Searching this site for GIS Data
To facilitate your search, we have sorted our GIS data links into the categories of:
Much of the GIS data on the X drive in the Data & GIS Lab can be found in our library catalog called ROGER. Here is a link that will search ROGER specifically for the UCSD GIS Data Collection.
GIS Data Sources specific to UC San Diego aka 'the X drive'
If you are a UC San Diego person looking for GIS data, you'll want to start with either our X drive, or our GIS links, located in the subpages of this tab. The Data & GIS Lab keeps the majority of its GIS data on a drive called the X drive. The data is organized geographically, roughly by continent, with topical data arrangement inside each folder. Topics are:
- Boundaries, Districts and Jurisdictions
- Census
- Digital Elevation Models - DEMs
- Geology, Geography and Topography
- Hydrology
- Land Use, Zoning and Community Plans
- Places
- Transportation and Transportation-Related
- Utilities
- Imagery
Remember, if you are looking for data on a smaller area of geography, be sure to check the folder with the larger geography first. An example would be if you are looking for data for only one of the states in the United States, you would want to look in the United States Data folder as well as the North America data folder.
NOTE: TO USE DATA ON THE X DRIVE YOU MUST BE IN THE DATA & GIS LAB. Our current configuration does not allow for the use of the Data & GIS Lab's GIS data to be accessed outside of the workstations in the Data & GIS Lab. At some point in the future, it is possible that we would have Web access with UC San Diego authentication to the X drive. Sorry for any inconvenience!
Our other GIS data sources exist on CD-ROM in the Data & GIS Lab located in the Geisel Library building on the main floor. These can be discovered (although it's easier to come and look through them) through our Library's online catalog at http://roger.ucsd.edu/.
#1 Recommended Sites
Finding quality GIS data can be one of the most challenging parts of doing GIS.
Below are some of the top resources for finding good GIS data online. You can also view longer lists sorted by type, by source, by topic, or by geographic region. You can even see sources just for San Diego, or data that isn't GIS data yet, but could be. If you find a good source that isn't on one of our lists, please please please let Mike know at mls003@ucsd.edu and we'll be sure to evaluate it and add it on so others can benefit from your work!
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CGIAR-CSI Consortium for Spatial InformationAn excellent portal into data regarding climate change, natural disasters, Latin America, the Hindu Kush area and poverty mapping/data. Take some time to explore their spatial data servers and databases as there is excellent information there.
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CIESIN &SEDAC & WDC (from Columbia University)A very rich website with lots of GIS data from Columbia University portals such as CIESIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Network), SEDAC (Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center), and the World Data Center for Human Interactions.
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DIVA GIS - DataAn excellent site for GIS data for almost every country in the world. Very easy to use, comprehensive and a great starting point for files on administrative boundaries, water, roads, railroads, elevation, landcover, population, climate and a gazetteer.
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GeoData Portal - United NationsSupply of data sets used by UNEP- has 450+ variables with national, subregional, regional and global statistics and geospatial data sets. Themes include Freshwater, Population, Forests, Emissions, Climate, Disasters, Health and GDP. Dynamic searches for many different nations, regions, cities, etc.
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GeoNetwork- The portal to spatial data and informationA product of the UN FAO, this site is a great place to look for data on political boundaries, agriculture, climate, fisheries, forestry, water, land cover/use, population data, soil info and topo info.
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Global Change Master Directory Web Site - NASAFrom the Goddard Space Flight Center, this site offers access to portals for data on agriculture, atmosphere, biosphere, climate, human dimensions, oceans, earth, and more.
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GNIS - United States Board on Geographic NamesThis gazetteer is a key resource to find the official name, latitude and longitude of domestic, foreign, Antarctic or undersea features. Note that if you are looking for foreign names, the link on the GNIS will take you to the GNS (also available as a link on this guide).
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Marine/Coastal GIS ResourceFrom OSU's Davey Jones' Locker, this is a great place to start any marine/coastal GIS project. Here you will find the full spectrum of links for agencies, bibliographies, conferences, data, labs, software tools and more.
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SanGISOne of the best sites to get GIS data for San Diego. Almost 100 free GIS data layers available for public download. Majority of these are available through the UCSD Geisel GIS Lab already unzipped with improved metadata.
