Other Excellent Global Data Sources:
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General Method for all Shapes
General Methods for all Grids
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BASE MAP (includes all EEZ-related items)
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Layer Name |
Spatial, Temporal or Thematic Considerations |
Original Publisher |
Current Source |
Native Format |
Processing Method and Comments |
Dummy Grids for Resampling (necessary auxiliary file) |
Needed for most global datasets that follow |
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SGRD |
Creating Grid Templates in Saga
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Graticules |
Optional (for better map appearance) |
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SHP |
Creating Graticules in Saga
NOTE: For unknown reasons, graticule shapes load very slowly in web mapping systems
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Coastline and Land Political Boundaries |
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SRTM/SWBD
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DIVA
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SHP |
Adding Administrative Boundaries and Coastline to a Project Map in Saga
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Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Geography Database (GSHHG)
(Was GSHHS before addition of WDBii)
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NGDC
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SHP |
2.33 Managing Global Coastline, River and Lake Vectors: GSHHG
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Rivers & Lakes |
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DCW
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DIVA
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SHP |
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Marine Boundaries & Regions (including EEZ) |
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Marine Regions
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SHP |
Adding Marine Regions to a Project Map in Saga
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Marine Regions:
- 25,371 marine georeferenced places
- 32,484 marine place names
- 5,595 polygons of geographic places
- 12 marine geographic regional/global classifications
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Marine Regions [Formerly VLIMAR] |
SHP |
Adding Marine Regions to a Project Map in Saga
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GEBCO 08 (land & water; combines best bathy sources and SRTM (see below) |
1-minute and 30-second versions available; users can work locally with the downloaded global dataset, or perform online geographic subsetting |
GEBCO
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BODC
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"NetCDF" format variant |
GEBCO 08 Global Relief Grid: Local Processing, or GEBCO 08 Global Relief Grid: Online Processing
Other applicable exercises:
Estimating Topographic Contours in Saga from SRTM Data
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Master catalog of nearly all major topography datasets |
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Various sources |
Viewfinder Panoramas
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Mainly HGT |
HGT is compatible with Saga's GDAL module
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Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) |
30-second country topography (with/without border mask |
CGIAR |
DIVA
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GRI + GRD + VRT |
Estimating Topographic Contours in Saga from SRTM Data
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Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) |
3-second/90-m |
CGIAR
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GEBCO relief contours |
Selected contours; WVS coastline |
GEBCO
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CD ROM
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SHP |
Adding GEBCO Depth Contours to a Project Map in Saga |
Gazetteer |
Selected country |
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DIVA
|
SHP |
NOTE: The preferred practice for land locations would be to source desired place names locally. When not available, then use the DIVA resource cited here. |
Gazetteer |
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GEBCO Undersea
Feature Names
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US NGDC |
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Results from searches can be exported as Excel, CSV or shapefiles. |
Undersea Features from GNS |
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NGA
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Geonet Names Server
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TXT |
Adding a Text-Dominated Spreadsheet to a Project Map in Saga
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Metareas for Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) |
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WMO |
MarTrans |
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Minor Islands (<2 km^2) |
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Natural Earth Data |
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Geographic Lines |
Tropical and polar circles, equator, and International Date Line. |
Natural Earth Data |
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Single Points at Named Locations |
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Batch Geocoding [Discovered by Jan Helebrant for Saga users] |
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To convert addresses or named locations into latitude-longitude coordinate pairs; can handle lists |
UNEP Shelf Program maps of Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) proposals collated by GRID-Arendal |
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GRID-Arendal |
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Find and view the KML maps in the lower-right corner of the lists. Just click on any map object to select it and see the available files (very complex collections of points, lines and polygons.)
Download and employ shapefiles in the usual way. Take care to use only the latest materials and avoid any comments or text that might cause political problems; this subject is very sensitive and the resources are not easy to interpret.
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Natural Earth is a public domain map dataset available at 1:10m, 1:50m, and 1:110 million scales |
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NaturalEarth |
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NGDC GLOBE 30-second (1-km)global land relief data |
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NOAA-NGDC |
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UNEP Shelf Program maps of Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) files submitted by member States |
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GRID-Arendal |
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CRYOSPHERE
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Antarctic Ice Shelves |
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Natural Earth Data |
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GEOSPHERE
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Layer Name |
Spatial, Temporal or Thematic Considerations |
Original Publisher |
Current Source |
Native Format |
Processing Method and Comments |
Earthquakes (events & effects locations) |
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NGDC |
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TSV |
Import table into Saga
In Saga, use SHAPES - POINTS > CONVERT A TABLE TO POINTS to make point shape Examine the DBF (attributes table) of the remaining point shape to see any magnitude or size attribute would be good to scale the plotted symbols. Set the appropriate Saga plotting symbol in SETTINGS, then save the settings as an SPRM file
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Tsunamis (events & effects locations) |
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NGDC
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TSV |
Same as earthquakes, above. |
Volcanoes |
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NGDC
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Same as earthquakes, above. |
Geothermal Energy |
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NGDC
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|
|
Same as earthquakes, above. |
Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data |
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USGS (see also parent page for more topics) |
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Interactive maps and downloadable data for global Geology, Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Mineral Resources |
Seafloor Lithology |
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GPGPlates
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Patterns of distribution of sediments in the global ocean. Uses a 13-class typology. |
Sediment Thickness |
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NGDC
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ArcInfo ADF |
Adding a Sediment Thickness Grid to a Project Map in Saga
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HYDROSPHERE |
Layer Name |
Spatial, Temporal or Thematic Considerations |
Original Publisher |
Current Source |
Native Format |
Processing Method and Comments |
High-Resolution Sea surface temperature - MODIS |
Surface |
AquaMODIS |
Ocean Color Web (Level 3) |
HDF |
Importing Unprojected HDF Satellite Imagery (L3/L4) into Marine GIS (for SST data) |
High-Resolution Chlorophyll |
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SeaWIFS |
Ocean Color Web (Level 3) |
HDF |
Importing Unprojected HDF Satellite Imagery (L3/L4) into Marine GIS (for chlorophyll data) |
Temperature, Salinity, Oxygen, Nitrate, Phosphate and Silicate |
Selected area and depths |
World Ocean Atlas 2009
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IRI/LDEO Climate Data Library
|
ASC |
Obtaining Standard-Depth Analyzed Parameters from the World Ocean Atlas 2009
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Mixed Layer Depths (plus MDL temperatures, salinities, and densities) |
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Argo Mixed Layers from Scripps/University of California at San Diego |
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NC |
2.30 Adding Argo Mixed Layer Depths to Maps in Saga: UCSD/Scripps
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Marine primary production |
Seasonal |
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Rutgers OPPT
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BIN |
Download 4 seasons
In Saga, use IMPORT/EXPORT GRIDS > IMPORT BINARY RAW GRID
- Columns: 2048
- Rows: 1024
- Cell Size: 360/2048
- Left Border: -179.5 (best fit)
- Lower Border: -89.5 (best fit)
- No Data Value: 0
- Data Type: 4-byte floating point
- Byte Order: Big Endian/Motorola
- Flip, if necessary, using GRID TOOLS > GRID ORIENTATION in Saga.
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Surface current drift |
Monthly |
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GDP
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NetCDF |
Plotting Vector Arrows from the Global Drifter Program 0.5-Degree Climatology
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Tide Component M2 |
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A Global Ocean Tide Model from TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimetry: GOT99.2
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See exercise for updated file |
Text |
Converting 0-to-360 Degree Grids to -180-to-180 Degree Grids
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Waves |
Monthly |
US Navy Marine Atlas
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|
Raw binary |
Discontinued US Navy Marine Atlas: Global Wave Grids
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Waves |
Monthly |
Global Atlas of Ocean Waves - Based on VOS Observations |
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Text |
2.32 Global Wave Grids from the EU Climatology |
Optics (including Secchi disk depths) |
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World Ocean Optics Database |
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3.5 Obtaining Secchi Disk Depths from the Worldwide Ocean Optics Database (WOOD) |
BIOSPHERE |
Layer Name |
Spatial, Temporal or Thematic Considerations |
Original Publisher |
Current Source |
Native Format |
Processing Method and Comments |
Global Species Distribution Records |
Areal, temporal and taxonomic subsetting |
|
Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) |
CSV tables, KML maps, OGC products |
3.6 Managing Global Records for One Taxon in OBIS
3.7 Managing/Repatriating Local Records of Multiple Taxa in OBIS
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Special Areas: mangroves, wetlands, seagrasses, corals, etc. |
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WCMC
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SHP |
NOTE: Source locally if at all possible, because these resources are global and low-resolution
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Marine protected areas (MPAs) |
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World Database of Protected Areas
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Protected Planet
|
SHP |
NOTE: Recent drastic revision seems now to provide local-scale maps for nearly 1000 areas, including >700 "marine" MPAs.
Recent views of MPAs along the South Brazil coast show some possible misplacements of areas, so do some reality checks for all polygons.
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Land Cover Classification |
30-second |
GLC2000 |
DIVA
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GRD + GRI + VRT |
In Saga, use IMPORT/EXPORT GDAL > IMPORT RASTER and import the VRT file. Set number of colors to 21 and display with a preset RAINBOW palette. |
Global Land Cover Classification (GLCF) |
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GLCF/UMD
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FLT |
Handling Classified Grids with Saga
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Collection of boundaries for political and scientific management of ocean areas (e.g. FAO Fisheries Zones, global science programs, IHO seas (updated), ecological zonation, etc.) |
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VLIMAR
|
SHP |
Adding Marine Regions to a Project Map in Saga
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Coral Reefs and Atolls |
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Natural Earth Data |
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Coral Reefs |
Global summary maps of resources and risk categories |
Millenium Coral Reef Mapping Program |
Reefs at Risk |
SHP and KML; grids |
Cutting a Shape to the Project Map Extent in Saga |
ATMOSPHERE |
Layer Name |
Spatial, Temporal or Thematic Considerations |
Original Publisher |
Current Source |
Native Format |
Processing Method and Comments |
Precipitation, Relative Humidity |
Marine only; 12 months |
Atlas of Surface Marine Data 1994 |
NVODS
|
ASC |
In NVODS select Atlas of Surface Marine Data 1994
Select Precipitation Rate or Relative Humidity Select the month and the exact geographic area. Make sure the geographic coordinates are in the system you want (usually -180 to +180) Then use SAVE AS > DOWNLOAD DATA in the ESRI ASC format for direct use in Saga
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Precipitation |
Africa only; land and marine; 12months |
Africa Rainfall Climatology Ver. 2 (ARC2)
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IRI/INGRID > Data Source > Climatology > Monthly |
Raw BIN |
CLIMATOLOGY_DATA > MEAN_MONTHLY TOTALS where there are 12 floating binary files, one for each month (e.g.. clim.month.bin.01, etc)
You can process these in Saga (Import/Export Grids > Import Binary Raw Data).
|
Air temperature |
Selected area and months |
COADS Monthly Climatology |
NVODS
|
ASC |
Plotting Vector Arrows from U and V Component Grids with Saga (select Air Temperature, but stop at Panel 13) |
Wind speed |
Selected area and months |
COADS Monthly Climatology |
NVODS
|
ASC |
Plotting Vector Arrows from U and V Component Grids with Saga (select Wind Speed, but stop at Panel 13) |
Wind vectors |
Selected area and months |
COADS Monthly Climatology |
NVODS
|
ASC |
Plotting Vector Arrows from U and V Component Grids with Saga (but ignore the shipdrift currents section) |
Climate grids (various parameters) |
monthly; annual extremes; use 10-arc min grids |
|
WorldClim |
BIL |
Use Z-Factor of 0.1 in Saga to correct temperatures
NOTE: The apparent ultra-high resolution in some of these data may be attractive to some, but the basic atmospheric processes do not allow for such short spatial scales for climatological products.
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TECHNOSPHERE (EEZ-related items in Base Map, above) |
Layer Name |
Spatial, Temporal or Thematic Considerations |
Original Publisher |
Current Source |
Native Format |
Processing Method and Comments |
Population density |
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SEDAC
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NASA NEO
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GeoTIFF float |
- In Saga, load GeoTIFF with GDAL raster input module
- Reset no-data values to -99999
- Use Resampling Grid Data to the Project Map Extent with a "Dummy" Grid to subsample to grid resolution that is just smaller or equal to the original resolution
- Save as SGRD with good long filename
- Examine histogram to set value range realistically (data unit is persons/km^2)
- Use log scale for better viewing
NOTE: Source locally if at all possible, because this resource is global and low-resolution
|
Populated Places |
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Natural Earth Data
|
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Urban Area Polygons |
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Natural Earth Data
|
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Night Time Lights Products (multiple sensors) |
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NGDC
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Various, including GeoTIF |
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Roads |
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DCW
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DIVA
|
SHP |
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Railroads |
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DCW
|
DIVA
|
SHP |
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Ports |
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World Ports Index |
WPI
|
SHP |
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Communications Cables |
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Greg's Cable Maps |
GCM
|
SHP, KML |
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Time Zones |
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Natural Earth Data
|
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SHP, GeoTIF |
Global data are mainly 1:10M |