Federal GIS Data Sources

Many Federal agencies distribute GIS data... predictably, the USGS offerings will be of the most interest to geologists

• EPA - The Environmental Protection Agency has done an exemplary job of centralizing their GIS downloads (of course their holdings are much smaller than those of the USGS)

• National Atlas

• National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)

  • Has some nice datasets here (make sure to look at the bottom of the page)

  • GEODAS Worldwide Geophysics Database

• USDA

  • Forest Service
  • The old Soil Conservation Service, producer of those wonderful County Soil Surveys is now the Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Some of these datasets are distributed by this site.

• USGS

  • Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) in addition to remote sensing data also distributes various USGS map data from their GEODATA site which is searchable either via graphical interface or by name (they do not, however, include 7.5' DEM data).  Much (most) of these data are in the new Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) format which is not as straightforward to use as the older formats (but which Global Mapper handles without difficulty).
  • o The USGS Seamless Data Distribution system is a marvelous source for topographic, cultural, and photographic data… including recent DEM data. Although heavily used and rather sluggish, its an enormously valuable resource. It’s not particularly user-friendly but there is a well-written online tutorial available..
  • The Astrogeology Division provides neat GIS datasets for the planets!
  • P.B. King's geologic map of the U.S. is now available in ArcInfo or ArcView formats (autobiography of Philip B. King)
  • GIS geologic maps are often included in online open-file reports.  Unfortunately these are distributed throughout the Survey.  Perhaps in the future there'll be more centralization of these data as a result of the work of the National Geologic Map Database.