On Finding Spatial Data
The challenges in searching for spatial data are similar to finding data generally - mainly, the personalized nature of data needs in terms of topic, temporal/geographic coverage, scale, and other attributes. To get started, you can reference our finding spatial data workshop. Play this interactive game to assess the data you find. You can also follow this "Garbage in, Garbage out" data checklist for a more in-depth discussion of data quality.
For Smith and MacLeish Field Station data, check out the SAL's Open Data Portal, and the Campus data folder in the Q drive (Q:\Data\campus). The Q drive also contains folders with Northampton (Q:\Data\northampton) and Massachusetts (Q:\Data\massachusetts) data, respectively. For more Massachusetts data, MassGIS is the data page of the state's Bureau of Geographic Information.
Global vector data – land
Starred sources also include significant United States-specific data
| Source | Description |
| Esri's Living Atlas of the World* | Curated authoritative datasets from Esri |
| Open Data of the World* | GIS data portals for local and regional government sources across the world |
| DIVA-GIS | GIS mapping program that includes free country-level spatial datasets |
| OpenStreetMap | Free crowdsourced vector data of the world |
| Georeferencing of Ethnic Groups | Polygons of global ethnic groups |
| Natural Earth | Vector and raster data for cartography |
| CShapes | Historical state boundaries post-WWII |
| NASA Earth Observation Data | High resolution global human-environment interaction and Earth science data from NASA, in vector and raster formats **Note: NASA is working on this website throughout 2026, so some resources may be missing or less developed** |
| Global Administrative Boundaries | High resolution data on country administrative boundaries and subdivisions |
| World Resources Institute | Curated GIS data on a variety of human and environmental dimensions, such as poverty, tourism, and agriculture |
| Atlas of Urban Expansion | Geographic and quantitative datasets on global city growth, including boundary and land cover data |
| Worldpop | High-resolution population estimate data designed to support population health initiatives |
| Open Data for Resilience Index | Spatial data on vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change |
| Road Networks | Africa road network decade data from 1960s - 2000s from Princeton University |
| OpenHistoricalMap | Open source historical data spanning geography, human-environment interaction, and more |
| The Paleobiology Database | Public paleontology data, including spatial data |
Global vector data – ocean-focused
| Source | Description |
| OpenSeaMap | Open source global nautical data, including ports, navigational aids, and more |
| Marine Regions | Global database on marine region geography and features |
| Global Fishing Watch | Open-access maps of global fishing activity (2012-present) |
United States vector data
| Source | Description |
| Data.gov | Authoritative datasets from the U.S. government |
| National Map Viewer | GIS data for the U.S .related to geography, government, and transportation |
| US Census Bureau | U.S. census data files, including census geography boundaries |
| IPUMS NHGIS | U.S. historical census and boundaries data and mapping files (1790-present) |
| By federal agencies | Resource page by Duke University Libraries on GIS data created by different federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and more |
Imagery
| Source | Description | Access | Geographic/Temporal Coverage |
| USGS Earth Explorer | Longest collection of satellite/UAV imagery, air photos, from Landsat and other sensors (MODIS, ASTER, VIIRS) | Free | Mostly US/1970s-present |
| LandViewer | Free; high-resolution for purchase | Miscellaneous global | |
| ESA Copernicus Open Access Hub | From active Sentinels;
|
Free | |
| NASA Earthdata Search | NASA earth observation data including atmosphere, environment, ocean, land, ice, and topography | Free | Global |
| Remote Pixel | Datasets from Landsat 8, Sentinel 2, and CBERS-4 | Free Landsat; need AWS account for Sentinel and CBERS | |
| INPE Image Catalog | Collection from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research | Free; FTP download link sent via email | South & Central America, Africa |
| DigitalGlobe's Open Data Program | High resolution commercial imagery for disaster response | Need to apply | Global |
| Planet's Education & Research | High resolution commercial imagery available based on research proposal | Need to apply | Global |
| NOS Multilens Airphoto Collection | 1930s-1960s multilens photos of US coastlines | Free | |
| Training datasets for computer vision & deep learning | Aerial and satellite imagery with annotations for instance segmentation, object detection, semantic segmentation, scene classification, and other | Free | |
| Geonadir | FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) drone data for at risk ecosystems; features SAL's Belize projects | Free | Global |
Historical Map Collection
| Source | Description |
| Digitized & Described Indigenous Heritage Content | We Are Here: Sharing Stories contains Indigenous-related (First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation) collection items in Library and Archives Canada's holdings |
| Online Guide to US Map Collections | Crowdsourced directory of map collections of various sizes |
| Old Maps Online | Portal for historical maps from five US and European map libraries, including the David Rumsey Map Collection (Stanford University), the British Library |
| David Rumsey Map Collection | More than 150,000 rare 16th c. - 21st c. cartographic products including maps, atlases, globes...etc. at the Stanford Library |
| Library of Congress | |
| Norman B. Leventhal Map Collection | Collection at the Boston Public Library |
| topoView | Current and historical topographic maps from USGS |
| Sanborn fire insurance maps 1867-1970 | |
| MapFly | University of Padua's geothematic and historical map collections |