MODIS Land Cover and Land Cover Dynamics Research

This site provides information regarding the MODIS land cover product (MOD12) including descriptions of algorithms, links to where the data can be obtained, contact information for personnel working on the project, and references to key papers that have been published describing algorithm development and applications of the MOD12 products.



The menu at the top of the page provides links to pages with more information on each of these topics.

Access the MODIS Land Cover Group website

Climate, Land Use, and Environmental Sensitivity (CLUES) Geospatial Data & Interactive Maps

Vegetation changes caused by climatic variations and/or land use may have large impacts on forests, agriculture, rangelands, natural ecosystems, and endangered species. Climate modeling studies indicate that vegetation cover, in turn, has a strong influence on regional climates, and this must be better understood before models can estimate future environmental conditions. To address these issues, this project investigates vegetational response to climatic change, and vegetation-land surface impacts on climate change.



Full review and access to CLUES maps and geospatial data

VMap1 Global Geospatial Intelligence Agency ArcGIS Shapefiles

VMap1 data is distributed in VPF format for the part of the globe and freely downloadable via National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Geodata is available in ArcGIS shapefile format.



The website provides access to this data in ESRI shape format. Data is distributed by tiles.

Access the VMap1 Shapefiles

Next version of Widely known DCW Digital Chart of the World in Shapefile Format

Global VMap0 dataset is distributed in original VPF format and available through National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency website and available in shapefile format. Data are packed with free 7z compressor.

Global Data



All the data are in Latitude/Longitude, WGS84 coordinate system.

Data is available for the territory of Russia in ESRI Shapefile format.



Full article and access to new DCW shapefiles of the world

EarthExplorer Interactive Satellite Maps & Geospatial Data

Query and order satellite images, aerial photographs, and cartographic products through the U.S. Geological Survey.



The U.S. Geological Survey is dedicated to providing extensive data to the global science community. However, certain data sets require additional procedures to gain access to them. For example, some commercial satellite scenes of U.S. sites are licensed only for U.S. users. Please log in to find what additional data sets may be available.

Full article and access to EarthExplorer

European River Catchments Geodata, Maps, Shapefiles

European river catchments

The purpose of the European river catchments (ERC) is to provide a homogeneous European catchments dataset at scale 1:1 million that can be used together with the digital topographic data of EuroGlobalMap. This is the latest published version. Includes zipped arcagis shapefiles, vector polygons.



Read entire article and access the European river catchment geodata

Southern Forests for the Future Interactive Maps and Geodata

The forests of the southern United States are a vital natural asset for the region, the country, and the world. Southern Forests for the Future seeks to raise awareness about this important natural resource and the ecosystem services forests provide, such as fresh water, timber and recreation...

Full article and access maps and geodata

Create Free Interactive Maps for Websites, Presentations, Reports, to Share

Maps are one of the world's oldest formats of communication. They help you connect with others, understand the world, describe routes, countries, cultures, experiences and a whole range of topics. Today, maps are everywhere � but in what format? In digital format they often exist as images with a low resolution or as default maps without any option to edit and personalize them. We thought that's not appropriate for the digital, modern world.



StepMap enables you to create personal, interactive and individual maps for topics of your choice. You can add various pieces of information such as images, videos, descriptions, audio files and more to any location on the map. Routes can be added, areas marked and icons placed.

Travelers, teachers, tourist agencies, roleplayers, students and journalists - they all use maps in their daily work and life. It could be for describing your latest holiday route, a news story or simply to visualize information that's interesting to you and your friends or colleagues.

Read Full Article and Visit the StepMap Website

Home-Based Recycling and Salvage Business Manual to be Released

This is not directly related to GIS, maps and geography but I thought it might be of interest. Times are tough and I believe that they are going to get tougher. This may be a way to supplement income or be the catalyst for an entire new direction. During these times, we need to use our common sense and imagination more than ever.

Click here to learn more about this opportunity.