Wikipedia:Graphics Lab/Resources/GIS sources and palettes

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— This Gis sources & palettes page aims to collect, list, and describe quickly suitable GIS files available online, but also to provide styles/palettes files to use within our softwares. So:

if an interesting GIS files is available online, please add its description and download link using the fresh {{Cite GIS}} template
since the Graphic labs developed a set of Map Conventions with encouraged colors, the page will be completed accordingly.

If not indicated otherwise, these resources are under PD license. The few files preceded by have either copyright restrictions or technical issues (bug). Better, those preceded by are wonderful tools and must have of the wiki-GIS mapmaker.

How to use this page ?

GIS sources

The GIS files found online are described using the {{Cite GIS}} template, with the following parameters when available:

Horizontal list
{{Cite GIS \|name= \|url_download= \|publisher= \|year= \|license= \|tag= \|url_doc= \|layers= \|precision_max= \|covered_area= \|datum= \|projection = \|extensions= \|size_compressed= \|size_uncompressed= \|tile_size= \|tiles_total= \|comment = \|editor_note= }}

For ⁰arc (arc-second), and 'arc (arc-mintute), see Minute_of_arc#Cartography.

Palettes

To use the QGis palettes, simply copy-paste the code into a text document, then save as PALETTENAME.qml. Then, in QGis and while working on a layer :

QGis > Layer > Properties > Load a style > [browse, select the .qml file, load] > Apply

It is advised to create a specific '/Mapcolors' folder to store these .qml files.

Topography/Bathymetry

Scope: positive (topography), neutral (coastlines), and negative (bathymetry) altitudes. Exclude: Mars, Moon, and water bodies (rivers, lakes), for this, see specific sections.

: QGis > Colormap "Wikicarto_2.0.qml"

<!DOCTYPE qgis PUBLIC 'http://mrcc.com/qgis.dtd' 'SYSTEM'>
<qgis version="1.6.0-Copiapo" minimumScale="1" maximumScale="1e+08" hasScaleBasedVisibilityFlag="0">
  <transparencyLevelInt>255</transparencyLevelInt>
  <rasterproperties>
    <mDrawingStyle>SingleBandPseudoColor</mDrawingStyle>
    <mColorShadingAlgorithm>ColorRampShader</mColorShadingAlgorithm>
    <mInvertColor boolean="false"/>
    <mRedBandName>Not Set</mRedBandName>
    <mGreenBandName>Not Set</mGreenBandName>
    <mBlueBandName>Not Set</mBlueBandName>
    <mGrayBandName>Bande 1</mGrayBandName>
    <mStandardDeviations>0</mStandardDeviations>
    <mUserDefinedRGBMinimumMaximum boolean="false"/>
    <mRGBMinimumMaximumEstimated boolean="true"/>
    <mUserDefinedGrayMinimumMaximum boolean="false"/>
    <mGrayMinimumMaximumEstimated boolean="true"/>
    <mContrastEnhancementAlgorithm>StretchToMinimumMaximum</mContrastEnhancementAlgorithm>
    <contrastEnhancementMinMaxValues>
      <minMaxEntry>
        <min>-10458</min>
        <max>6741</max>
      </minMaxEntry>
    </contrastEnhancementMinMaxValues>
    <mNoDataValue mValidNoDataValue="false">-9999.000000</mNoDataValue>
    <customColorRamp>
      <colorRampType>DISCRETE</colorRampType>
      <colorRampEntry red="245" value="8000.000000" green="244" blue="242" label="altitude 19 neiges eternelles"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="224" value="7000.000000" green="222" blue="216" label="altitude 18 neiges eternelles"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="202" value="6000.000000" green="195" blue="184" label="altitude 17 neiges eternelles"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="186" value="5000.000000" green="174" blue="154" label="altitude 16 neiges eternelles"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="172" value="4000.000000" green="154" blue="124" label="altitude 15 neiges eternelles"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="170" value="3000.000000" green="135" blue="83" label="altitude 14"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="185" value="2000.000000" green="152" blue="90" label="altitude 13"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="195" value="1500.000000" green="167" blue="107" label="altitude 12"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="202" value="1000.000000" green="185" blue="130" label="altitude 11"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="211" value="800.000000" green="202" blue="157" label="altitude 10"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="222" value="600.000000" green="214" blue="163" label="altitude 9"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="232" value="400.000000" green="225" blue="182" label="altitude 8"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="239" value="300.000000" green="235" blue="192" label="altitude 7"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="225" value="200.000000" green="228" blue="181" label="altitude 6"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="209" value="150.000000" green="215" blue="171" label="altitude 5"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="189" value="100.000000" green="204" blue="150" label="altitude 4"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="168" value="50.000000" green="198" blue="143" label="altitude 3"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="148" value="20.000000" green="191" blue="139" label="altitude 2"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="172" value="1.000000" green="208" blue="165" label="altitude 1"/>
<!--      <colorRampEntry red="167" value="0.000000" green="223" blue="210" label="depression"/> -->
      <colorRampEntry red="216" value="0.000000" green="242" blue="254" label="altitude -1"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="198" value="-20.000000" green="236" blue="255" label="altitude -2"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="185" value="-50.000000" green="227" blue="255" label="altitude -3"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="172" value="-100.000000" green="219" blue="251" label="altitude -4"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="161" value="-250.000000" green="210" blue="247" label="altitude -5"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="150" value="-500.000000" green="201" blue="240" label="altitude -6"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="141" value="-750.000000" green="193" blue="234" label="altitude -7"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="132" value="-1000.000000" green="185" blue="227" label="altitude -8"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="121" value="-2000.000000" green="178" blue="222" label="altitude -9"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="113" value="-4000.000000" green="171" blue="216" label="altitude -10"/>
    </customColorRamp>
  </rasterproperties>
</qgis>

Files

NGDC-NOAA: ETOPO1 (2009, Public domain). Specifics: topography & bathymetry layer(s), 1px= 1850m (1minute arch), all Earth (90N-90S, landmass & sea floor), projection (?), datum WSG 84. Files: compressed file 326Mo, uncompressed file 900Mo, whole earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): Perfect for very large maps (ex: > France). Download: ETOPO1 Ice Surface (grid registered), ETOPO1 Bedrock (grid-registered). nb: ETOPO1 is a better data than ETOPO2 (lower quality). Citation: “Amante, C. and B. W. Eakins, ETOPO1 1 Arc-Minute Global Relief Model: Procedures, Data Sources and Analysis. NOAA Technical Memorandum NESDIS NGDC-24, 19 pp, March 2009.”

NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model. Including SRTM1 (1 arch-sec = 31m), SRTM3 (3 arch-sec = 93m), SRTM30 (30 arch-sec = 930m). Documentation, introduction. WGS84/EGM96 geoid?

NASA: SRTM3 v2 (2000, Public Domain). Specifics: topography layer(s), 1px= 93m (3"arch), 60⁰N-56⁰S (landmass only), datum WGS 84. Files: compressed file ~2Mo each, uncompressed file ~4Mo each, 1⁰ x 1⁰arch, ~20.000 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): perfect for small areas anywhere in the world.
CGIAR-CSI: SRTM3 v4 (2008?, Non commercial). Specifics: topography layer(s), 1px= 90m (3"arch), 60⁰N-56⁰S (landmass only), projection ?, datum WSG 84. Files: compressed file ~6Mo, uncompressed file ~25Mo, 5⁰x5⁰arch, ~1,000 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): Non commercial license not compatible with Wikipedia. Perfect for small areas all around the world. Complex to manage (many tiles). nb: CGIAR-CSI = Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, Consortium for Spatial Information.
NASA: SRTM1 v.2.1 (2000, Public Domain). Specifics: topography layer(s), 1px= 31m (1"arch), USA and dependencies (landmass only), projection ?, datum WGS 84. Files: compressed file ~4Mo, uncompressed file ~30Mo, 1⁰ x 1⁰arch,. —♣ Comment(s): for mapmaking of the USA. File name from the lower-left corner's coordinates (ex: N48E001.hgt.zip)
NASA: SRTM30 (2000, Public Domain). Specifics: topography layer(s), 1px= 930m (30"arch), 60⁰N-56⁰S (landmass only), datum WGS 84. Files: uncompressed file ?, 50°lat x 40°long, ? tiles. —♣ Comment(s): For very large maps anywhere in the world. Is a merge of SRTM and GTOPO30. File namimg from the top-left corner's coordinates. 12 files in the online folder, 10 are useful (to exclude: *.jpg.zip et *.gif.zip, which are previews). In 3DEM, après avoir décompressé ces 10 fichiers, sélectionner l'option GTOPO30 Tile puis dans la nouvelle fenêtre représentant la carte du monde, centrer le cadre sur la région d'intérêt et spécifier comme projection Lat/Lon. Naviguer dans l'arborescence et sélectionner le fichier .DEM.
NASA: SRTM Water Body Data (SWBD) (2000, Public Domain). Specifics: water bodies (major rivers, lakes, coastlines) layer(s), 1px= 31m (1"arch), 60⁰N-56⁰S (landmass only), datum WGS 84. Files: 1⁰ x 1⁰arch,. —♣ Comment(s): Vector layer, for waterways, lakes, and very precise coastline base on the sea's average level.

Water bodies

Scope: Major rivers, lakes, coastlines. Exclude: sea's bottom (bathymetry), for this, see #Topography/Bathymetry.
Rivers

Naturalearthdata.com: Rivers lines (10m-rivers-lake-centerlines) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: major rivers lines layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: compressed file 2.9Mb, uncompressed file 3.9Mb, whole Earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): Perfect for very large to local location maps/topographic maps. Small rivers to add handily. Bug: SVG output bug with top level rivers (Fleuve Jaune, Yantze). Additional GIS files: for north america and Europe, click on 'specifics'.

Lakes:

Naturalearthdata.com: Lakes & reservoirs (10m-lakes) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: major lakes polygons layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: compressed file 870Kb, uncompressed file 2.2Mb, whole Earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): Perfect for very large to local location maps/topographic maps. Smaller lakes to add handily. Additional GIS files: for historic, pluvial, north america, and Europe lakes, click on 'specifics'.

Coastline:

Naturalearthdata.com: Coastline (10m-coastline) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: coastlines layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: compressed file 2.6Mb, uncompressed file 6.5Mb, whole Earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): Perfect for very large to local location maps/topographic maps. Islands >2km², for smaller ones, see GIS source "Minor islands".
Naturalearthdata.com: Minor islands (10m-minor-islands) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: coastlines layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: compressed file 450Kb, whole Earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): Islands <2km². Perfect for very small location maps/topographic maps. In support of "10m-coastline".

Bathymetry

Naturalearthdata.com: Bathymetry vector (10m-bathymetry-all) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: major lakes polygons layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: compressed file 14.15Mb, uncompressed file 33.6Mb, whole Earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): For vector topographic map: speed up vectorization since it provide light vector for the sea.

Administrative layers

Areas (polygons)

Scope: Admin level 0 : Countries polygons ; Admin level 1 : State/Provinces polygons ; Disputed area ; other local GIS resources (for sub provincial resources).
Countries:

Naturalearthdata.com: Admin level 0 : Countries polygons (10m-admin-0-countries) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: 240 countries polygons layer(s), whole Earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: compressed file 6.7Mb, uncompressed file 8.2Mb, whole Earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): For location maps, very large to countries' size. Editor note: a closely related data not tested there.

Provinces:

Naturalearthdata.com: Admin level 1 : State/Provinces polygons (10m-admin-1-states-provinces) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: major rivers lines layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: compressed file 14Mb, uncompressed file 19Mb, whole Earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): For location maps, large and local, and complex maps (political, military, history).

Disputed areas:

Naturalearthdata.com: Disputed areas (10m-admin-0-breakaway-disputed-areas) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: major rivers lines layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: compressed file 122Kb, uncompressed file 155Kb, whole Earth, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): For location maps, and complex maps (political, military, history). Editor note: a related file, 10m_admin_0_breakaway_disputed_areas_scale_ranks, not tested, click on 'specifics' to find and test it.

Borders (lines)

Scope: Admin level 0 : Countries borders ; Admin level 1 : State/Provinces borders ; other local GIS resources.
Countries borders:

Naturalearthdata.com: Admin-0-boundary-lines (10m-admin-0-boundary-lines-land) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: international borders lines layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: . —♣ Comment(s): Perfect for location maps and other political/administrative maps, international or local.

Provinces/States borders:

Naturalearthdata.com: Admin-0-provinces-lines (10m-admin-1-states-provinces-lines) (2009, Public domain). Specifics: intranational borders lines layer(s), whole earth, projection Geographic projection(?), datum WSG84. Files: . —♣ Comment(s): Perfect for location maps and other political/administrative maps, especially national or local.

Others cultural

Scope: parks, urban areas, roads (OSM), buildings, towns, etc.

RITA: [ North American Transportation Atlas Data (NORTAD)] (1998, license?). Specifics: Airports, highways, railroads, administrative boundaries, water port layer(s), USA, Canada, Mexico,. Files: compressed file from 10KB to 30MB, 1 tiles. —♣ Comment(s): sometimes more content than OSM. Editor note: License & other parameters to clarify.

Other physical or biological

Scope: rain, heat, pollution, geology, animals presences. Exclude: positive altitude (topograpahy), and negative (sea's bottom, bathymetry), for this, see #Topography/Bathymetry.

NASA: Landsat ETM+ (various years, ?). Specifics: imagery layer(s), 1px= 60m (MSS) to 14.25m (Landsat 7), 80°N-60°S, projection UTM, datum WGS84. Files: 5°lat x ~6°lon,. —♣ Comment(s): Full name: Orthorectified Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus Imagery. Download through the Glovis interface, need to allow pop-up. Editor note: need to check/dig more for these informations: license, year, precision max, file,...

Mars

: Colormap "Wikicarto_Mars_1.0.qml" (relief only)

<!DOCTYPE qgis PUBLIC 'http://mrcc.com/qgis.dtd' 'SYSTEM'>
<qgis version="1.6.0-Copiapo" minimumScale="1" maximumScale="1e+08" hasScaleBasedVisibilityFlag="0">
  <transparencyLevelInt>255</transparencyLevelInt>
  <rasterproperties>
    <mDrawingStyle>SingleBandPseudoColor</mDrawingStyle>
    <mColorShadingAlgorithm>ColorRampShader</mColorShadingAlgorithm>
    <mInvertColor boolean="false"/>
    <mRedBandName>Not Set</mRedBandName>
    <mGreenBandName>Not Set</mGreenBandName>
    <mBlueBandName>Not Set</mBlueBandName>
    <mGrayBandName>Bande 1</mGrayBandName>
    <mStandardDeviations>0</mStandardDeviations>
    <mUserDefinedRGBMinimumMaximum boolean="false"/>
    <mRGBMinimumMaximumEstimated boolean="true"/>
    <mUserDefinedGrayMinimumMaximum boolean="false"/>
    <mGrayMinimumMaximumEstimated boolean="true"/>
    <mContrastEnhancementAlgorithm>StretchToMinimumMaximum</mContrastEnhancementAlgorithm>
    <contrastEnhancementMinMaxValues>
      <minMaxEntry>
        <min>-10458</min>
        <max>6741</max>
      </minMaxEntry>
    </contrastEnhancementMinMaxValues>
    <mNoDataValue mValidNoDataValue="false">-9999.000000</mNoDataValue>
    <customColorRamp>
      <colorRampType>DISCRETE</colorRampType>
      <colorRampEntry red="255" value="10000.000000" green="255" blue="255" label="glace 3"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="240" value="8000.000000" green="232" blue="225" label="glace 2"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="220" value="7000.000000" green="212" blue="205" label="glace 1"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="204" value="6000.000000" green="191" blue="180" label="altitude 11"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="189" value="5000.000000" green="163" blue="140" label="altitude 10"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="174" value="4000.000000" green="134" blue="100" label="altitude 9"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="160" value="3000.000000" green="120" blue="80" label="altitude 8"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="159" value="2000.000000" green="110" blue="70" label="altitude 7"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="174" value="1000.000000" green="125" blue="75" label="altitude 6"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="189" value="800.000000" green="145" blue="90" label="altitude 5"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="204" value="600.000000" green="165" blue="105" label="altitude 4"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="219" value="400.000000" green="185" blue="120" label="altitude 3"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="235" value="200.000000" green="205" blue="136" label="altitude 2"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="211" value="0.000000" green="174" blue="112" label="altitude 1"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="188" value="100.000000" green="144" blue="89" label="altitude -1"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="164" value="-500.000000" green="114" blue="66" label="altitude -2"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="141" value="-1000.000000" green="84" blue="43" label="altitude -3"/>
      <colorRampEntry red="120" value="-2000.000000" green="65" blue="20" label="altitude -4"/>
    </customColorRamp>
  </rasterproperties>
</qgis>

Files

NASA: MOLA MEGDRs MEG128 (2003, Public domain). Specifics: topography layer(s), 1px= ?, 88°N - 88°S, projection ?, datum ?. Files: . —♣ Comment(s): High resolution: MEG128 (88°N - 88°S), Lower resolution: 512 (+88N, and +88S : poles).

Citation: « Smith, D., G. Neumann, R. E. Arvidson, E. A. Guinness, and S. Slavney, "Mars Global Surveyor Laser Altimeter Mission Experiment Gridded Data Record", NASA Planetary Data System, MGS-M-MOLA-5-MEGDR-L3-V1.0, 2003. ».

NASA: MOLA MEGDRs MEG512 (2003, Public domain). Specifics: topography layer(s), 1px= ?, +88°N, +88°S (polar), projection ?, datum ?. Files: . —♣ Comment(s): Polar topography completing MOLA MEGDRs MEG128. For citation, see in MOLA MEGDRs MEG128.

Links

{{Cite GIS}} — {{Cite map}}'s code, to adapt into a Cite_GIS files template.

The table above has links to various tutorials and resources which can help in the creation of Wikipedia maps from digital georeferenced data (GIS).

v t e Map conventions and Map Project
	Conventions set	Location maps and US locations Locator maps (from SVG locator maps, 2012) Gradient maps Topographic maps Exchanges maps Orthographic maps
	Drafts	Area maps (+Historical maps )
	Others	Map Workshop (practice cartography here) Map Project and Discussions Conventions (general) (suggestions and discussions) Map tutorials Software (Inkscape) World map utilities GIS sources and palettes (fr↔en)

v t e Digital cartography tutorials : GIS, topography, shaded reliefs, and semantic layers
Graphics Lab	Inkscape tutorials:	SVG exercises for mapmaking (to open in Inkscape)	6 layers: ➊➋➌➍➎➏
	QGIS layers:	(Todo list) 0. Installations ➊. Topography (NASA data) ➋: Political divisions and watersways (NaturalEarth data) ➌. Roads and urban areas (OSM data) ➍. Shaded relief and tiles merging ➎. Reprojection .
	Inkscape layers:	➏ Compilation and semantic ➐. Thematic additions.
	Open JUMP GIS tutorials:	Creating a general political/historical map with Open JUMP GIS
	GRASS GIS tutorials	Geographic vector mapping (no fr) Bitmap relief mapping (fr↔en: 20%) Topographic vector mapping (fr↔en: 95%) Aquatic surface vector mapping (fr↔en: 1%) Creating shaded relief (GRASS, 3DEM) (fr↔en: 100%)
	Help & tools:	Map conventions (general) Gis datas & palette files (fr↔en) {{GIS data for Graphic Lab}} Optimizing shaded relief using GIMP (old) (fr↔en: 100%) Map tutorials^(e.n.) Software (QGis, Inkscape, TheGIMP) List of National Coordinate Reference Systems (Europe only. To expand) Make (software)
	Community:	Map Workshop (need you!) Map Project & Discussions [e.n. = expansion need]