SD : Environment : Specials : GIS : Global datasets in digital format

6. Global datasets in digital format

Topography

The best global topography database in GIS format at the moment is the Digital Chart of the World (DCW). It is a 1:1,000,000 scale map based on ONC charts. It was developed by National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA, formerly DMA). It contains the following layers:

roads
political and ocean lines
utility lines
transportation structure lines
railroads
physiography lines
ocean feature lines
cultural landmark lines
populated places
hypsography lines
drainage lines
aeronautical points (with names)
drainage points
ocean features
transportation structures (with brief description)
political and ocean points (with country code)
cultural landmarks (with brief description)
populated place points (with names)
hypsography points (with elevation reading)

The DCW can be downloaded from the Digital Chart of the World Data Server at the Pennsylvania State University Libraries. This web site will allow you to download the boundaries and layers of individual countries, in Arc/Info export format.

Also see the following three commercial sites for ordering the DCW in various formats:

DCW in ASCII format

Ph.D. Associates Inc.

In Arc/Info format

ESRI ArcData on-line sites

In MapInfo format:

ADC Worldmaps

Oceanography/Bathymetry

The GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans) CD-ROM provides a full set of vector contour lines and an easy to use software for the retrieval and exporting of the data. It contains the following features:

Digitized bathymetric contours, coastlines and trackline control from the Fifth Edition of GEBCO (scale of 1:10.000.000)
Digitized bathymetric contours and coastlines from the First Edition of the International Bathymetric Chart of the Mediterranean (scale 1: 1.000.000)
Digital sets of geographically referenced features names, including the IHO/IOC Gazetteer of Geographical names of Undersea Features and a selected list of oceanic islands
A set of digital global coastlines from the US Defence mapping Agency's World Vector Shoreline at a range of scales from 1:43.000.000 to 1:250.000
A trackline inventory of the echo-sounding data held at the IHO Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry as of January 1994
Digital version of the Third Edition of the Echo-Sounding Correction Tables

It is published by and available from:
British Oceanographic Data Centre
Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory
Bidston Observatory
Birkenhead, Merseysied L43 7RA
United Kingdom