Full access to our data resources is available to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Waterloo. This data is only for personal use, for academic, research, and/or teaching purposes. Geospatial Centre staff require library users requesting data access to complete a data release agreement before any data can be released. Other datasets, such as those that are available from external sources have also been included in the collection of links below.
In-person consultations at the Geospatial Centre may also be requested through the Ask-Us form.
The Geospatial Centre* collects and provides geospatial data across several geographical levels. The strength in the collection is in Canadian data resources, particularly in southern Ontario, however U.S. and world data resources are also available.
*Data also available at the Musagetes Library, School of Architecture
: indicates a resource that is available from the Geospatial Centre.
: indicates a resource that is available outside of the University of Waterloo.
U.S. geospatial resources
The following datasets all focus specifically on geospatial resources for the United States of America.
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United States Geological Survey (USGS)
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OpenGov OpenData Portal
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International bathymetric chart of the Arctic Ocean
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U.S. maps and data
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Cropland data layer: U.S. Dept of Agriculture
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National historical geographic information system:(U.S.)
International geospatial resources
The following datasets focus specifically on countries outside of North America
World geospatial resources
The following datasets focus specifically on geospatial resources that cover the world.
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LandScan: global population database
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Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) soils portal
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Global Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
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VMap0 worldwide vector data
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Global administrative areas (GADM)
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General bathymetric chart of the oceans (GEBCO) bathymetry data
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Ordnance survey open data
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International bathymetric chart of the Arctic Ocean