GIS-Data Sources

Francisco Olivera, Ph.D., P.E.Srikanth Koka

Department of Civil EngineeringTexas A&M University

Introduction

It is important to know what data is needed, what format is preferred and where it can be found.

Different agencies develop and/or make available digital spatial data.

NCRSNRCS: National Resources Conservation Service

STATGO: State Soil Geographic Database

http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/stat_data.htmlScale: 1:250,000

SSURGO: Soil Survey Geographic Database

http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/ssur_data.htmlMore detailed than STATSGOScale: Between 1:12,000 and 1:63,360

USGS

http://seamless.usgs.gov/viewer.htm

Resolution: 30 m

Available datasets

NED: National Elevation Dataset (30 m)

NLCD: National Land Cover Dataset (1992, 2001)

USGShttp://nhd.usgs.gov/

NHD: National Hydrographic Dataset

Vector data containing surface water features like streams, lakes, ponds, springs, etc.

Scale: 1:100,000

USGShttp://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?huc250k

HUC: Hydrologic Unit Codes

Vector data containing drainage areas

Four levels of classification:Regions (2-digit code)

Sub-regions (4-digit code)

Accounting units (6-digit code)

Cataloging units (8-digit code)

BTShttp://www.bts.gov/gis/ntatlas/networks.html

Available dataNational ParksState BoundariesAirportsAmtrak StationsU.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ports U.S. Corps of Engineers Navigable Waterway Nodes Hydrographic Features metadataNational Highway Planning NetworkRailway Network U.S. Corps of Engineers Navigable Waterway Network

TCEQ

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/index.html

Available Data:Digital raster graphs (DRGs)Monitoring sitesPermit sitesWaste sites

TNRIS

http://www.tnris.state.tx.us/digital.htm

Available Data:

RoadsHydrographyVegetationDOQQsCounty boundaries

TWDBhttp://www.twdb.state.tx.us/mapping/gisdata.htm

Available Data:NATURAL FEATURES

• Aquifers• River Basins• HUCs• Major Basins• Texas Precipitation

ADMINISTRATIVE• Ground water

conservation districts• Regional water planning

areas• River authorities• Counties

GLOhttp://www.glo.state.tx.us/gis/

Available Data (for Texas):County boundariesHydrographyRoadsPlaces, names and populationsShorelinesUrban areasCity BoundariesVegetation areasEnergy resource dataOil and Gas pipeline Coastal/Oil Spill Response data Coastal management program data, etc.

http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/gtopo30/hydro/

Hydrologic Datasets for the whole world

Resolution: 30 arc-second (1 km)

Datasets:Raster: DEM, Flow direction, Flow Accumulation, Slope, Aspect, Compound topographic indexVector: Streams, Drainage basins

USGS

NASA

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Available Data:Remotely Sensed Meteorological Data

ESRIhttp://arcdata.esri.com/data/tiger2000/tiger_download.cfm

Available data:CensusCongressional districtsLand marksHydrographyRailsRoads

NCDC

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html

Available Data:PrecipitationTemperatureWind

USGShttp://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis

Real time and historic data for:

Surface waterGround waterWater quality

Other Sources

http://data.geocomm.com/catalog/US/index.html

10 m resolution DEM

Available only for some areas