GIS Data

This site highlights data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone.

Before this archive became available, the Oak Ridge Laboratory would only let the current year's LandScan data be available. This archive allows researchers to look at population data for the last 10 years.

The Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a 2-day public workshop to discuss the suite of data products the Census Bureau will generate from the 2020 Census. The workshop featured presentations by users of decennial census data products to help the Census Bureau better understand the uses of the data products and the importance of these uses and help inform the Census Bureau's decisions on the final specification of 2020 data products. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

How could the same person be classified by the US census as black in 1900, mulatto in 1910, and white in 1920? The history of categories used by the US census reflects a country whose identity and self-understanding - particularly its social construction of race - is closely tied to the continuous polling on the composition of its population. By tracing the evolution of the categories the United States used to count and classify its population from 1790 to 1940, Paul Schor shows that, far from being simply a reflection of society or a mere instrument of power, censuses are actually complex negotiations between the state, experts, and the population itself. The census is not an administrative or scientific act, but a political one. Counting Americans is a social history exploring the political stakes that pitted various interests and groups of people against each other as population categories were constantly redefined. ...

Census workers need to capture and analyze information at the finest geographic level with mobile and geospatial-based technology. GIS and the 2020 Census: Modernizing Official Statistics guides statistical organizations with the most recent GIS methodologies and technological tools to support census workers' needs at all the stages of a census. Learn how to plan and carry out census work with GIS using new technologies for field data collection and operations management. ...

Put the world of GIS data resources at your command. GIS users routinely encounter key questions about the data needed for their projects: Where did the data come from? Is this the best data available? How can the data be loaded to make it work? What about creating original data? With a broad range of GIS data options to choose from, knowing how to find, select, and use the most appropriate resources for different purposes is absolutely essential in order to keep costs down and make the most of the technology. Filled with crucial information for today's GIS users, this book offers a comprehensive, straightforward reporting on GIS data sources--what they are, hot to find them, and how to determine the right source for a given project. ...

The GIS Guide to Public Domain Data gives users of geographic information systems (GIS) relevant information about the sources and quality of available public domain spatial data. Readers will understand how to find, evaluate, and analyze data to solve location-based problems. This guide covers practical issues such as copyrights, cloud computing, online data portals, volunteered geographic information, and international data. ...

Lining Up Data in ArcGIS: A Guide to Map Projections is an easy-to-navigate, troubleshooting reference for any GIS user with the common problem of data misalignment. Completely updated with full-color maps and diagrams from ArcGIS Desktop 10.6 but still compatible with ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 and higher, this book presents practical techniques for identifying data projections and creating custom projections to align data. Formatted for practical use, each chapter can stand alone to address specific issues related to working with coordinate systems. With an added chapter on vertical coordinate systems, plus a newly available data download, the third edition will benefit new and experienced users alike.