CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 1  Overview Web search engines NSDI GeoSpatial Data Clearinghouse USGS GeoData site University of Washington Map Library GeoSpatial Data Archive Searching for data Importing data ARC/INFO interchange file SDTS files USGS DEM data USGS DLG data

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 2  Searching for data Web search engines NSDI GeoSpatial Data Clearinghouse USGS GeoData site University of Washington Map Library GeoSpatial Data Archive

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 3  Searching for data: Web search engines The primary method for searching for general data on the net Keyword searching Logical parsing of searches Search is far and wide Possible to use meta-searchers Graphical results Low precision

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 4  Searching for data: Web search engines Search “GIS& data” Results are good

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 5  Searching for data: Web search engines Search “GIS& data& Washington” Results are bad

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 6  Searching for data: Web search engines Why are web search engines not the best tool for searching GIS data? Spiders only find and index keywords, not meaning Searching for keywords is not efficient Too many erroneous matches Not a true database query No spatial coordinates in normal search engines Too many dead ends and broken links No standard format for searching various engines

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 7  Searching for data: NSDI GeoSpatial Data Clearinghouse (GDC) National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Federal Geospatial Data Committee Better methods are needed for searching for GIS data Federal agencies mandated to increase access to geospatial data Development of common search engine Standardized approach Queryable databases (Z39.50 international library standard) Specific server network built on top of the Network Metadata is the keystone

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 8  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Metadata Content-standardized metadata is the foundation of a robust searching tool Records for individual data sets contain data for specific fields, e.g., Title Abstract Spatial extent Data type Currency of time scale Source scale Developer/Contact information

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 9  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Indexed databases Metadata records are indexed into international library Z39.50 standard databases Specific sites containing indexes (nodes) are registered with search server sites Searches can be limited to individual nodes or to many nodes Databases are searchable across TCP/IP networks Searching functions are imbedded in web interfaces Results are displayed in web pages

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 10  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Searching Search by place name or geographic location

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 11  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Searching Search by time period Search by keyword in various fields

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 12  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Searching Select node to search

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 13  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Results Number of hits is displayed Individual records can be browsed

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 14  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Results Individual record titles can be browsed

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 15  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Results Individual records can be read Particular data are hyperlinked

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 16  Searching for data: NSDI GDC: Results Find out where to get copies of the data

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 17  Searching for data: USGS GeoData site A tremendous amount of data area available for “free” Data sets representing USGS topographic quadrangles Data from paper maps converted to digital format DEM (raster elevation) data Vector data for a variety of themes Variety of source scales

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 18  Searching for data: USGS GeoData site 7.5’ (1:24,000) topographic quadrangle vector data series Always review 00README files

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 19  Searching for data: USGS GeoData site: Downloading Interactive quadrangle searching Individual files are downloadable Text-only searching also available

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 20  Searching for data: University of Washington Map Library GeoSpatial Data Archive (WAGDA) Staffed by “GIS Librarian” Jenny Stone Should be your first stop when searching for GIS data Depository library Suzzallo Library basement Data repository for Washington and PNW data On-line and off-line data sets City of Seattle GIS database 10 m USGS DEMs Large collection of paper maps & aerial photos

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 21  Searching for data: WAGDA Web page

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 22  Searching for data: WAGDA Web page

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 23  Importing data ARC/INFO interchange file SDTS files USGS DEM data USGS DLG data

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 24  Importing data: ARC/INFO interchange file ARC/INFO has been a leading software Very common file format Known as “interchange,” “export,” or “E00” file Easy to transfer from machine to machine or across file system; easy to distribute via the Network Can be imported into ARC/INFO format for use in ArcView

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 25  Importing data: ARC/INFO file structure some of these files are associated with this data set

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 26  Importing data: ARC/INFO file structure Problematic file structure for file management Directories for ARC/INFO data sets cannot be altered, copied, or moved arbitrarily Interchange file “packages” coverage directory and info files into a single interchange file

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 27  Importing data: ARC/INFO file structure: Importing menu access to importing application

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 28 GUI-controlled import function  Importing data: ARC/INFO file structure: Importing data imported as ARC/INFO coverage

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 29  Importing data: SDTS files USGS digital elevation model (DEM) data USGS digital line graph (DLG) data

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 30  Importing data: SDTS files: USGS DEM data publicly available data sets distributed by USGS in SDTS file format public-domain tools for conversion from SDTS

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 31  Importing data: SDTS files: USGS DEM data public-domain converter input SDTSoutput DEM

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 32  Importing data: SDTS files: USGS DEM data ArcView imports USGS format DEMs

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 33  Importing data: SDTS files: USGS DLG data vector format data publicly available data sets distributed in zipped or SDTS file format public-domain tools for conversion from SDTS to DXF ARC/INFO or other commercial software for full conversion of SDTS to GIS data sets

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 34  Importing data: SDTS files: Importing STDS DLG to DXF

CFR 250/590 Introduction to GIS, Autumn 1999 Data Search & Import © Phil Hurvitz, find_data 35  Importing data: SDTS files: Importing STDS DLG to ARC/INFO coverage