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Data resources and tools

ajzeigert edited this page Dec 8, 2014 · 1 revision

Map data resources

General data resources

USDA Forest Service national datasets - The main place to get nationwide FS data.

Deschutes NF data library - More data specific to Deschutes NF. Data and map services available.

Census boundary sets - Easily grab the latest census boundary data.

Oregon Spatial Data Library

USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer - Exactly what it says on the tin.

Oregon Explorer map viewer - View lots of imagery and layers provided by the state.

SRTM direct downloads - A place to grab Shuttle Radar Topography Mission files. Largely deprecated by ASTER GDEM, but still cool.

Natural Earth - Another provider of great open-source map data, great for small-scale mapping projects.

Geolode - Aims to be the "motherlode of geospatial data."

Stamen Maps - Still offering some of the best free-to-use map tile sets on the web.

Township/Range search - For when someone for some reason gives you a location in Township/Range.

Federal Geographic Data Committee - Supposedly helping us keep our specs in line, and providing links to other data sources.

Fire data

InciWeb

Northwest Interagency Coordination Center Large Fire Map

USGS GECSC Outgoing Datasets - A place to download current fire data.

Cool map tools

CartoDB - A fun-to-use map visualization tool.

LightningMaps.org - A real-time map of lightning strikes.

Worldview - View a lot of up-to-the-minute satellite imagery from NASA.

eBird - A pretty comprehensive map of bird ranges. Niche, but cool.

Mapstory - A way to make slideshow-style stories out of map data.

GPS Visualizer - A bare-bones, no-fuss way to geocode a list of addresses for free. Sort of. (API keys required, but most are free to get.)

Other (not necessarily map-related) dataviz resources

Charting tools

Plot.ly - An attractive, user-friendly chart generation tool.

Charted.co - Interesting automatic chart generator from the makers of Medium.

Chart.js - A handy javascript library for creating a few basic chart types.

d3.js - Another great library for creating graphics in the browser. Extremely powerful.

Infogram - An online tool for creating quick charts.

RAW - A d3-based tool for linking visualizations to spreadsheets.

Other cool links

TimelieJS - Really cool tool for creating map-aware timelines.

StoryMapJS - Another Knight Lab project for creating map-centric timelines.

JuxtaposeJS - A simple tool for posting swipable before-and-after images on a web page.

SnapMap - Create a quick map of your geotagged instagrams.

CodePen - A place to edit code and see instant previews.

Mozilla Developer Network HTML5 guides - Moz still makes some of the best documentation for open-source web technologies.

CloudPaint - An emulation of the original MacPaint, for old-school Mac geeks!

Regional Statistics Explorer - More info than you ever wanted about the place you live.