Resources For Earth Sciences and Geography Instruction


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Earth Science: GIS: GIS Datasets Links
  1. LINK CENSUS TIGER 2000 DATA
    DESCRIPTION Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), as a free service to GIS users, has created this site where, after registering, users can download zipped GIS data layers such as roads, water features, census blocks, congressional districts, and more. It appears that every county has coverage. Users will need ESRI`s Arcview software to process and display the information.
  2. LINK DATA FOR YOUR GIS
    DESCRIPTION ESRI also maintains this resource which links to free or fee-based commercial, nonprofit, educational, and governmental sources.
  3. LINK FREE GIS SOFTWARE
    DESCRIPTION ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education is purpose-built for education, free, Win/Mac, and there is a growing body of free lessons. Best place to start on AEJEE is at www.esri.com/aejee. There are pathways to the software background, downloads, tutorials, lessons, and data.
  4. LINK GEODE
    DESCRIPTION from USGS, `Use GEO-DATA Explorer (GEODE) to access, view, and download information containing a broad spectrum of data produced by the USGS and other government agencies.` Over 40 data layers, like are available in a GIS like format. For the U.S. find map layers for impact structures, glacial limit lines, geologic units, faults, and natural hazards. Data can be downloaded for incorporation into your own GIS.
  5. LINK GEOSPATIAL DATA GATEWAY
    DESCRIPTION NRCS, this is one of the oldest spatial data portals on the Internet for base data to analyze within a GIS environment. It still is one of the best. It allows you to select the projection (geographic, UTM, state plane) before you download data. Themes include Digital Orthophotoquads, soils, precipitation, temperature, topographic maps, map indexes, hydrologic units, and common land units.
  6. LINK GIS BASED LESSONS ONLINE
    DESCRIPTION ESRI, five new GIS-based lessons and data sets are online. These are the lessons from the winners of our 2006 ArcLessons Challenge, and each of them invites students to investigate their world in new and exciting ways.
  7. LINK GIS DICTIONARY
    DESCRIPTION from University of Edinburgh and Association for Geographic Information, `The dictionary includes definitions for 980 terms compiled from a variety of sources which either relate directly to GIS or which GIS users may come across in the course of their work. The dictionary is also supplemented by 52 diagrams.` Search by term, category, or by acronym.
  8. LINK GUIDE TO MOSTLY ON-LINE AND MOSTLY FREE GIS DATA
    DESCRIPTION University of Arkansas, this site has the web addresses of most state GIS clearing houses and associated state sites. State sites are a great source of data for specific areas. Navigation can be simple or difficult depending on the layout of a given site, but the depth of data that is accumulating is astonishing. Many states use their own state plane datum so datum transformations will be needed when employing the popular WGS 84 and NAD 27 datums.
  9. LINK INVESTIGATING EARTHQUAKES: GIS MAPPING AND ANALYSIS
    DESCRIPTION this site, based on the original work of Carla McAuliffe, David Smith, and Joseph Kerski, describes the technique of preparing GIS-ready data and shows how to map that data and conduct basic analyses using a geographic information system (GIS). Users download and format near real-time and historical earthquake data from the USGS.
  10. LINK MAPPING THE BIOSPHERE
    DESCRIPTION Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, the site is dedicated to the dissemination of global and regional environmental data. Downloadable data sets (in raster format) include base files covering water resources (runoff, wetlands, precipitation), ecosystems (soil organic carbon, soil pH, lakes and wetlands), landuse (built up land, croplands, irrigated lands), and human impacts (infant mortality, literacy rate, per capita oil usage).
  11. LINK MICHIGAN CENTER FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
    DESCRIPTION state of Michigan, MANY valuable coverages are available for the state of Michigan, including landuse, geology, contamination sites, political, and more.
  12. LINK TEACHING WITH GIS
    DESCRIPTION SERC, This new Starting Point module details considerations involved in using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a tool for teaching geoscience. GIS represents a collection of methods (usually as computer software) to collect, organize, analyze, and present spatial data. The module explains why this tool is useful as well as how to use it in class. There is also a collection of activities that can be used by faculty to address various geoscience topics.
  13. LINK USGS DATASETS
    DESCRIPTION USGS, find out the availability of USGS Geospatial Data and Aerial Photography Products. Organized by state and available at a variety of scales, free files are offered for digital raster graphics (DRG), digital line graphics (DLG), digital orthophoto quads (DOQ), and digital elevation models (DEM).
  14. LINK WEBGIS
    DESCRIPTION WebGIS.com, this site provides one of the cleanest, quick loading interfaces for access to GIS datasets including terrain, land use and land cover (LULC), and Digital Line Graphs (DLG). Terrain data includes USGS 7.5-min DEM and 1-Degree Native Format for United States and GTOPO30 Format Worldwide. Coverages are available both in the lat-long and UTM formats, making conversion between these popular formats unnecessary.
   

 

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