Public Data Repositories
Atlas of the Biosphere
In this website you will find maps of environmental variables, human impacts, and land use. If you use anything from the Atlas in a publication, please use the following citation: "Used by permission of The Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison"
Data Basin
The core of Data Basin is free and provides open access to thousands of scientifically-grounded, biological, physical, and socio-economic datasets.
EBTJV Data
Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture data section
Multistate Aquatic Resources Information System (MARIS)
The Multistate Aquatic Resources Information System (MARIS) is a cooperative effort between state and federal agencies to share fisheries information collected as part of ongoing sampling programs. MARIS data is owned and provided by participating state natural resource management agencies, while technical support and hosting are currently provided by the Core Science Analytics and Synthesis Program of the U.S. Geological Survey. Acting through a MARIS Steering Committee, partners collaborate on the content, design, and administration of MARIS.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
NREL's Geographic Information System (GIS) team analyzes renewable energy resources and many other data sources to determine which energy technologies are viable solutions across the globe and inputs the data into a geographic information system.
National Wetlands Inventory (NWI)
The National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) has been producing wetland maps and geospatial wetland data for the United States since the mid-1970s. The focus has been on two fronts: 1) map or digital database preparation and delivery to the public, and 2) projecting and reporting on national wetland trends using a probability-based sampling design. Maps and geospatial data developed by the NWI is available online and can be downloaded by HUC 8 Watershed Boundary or by State. The data is downloaded as a .zip file that contains the following layers: wetlands polygon data, wetlands project metadata (includes image dates and project information), wetlands historic map information, riparian polygon data, riparian project metadata (includes image dates and project information), historic wetlands, historic wetlands project metadata (includes image dates and project information), and USGS HUC 8 Watershed Boundary.
NOAA National Center for Environmental Information
The National Center for Environmental Information is the world’s largest provider of weather and climate data. Land-based, marine, model, radar, weather balloon, satellite, and paleoclimatic are just a few of the types of datasets available. Detailed descriptions of the available products and platforms are available on the website.
Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN)
The Soil Moisture/Soil Temperature (SM/ST) Pilot Project, a cooperative effort by the Resource Inventory Division and the Soil Survey Division of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, was designed to examine network communications, sensors, data collection electronics, station maintenance, data management, system interfaces, and management of a large cooperative nationwide, comprehensive soil moisture and climate information system. SCAN (Soil Climate Analysis Network) is a continuous climate monitoring program that is an outgrowth of the SM/ST Pilot Project.
Species Distributions
NatureServe compiles and maintains extensive data on the animals of the United States, Canada, and the entire Western Hemisphere. These data focus on the taxonomy, natural history, distribution, and conservation status of vertebrates and selected invertebrates. The following downloadable datasets are available here:
The National Atlas
All raw data contained in the National Atlas is available for downloading including everything from agricultural census data, presidential election results, airports, railways, glaciers, arsenic content in groundwater, and much more.
The Nature Conservancy Conservation Gateway
Spatial data and maps are a crucial element in conservation science, and support meaningful contributions to conservation. Analyses require consistent, regional-scale spatial data and associated products. On this page, you can download the data The Nature Conservancy has used in their large-scale analyses.
U.S. Drought Monitor
The U.S. Drought Monitor, established in 1999, is a weekly map of drought conditions that is produced jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The U.S. Drought Monitor, a composite index that includes many indicators, is the drought map that policymakers and media use in discussions of drought and in allocating drought relief. U.S. Drought Monitor maps come out every Thursday morning at 8:30 eastern time, based on data through 7 a.m. the preceding Tuesday. The map is based on measurements of climatic, hydrologic and soil conditions as well as reported impacts and observations from more than 350 contributors around the country.
U.S. Energy Information
Datasets on Energy Sources within the United States. Covers Coal, Natural Gas, Oil Wells, Electricity and Nuclear, and Renewable Sources.
U.S. Census
TIGER = Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing TIGER products are spatial extracts from the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER database, containing features such as roads, railroads, rivers, as well as legal and statistical geographic areas. The Census Bureau offers several file types and an online mapping application.
USFWS Geospatial Services
Geospatial data and services are critical elements needed to meet the mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and remote sensing are the primary elements which fall under the geospatial data and services umbrella. This site was created to enable the USFWS to be effective in managing geospatial data resources and technology to successfully deliver geospatial services in support of the Service’s mission.
USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) monitors water quality conditions in study units across the nation and stores all collected chemical and physical water quality data in the NAWQA Data Warehouse. The NAWQA Data Export provides an easy way to access data stored in the NAWQA Data Warehouse through form-based workbook queries as well as through standalone web services.
WorldClim
WorldClim is a set of global climate layers (climate grids) with a spatial resolution of about 1 square kilometer. The data can be used for mapping and spatial modeling in a GIS or with other computer programs
