Environmental Science: Maps & Data

Aerial photos and satellite images. Includes: National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP) 1985-date; National High Altitude Photography (NHAP) 1980-89; Single Frame Records 1939-date; Photo References Mosaics 1940's-1980's; Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles (DOQs) 1987-date; High Resolution Orthoimagery 2002-03; Space Acquired Photography 1965-date; United States Antarctic Resource Center (USARC) 1946-date; Aircraft Scanners 1982-95; and Aerial Products Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR).

The U.S. Geological Survey is dedicated to providing extensive data to the global science community. However, certain data sets require additional procedures to gain access to them. For example, some commercial satellite scenes of U.S. sites are licensed only for U.S. users.

Access to maps and information on issues of environmental importance: drinking water, superfund sites, hazardous waste, etc. This site provides a single point of access to several EPA databases for info about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. Learn more about these environmental activities in your area or generate maps of environmental information.

Digital geologic maps of the US states with consistent lithology, age, GIS database structure, and format.

This site lists various maps that are related to mineral resources throughout the United States.

provides a way to search and download satellite images of Earth (works with GoogleEarth) on topics of the ocean, atmostphere, energy, land, and life. It enables users to perform basic visual analysis by creating global mas to track regional and world-wide changes around the world.

The NRCS Soils database covers a broad range of topics useful to geographers, soil scientists, land use managers, teachers, students, etc. Includes a soil data viewer, an extension of ArcMap, to create soil-based thematic maps.

Provide water information that benefits the Nation's citizens through publications, data, maps, and applications software. USGS Water-Resources offices are located in every State. Includes national water survey, stream flow conditions (e.g. floods, droughts, water quality, ground water), science topics, water resource programs.

Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties. The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.

This massive database updates our knowledge of the Nation’s land cover and documents precisely where land cover change has occurred between 2001 and 2006. NLCD is used for thousands of applications in such diverse investigations as ecosystem status and health, spatial patterns of biodiversity, indications of climate change, and best practices in land management.

The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS), Natural Resources Canada is the Government of Canada's centre of excellence for remote sensing and geodesy.

CropScape maps out the various cropland data layers according to year.

Part of the Geospatial One-Stop E-Gov initiative, this web site allows one to search or browse data categories of geospatial information. The GeoData Map Viewer allows you to view multiple Internet map services (like the National Map) using just your browser. Map servers viewable include the USGS, FEMA Hazard Maps, NASA Globe program, NOAA, and the BLM. State and regional servers are being added, including the Minnesota Metro GIS Data Finder.

This page provides links to data provided by the USGS including digital elevation models (DEM), digital line graphs (DLG), digital orthophoto quadrangles (DOQ), the National Hydrography dataset (NHD), the National Elevation dataset (NED), and other thematic digital data.

Provides access to over 3,900 data sets in the area of earth science, including atmosphere, biosphere, land surface, solid earth, and human dimensions of climate change.

Here you can search the CIESIN Gateway, access data (China Data Collection, Environmental Treaty Texts the Global Population Database and the Mexico Data Collection), use interactive applications, access information systems and instructional resources, all related to earth science.

This resource maps out the locations of cities & regions mentioned throughout the Bible (by books of the bible). All maps are created in Google Earth and Google Maps.

HealthMap brings together disparate data sources to achieve a unified and comprehensive view of the current global state of infectious diseases and their effect on human and animal health. This integrates outbreak data of varying reliability, ranging from news sources (such as Google News) to curated personal accounts (such as ProMED) to validated official alerts (such as World Health Organization).

The OECD works with governments to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change. They measure productivity and global flows of trade and investment; analyze and compare data to predict future trends; and set international standards ranging from the chemical safety and nuclear power plants to the quality of cucumbers. Includes country statistics, education, GDP, health, inflation, unemployment, economic outlooks, development aid, and more.

This resource allows you to view crime reports & where registered sex offenders reside. Maps crimes by zip code and layers them with Google Maps.

Social Explorer provides easy access to demographic information about the United States from 1790 to the present. To get started, select "Maps" or "Reports."

Explores toxic releases and hazardous waste sites in the U.S. from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).

Your source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Find real estate home values and listings by address, neighborhood, city or zip code.

"A collection of distributed information systems operated by government agencies involved in global change research." Includes data centers, educational resources, research projects and documents.

Contains information about geographic features in the United States. Includes feature name, type, location (including latitude, longitude and elevation), and a list of topographic maps. Also links to the Census Bureau's Tiger Map Server for location and the EPA's site for watershed information on each feature.

This spatial data library for the Oregon Geospatial Data Center covers: administrative boundaries, bioscience, Cadastral data, climate, elevation, geodetic control, geoscience, hazards (e.g. climate, coastal erosion, earthquake, floods, geologic floodplain, landslides, naturally occurring hazardous materials, tsunami, volcanic hazards, wildfire), hydrography, imagery, land use/ land cover, transportation, utilities, and other reference material.

The Bureau of Land Management's Oregon/Washington (OR/WA) Data Library contains the spatial data of the Oregon and Washington BLM. Datasets and metadata can be downloaded.

Oregon Explorer provides a web-based natural resources digital library by integrating data from state and federal agencies, local governments, university scientists, and citizens.

This is an interactive map that allows users to view the geological features of Oregon.

Start here if you're looking for Oregon GIS data.

This site includes lidar map collections, and lidar data viewer with an interactive map. Lidar (light detection and ranging) is a new tool that can provide very precise, accurate, and high-resolution images of the surface of the earth, vegetation, and the built environment. Airborne lidar uses a laser range finder mounted in a precisely navigated aircraft to scan the earth's surface at very high rates and collect very dense clouds of X-Y-Z coordinates.

This displays a variety of information about the Portland metro area, ranging from demographics, to crime and environmental data.

36 Oregon Counties, 9 Regions, One State, One Map, One Taxlot Base GIS for Public and Private use.