Have Web Browser, Will Map…

ESRI Schools & Libraries Program

www.esri.com/k-12

With nothing but your Web browser, you can explore numerous sites with ready-made maps. Other sites allow you to build and investigate your own maps using menus of choices and selected mapping tools. Still others contain GIS-ready data sets that you can use with a GIS such as ArcView.

Below is a selection of Web sites that offer online mapping opportunities and others that focus on data access. There also are any number of sites that have downloadable static map, aerial, and satellite image files.

• Online Mapping
  Numerous sites on the Internet allow you to make maps just using your web browser. (You should have a current version of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer installed to access these.) Here are some of the most flexible mapping sites.
• ESRI's ArcData Online (http://data.esri.com) permits free construction of thematic and reference maps using just a web browser and Internet connection
• ESRI's Internet Mapping Demos (http://maps.esri.com or http://www.esri.com/software/internetmaps/index.html) include some focused explorations from global down to local level in some places in the U.S.
• GLOBE Program’s Visualizations Page (http://www.globe.gov) offers opportunities to see map displays of current and historical atmospheric data for the planet.
• NASA’s Digital Earth Program (http://www.digitalearth.gov/) while currently under development is an area to watch for a coming marriage of spatial technologies, as seen in the prototypes page.
• National Geographic’s Map Machine (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/) is a joint effort between the Society and ESRI.

• US Census Bureau’s new American Factfinder (http://factfinder.census.gov) and TIGER map server (http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/mapsurfer) allow you to create community level reference and thematic maps.

• US EPA’s "Surf Your Watershed" map server (http://www.epa.gov/surf) permits exploring according to physical region, rather than political region.
• USGS’s National Atlas (http://www-atlas.usgs.gov) contains explorable U.S. data at many scales.

• GIS Data Sets
  Many Internet sites now provide data for free download to use with GIS software. Here are some of the national sites. Individual states may have local sites as well.
• ESRI’s TIGER data (http://www.esri.com/data/online/tiger/index.html) web site contains many layers of information from the 1990 US Census information for every county of the U.S. Data can be downloaded for free. There is a lesson online, containing detailed instructions on downloading and using TIGER data (http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/tiger.html).
• ESRI’s GIS Jump Station (http://www.esri.com/library/jumpstation/jumpstation.html) contains links to many global and local sites with downloadable data.
• GIS Data Depot (http://www.gisdatadepot.com) contains an enormous volume of global data that can be downloaded and used in mapping activities.
• NASA Global Change Master Directory (http://gcmd.nasa.gov/) rich set of data about data.
• US Census Bureau’s American Factfinder (http://factfinder.census.gov) offers tabular as well as map data down to local level
• US EPA’s BASINS web site (http://www.epa.gov/ostwater/basins)contains watershed data for the 48 conterminous states. Data can be downloaded for free. There is a lesson online, containing detailed instructions on downloading and using BASINS data (http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/basins.html).
• USGS’s National Atlas (http://www-atlas.usgs.gov/)contains lots of data at many scales for the U.S. Data can be downloaded for free.

Interactive Weather Information Network http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/graphicsversion/bigmain.html

Nighttime Lights of the World http://julius.ngdc.noaa.gov:8080/production/html/BIOMASS/night.html

Operational Significant Event Imagery Server http://www.osei.noaa.gov

National Ocean Service http://mapfinder.nos.noaa.gov

Forest Service, Data and Information Systems http://www.fs.fed.us/database

CINDI Center for Integration of Natural Disaster Information http://cindi.usgs.gov