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Have Browser, WIll Map...
...Or Get Data to Map

ESRI Schools & Libraries Program

www.esri.com/k-12
Ó 2002, ESRI, Inc.

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 many sites that have downloadable static map, aerial, and satellite image files. A good place to get an overview on GIS, its uses, and other information is GIS.com,
http://www.gis.com.

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.
Geography Network (
http://www.geographynetwork.com) is the recently launched global cooperative for publishing and sharing geographic data and map services over the Internet. Visit often to see it grow.
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 much 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 TIGER95 (
http://www.esri.com/data/online /tiger/index.html) and the Geography Network’s Census 2000 (
http://www.geographynetwork.com /data/tiger2000/) Web sites contain many layers of information from the 1990 and 2000 censuses. Geographic and population/housing data for every county of the U.S. 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.gis.com/jumpstation/) 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.
USGS’s Global GIS site (
http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/globalgis/) contains descriptions of an orderable seven-CD data series for use with ArcView. 1:1 million scale physical and human geographic data by world region.

Grandma’s attic:

From static images to interactive networks

Many U.S. federal agency Web sites incorporate map, aerial, radar, and satellite images as static complements to their offerings. While unchangeable, these can be useful additions to geographic explorations. Others embrace a host of geographic possibilities. Some locations to visit include: