate Normals or Averages 1971-2000 Climate normals or averages are used to summarize or describe the average climatic conditions of a particular location.

  • Canadian Soil Information System (CanSIS) provides access to state of the art GIS facilities, as well as database management and custom mapping services for the Canadian Land Resource Network. CanSIS supports the research activities of Agiculture and Agri-Food Canada through a National Soil DataBase and by acting as a source for GIS products and expertise.

  • Canadian Wind Energy Atlas aims at developing new meteorological tools to be used by Canada's wind energy industry. This site features colour maps representing the average wind velocity and power for the whole country, procedures for generating different simulation maps, and a download section where data files are used to create custom simulations.

  • Canada's National Forest Inventory (CanFI) is compiled approximately every five years by aggregating provincial and territorial forest management inventories and reconnaissance level information
  • City of Toronto Wards and 2006 Census Tracts is a link to a Microsoft Excel file that lists all 44 City of Toronto wards and the 2006 census tracts that are within them. There is a second Excel sheet in this file that lists each 2006 census tract individually and which City of Toronto ward it can be found in.

  • Electoral Districts The shapefiles provide the polygon information associated with the Ontario elector districts.  Shapefiles are intended for users to load into GIS software applications such as ESRI’s ArcView application and integrated with the users own GIS information.

  • GeoBase is a federal, provincial and territorial government initiative that is overseen by the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG). It is undertaken to ensure the provision of, and access to, a common, up-to-date and maintained base of quality geospatial data for all of Canada. Through the GeoBase portal, users with an interest in the field of geomatics have access to quality geospatial information at no cost and with unrestricted use.

  • GeoConnection's Discovery Portal is a gateway to millions of geospatial data products and is the prime discovery and access component of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). Users may acquire data by browsing metadata records or searching by subject, coverage or product type to find, evaluate, visualize and access the geospatial data.

  • GeoGratis is a portal provided by the Earth Sciences Sector (ESS) of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) which provides geospatial data at no cost. The collections include raster data (such as satellite images or scanned topographic maps), vector data (such as national-scale frameworks), and a database of ground control points.

  • Geology Ontario allows you to download various types of geology related data for the province of Ontario.

  • Geoscience Data Repository (GDR) is a collection of Earth Sciences Sector geoscience databases that is managed and accessed by a series of Information Services (GDRIS). This site allows the user to discover, view and download related data sets at no cost.

  • Grand River Information Network (GRIN) is a "gateway to exploring and retrieving information about the Grand River watershed".

  • Great Lakes Information Network provides a centralized location to discover, publish, and acquire geospatial data for areas within the Great Lakes region.

  • Harmonized World Soil Database is a database produced by FAO and the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis to depict world soils. Using the viewer available on this site, it is possible to query/view soil information such as: pH, texture, soil groups, etc. For more advanced users who are familiar with GIS,  there is a raster image file of the world (with unique soil IDs) 1 km resolution, and an associated Access database of the soil attribute information.

  • Health Region Boundary Files (Statistics Canada) are available for free download in ArcView, MapInfo, and ArcInfo formats.

  • Map Image Rendering Database for Geoscience (MIRAGE) is a digital image library of Geological Survey of Canada maps. More than 10,000 of these maps have been scanned and are available.
  • National Hydro Network (NHN) describes and models features of the inland surface-water system of Canada. 287 watersheds are available accounting for about 20% of the Canadian landmass. The NHN is a topographic data product, designed primarily to allow hydrographic network analysis. It is intended for water flow analysis, water and watershed management, environmental and hydrographical applications as well as for a multitude of cartographic applications.

  • National Soil Database (NSDB) is a set of computer readable files which contain soil, landscape, and climatic data for all of Canada. It serves as the national archive for land resources information that was collected by federal and provincial field surveys, or created by land data analysis projects. The NSDB includes GIS coverages at a variety of scales, and the characteristics of each named soil series.

  • National Topographic Data Base (NTDB) comprises digital vector data sets that cover the entire Canadian landmass. The NTDB includes features such as watercourses, urban areas, railways, roads, vegetation, and relief. Organization of the NTDB is based on the National Topographic System (NTS). Each data set consists of one NTS unit at either the 1:50,000 or 1:250,000 scale.

  • Nova Scotia Mineral Resources Branch provides a selection of digital products for download featuring the geology of Nova Scotia.

  • Ontario Basic Mapping allows users to download various Geography Network Canada data. The data sets available include roads, water, municipal files, parks, conservation/wildlife areas and reserves.
  • Open Data Pilot Project from the Government of Canada seeks to improve the ability of the public to find, download and use Government of Canada data.
  • Toronto.ca/open allows users to access the City of Toronto official data set catalogue. Here users will find various information about the city in the form of geospatial web services and geospatial data sets. Data sets include: Toronto centreline, business improvement areas, food banks, neighbourhood boundaries, parks, waste management districts, transit data and much more.

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International Sources

  • National Hydrography Dataset provides a 1:24,000-scale hydrography coverage of the U.S.

  • New York State, GIS Clearinghouse coordinates, promotes and facilitates the development, effective use, and sharing of geographic information.

  • National Geophysical Data Centre (NGDC) - NOAA Satellite and Information Service provides geospatial data downloads for the following topics: land, marine, satellite, snow & ice, and solar-terrestrial.

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory provides data resources under the following categories: physical properties, hydrology and hydraulics, meteorology and weather, forcast, ice and snow, biology, chemical and sediments, waves and circulation, lake levels, and real-time models.

  • NYS Gazetteer and GeoData Collection is a searchable database of places, providing names, feature types, grid coordinates and other geographic information. There are over 38,000 NYS geographic features available, all searchable by name, county, or USGS map quadrangle. The digital collection includes downloadable USGS topographic maps, such as georeferenced Digital Raster Graphics (DRG's). These maps are suitable for both general use and GIS applications.

  • Ohio Department of Natural Resources - Geographic Information Management Systems (GIMS) provides data resources under the following categories: physical properties, hydrology and hydraulics, meteorology and weather, forcast, ice and snow, biology, chemical and sediments, waves and circulation, lake levels, and real-time models.

  • TerraServer-USA is a searchable database of high resolution USGS aerial imagery and topographic maps for the United States.

  • The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas provides geospatial data available for free download covering the United States. Data resources are organized by local, state, and national aggregations.

  • The Geography Network is a global network of geographic information users and providers. It provides the infrastructure needed to support the sharing of geographic information among data providers, service providers, and users. Through the Geography Network, users may access many types of geographic content including dynamic maps, downloadable data, and more advanced Web services.

  • The GIS Data Depot is a geospatial data repository that provides a variety of data to users at no cost. In order to access and download data, GIS Data Depot users are required to have a GeoCommunity account.

  • The National Map is a consistent framework for geographic knowledge needed by the U.S. It provides public access to high-quality, geospatial data and information from multiple partners to help support decisionmaking by resource managers and the public.
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