GIS Specialist
Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps and Geospatial Information
Finding GIS Data
These pages identify sources of geospatial data and resources with a primary focus on governmental sources and vector data resources. These sites have been reviewed; however, is not a comprehensive list of sources.
Spatial data includes a geographic component, which can span global, national, regional, and local scales. Vector data identifies specific elements represented as points, lines, and areas. Common vector formats include shapefiles, kml (keyhole markup language), and geodatabases. Raster data is represented by cells or pixels, with each cell representing a value. Websites may provide spatial data in different formats, which have to be converted to desired formats for use with other datasets.
- Citation resources for geospatial data:This University of North Carolina page includes examples of citing geospatial data, and additional resources for citing geospatial data and maps.
- Data Curation Network Data Primers: Geospatial FormatsThe Data Curation Network includes information on multiple types of geospatial data formats, including geodatabases, geojson, geoTIFFs and other data formats.
Pennsylvania
- Centre County GIS OfficeIncludes links to an interactive online mapping site, maps for download, and data download. Data download requires authorization.
- Centre County Open DataIncludes search and download options for open spatial data organized by data categories of environment, boundaries, locations, and infrastructure for Centre County, PA.
- Penn State Data CommonsProvides access to Penn State Researchers’ data, enables Penn State Researchers’ the ability to share research data, provides support for metadata and related project websites
- Pennsylvania AtlasThe Pennsylvania Atlas enable the user to explore data available from PASDA and create a print pdf of the selected data layers. In addition, the user is directed to download of selected data layers.
- Pennsylvania DCNR Open DataThis site includes GIS data or PA state parks, forests, trails, geology, and other relevant projects. An interactive maps gallery is also available that uses PA DCNR data.
- Pennsylvania Imagery NavigatorThe user is able to view and download imagery through this application by right clicking on the map to see available files.
- Pennsylvania Open Data PortalThis site describes open data, includes information on the Open Data Executive Order, includes video tutorials on the use of the open data site, and additional resources.
- Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA)PASDA is the official public access geospatial information clearinghouse for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Through this arrangement, PASDA provides access to the geospatial data of most Pennsylvania State agencies. If however, you do not find a state agency dataset on PASDA, it is worth following up with the agency in question directly.
- PennDOT's GIS Data PortalLinks to published GIS Data related to the Pennsylvania department of transportation, including roads, state/local bridges, transportation improvement projects, airports/heliports/seaports,
- Pennsylvania's Cultural Resources Geographic Information System"CRGIS is a map-based inventory of the historic and archaeological sites and surveys stored in the files of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO)."
- Pittsburgh Open DataPittsburgh, Burgh's Eye VIew
- Open Data AllentownOpen Data Allentown
- Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development CommissionIncludes public maps and application related activities of the planning commission, covering Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, and Somerset counties
- Carbon County, PA Geographical Information SystemCarbon County ArcGIS Online account includes links to parcel viewer, property sale, and flood mapping applications. View gallery for layers, web maps, and applications. Additional layers are available for Carbon County (fire stations, police departments, EMS stations, soils, and community names) by contacting ul-maps@lists.psu.edu.
Contour lines
Contour lines represent lines of equal height (elevation) above or below sea level. Contour lines can be useful when determining how steep or flat an area is. Contour lines are present on topographic maps. In addition, contours can be used in vector format in other software.
- The National MapWith this viewer, the user can define the area of their interest. For contour lines, on the side Data panel area, select Elevation Products (3DEP), and contours to download the zipped file. Upon unzipping, this file can be used in different softwares and may need to be clipped to your desired extent
- PASDA, Pennsylvania Spatial Data AccessSearch by keywords for contours for results on select PA counties and cities
- USGS Store Map LocatorGeoPDFs of topographic maps have contour lines that can be turned on and off. Download is available from the National Map, along with other USGS sites.
CAD (Computer-aided Design)
For specific disciplines, there may be interest in converting shapefiles to CAD files. Examples include converting building footprints and contour lines from shapefile format to CAD format.
- ArcMap, CAD data OverviewOverview of CAD data with links to related CAD topics
- ArcMap Help, Export to CADUsing the unzipped shapefile added to ArcMap, From the ArcToolbox, Expand the conversion tools to select the Export to CAD option. The tool to export to CAD format is also available by right-clicking the layer name in the Table of Contents.
- ArcGIS Pro CAD dataIncludes information on the use of CAD data in ArcGIS Pro
- ArcGIS Pro CAD data optionsIncludes information related to the conversion of CAD files to a geodatabase. Includes link to information on export options.