Sources of Geospatial Data

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3.4. Sources of Geospatial Data#

Geospatial data describes objects, events, or features with a location on or near the Earth’s surface, combining location information with attribute and often temporal data. This data is crucial for various applications, from urban planning and environmental management to disaster response and business analytics.

Table 3.1 demonstrates the diverse range of geospatial data sources available to researchers, practitioners, and the general public. The table illustrates the rich ecosystem of geospatial data sources:

  1. Government Agencies provide authoritative, often freely accessible data covering a wide range of topics from topography to environmental monitoring.

  2. Commercial Providers offer specialized, often high-resolution data products, particularly useful for business applications and detailed analyses.

  3. Open-Source Platforms democratize access to geospatial data, often relying on community contributions to create comprehensive global datasets.

  4. Environmental Organizations focus on ecological and climate-related data, crucial for understanding and addressing global environmental challenges.

  5. Academic Institutions contribute valuable research data, often covering unique or specialized topics not available from other sources.

  6. Remote Sensing Sources provide Earth observation data from satellites and aerial platforms, offering broad coverage and regular updates.

  7. Specialized Data Providers cater to specific industries or applications, offering in-depth data for particular sectors.

  8. Crowd-Sourced Platforms leverage user-generated content to create dynamic, real-time datasets, particularly useful for rapidly changing information.

Table 3.1 Examples of Geospatial Data from Diverse Sources#

Source Type

Examples

Government Agencies

- USGS topographic maps
- Census boundary files
- National land cover datasets
- NOAA weather data
- EPA environmental monitoring data
- GeoGratis (NRCan) Canadian geospatial data

Commercial Providers

- SafeGraph Points of Interest (POI) data
- Esri demographic data
- Here Technologies street network data
- Mapbox boundaries data
- DMTI Spatial Canadian location data

Open-Source Platforms

- OpenStreetMap road and building data
- Natural Earth vector and raster data
- GADM global administrative boundaries
- OpenAerialMap imagery
- OpenAddresses global address data

Environmental Organizations

- Global Forest Watch deforestation data
- ClimateCheck climate risk assessments
- World Wildlife Fund ecoregions
- UNEP environmental indicators
- iNaturalist species observations

Academic Institutions

- CIESIN socioeconomic data
- WorldPop population estimates
- ESDAC soil data
- Global Earthquake Model (GEM) seismic hazard maps
- University of Waterloo Geospatial Centre

Remote Sensing Sources

- Landsat satellite imagery
- MODIS land surface temperature data
- Sentinel-1 radar data
- LiDAR elevation models
- Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation

Specialized Data Providers

- Zillow real estate data
- Foursquare venue data
- AccuWeather historical weather data
- TomTom traffic data
- Dun & Bradstreet business locations

Crowd-Sourced Platforms

- Waze user-reported traffic incidents
- OpenWeatherMap weather observations
- Mapillary street-level imagery
- OpenSky Network flight tracking data