Research Guide: Geography -
Government Documents

• Getting Started
• Databases & Journals
• Web Resources
• Maps
• Government Documents
• Course Guides

Key Agencies | Portals (broad searching across web sites or data from multiple agencies) | General Resources | Maps

Key Agencies

Bureau of Land Management  (BLM)

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Federal Emergency Management Agency  (FEMA)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration  (NASA)

National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)

Geophysical data

U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

U.S. Forest Service (USDA)

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

USGS Geography home page

Portals

American FactFinder

The government's source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data. Fact sheets, data sets, and more.

Geodata.gov

The "public gateway for access to geospatial information and data."

GreyLIT Network

"It taps into the search engines of distributed gray literature collections, enabling the user to find information without first having to know the sponsoring agency."

Catalog of United States Government Publications (MOCAT)

The most comprehensive finding aid for U.S. government documents; a catalog of all documents received by GPO. Includes author, title, subject, and keyword title indexes; uses LC subject headings; covers 1994 to present.

Science.gov

"Gateway to 47 million pages of government science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results."

General Resources

2002 Census of Agriculture

AGRICOLA (AGRICultural OnLine Access)

"Publications and resources encompassing all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines, including plant and animal sciences, forestry, entomology, soil and water resources, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, agricultural products, alternative farming practices, and food and nutrition."

Agricultural Research Service

ARS "conducts 1,200 research projects to solve problems in crop and livestock production and protection, human nutrition, and the interaction of agriculture and the environment."

CIA World Factbook

Factual overview of countries including geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military and transnational issues.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Center

"CSREES' unique mission is to advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by supporting research, education, and extension programs in the Land-Grant University System and other partner organizations."

Country Studies

"Presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world." A more in-depth complement to CIA World Factbook.

DataFerrett: For TheDataWeb (formerly: Data Extraction System (DES)

"Ultimate in census data analysis. A tool for extracting records (rows) and fields (columns) from very large, public-information, data files (for example: survey and census records.) The system produces custom extracts in selectable data file formats (not meant for humans to read) which, when processed, can then be picked up at the Census Bureau's FTP site."

Economic Research Service

ERS is the main source of economic information and research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, used to inform and enhance public and private decision-making on economic and policy issues related to agriculture, food, natural resources, and rural development.

Earth Resources Observation & Science (EROS)

Data searching and ordering performed through a variety of information management systems and interfaces including USGS Global Visualization Viewer, Earth Explorer, Map Finder, and EOS Data Gateway.

BTS: Geographic Information Services

 "A resource for transportation spatial data and analysis. GIS enhancement allows planners and others to visualize large quantities of transportation data, often rendering it more meaningful. GIS helps highlight the transportation system's reach, coverage, modal relationships, key corridors, and relationship to our nation's economic activity and environment."

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

"Contains information for almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and its territories. The Federally recognized name of each feature described in the data base is identified, and references are made to a feature's location by State, county, and geographic coordinates. The GNIS is our Nation's official repository of domestic geographic names information."

Geospatial Sciences

"Provides accurate and timely expert analysis of worldwide gravity, satellite and positional information including imagery and mapping control for navigation, safety, intelligence, positioning and targeting in support of national security objectives."

Federal Geographic Data Committee Clearinghouse for Geospatial Data

"Using the data elements defined in the Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata, governmental, non-profit, and commercial participants worldwide can make their collections of spatial information searchable and accessible on the Internet using free reference implementation software developed by the FGDC."

National Agricultural Statistics Service

"Providing timely, accurate, and useful statistics in service to U. S. agriculture."

National Environment Data Index (NEDI)

"Full text search of the environmental information compiled by several agencies of the federal government."

NGS Geodetic Toolkit

Suite of tools for "on-line interactive computation of geodetic values."

Reference Resources for Understanding Census Bureau Geography

Helps for understanding, locating and using Census Bureau data and information. Some excellent instructions for beginners and advanced users both.

Surface Distance Between Two Points of Latitude & Longitude

Also includes Great Circle Distances Between Cities.

U.S. Census Bureau Subjects List

A complete detailed index to everything on the Census Bureau web site. A good starting place or use this to get an overview of the full range of resources.

Water Resources of the United States

"Water Resources mission is to provide water information that benefits the Nation's citizens: publications, data, maps, and applications software."

Maps

Mapstats

Profiles of state, county, city, congressional districts, or Federal judicial districts.

National Atlas of the United States of America

"The single best Federal source for national maps and geographic information on the Web." Customize your own map for printing or viewing. Print pre-formatted maps on a variety of topics. Play with interactive maps. Download documented, accurate, reliable, and integrated data to use in your GIS application."

National Map (USGS)

Online, interactive map service that draws custom maps with selected layers and legends.

NGA Raster Roam 

"Provides public access to view and download imagery, maps, digital elevation data and other geographic information produced by the U.S. Government and commercial vendors."

TIGER Map Service

Users can prepare custom data maps online. Tools available include The Census Tract Street Locator (provides data by street name and zip); Census Tracts/Block Numbering Area (BNA) locator; Map Gallery (outline maps and other); School District Names.

U.S. Gazetteer

"Identify places to view with the Tiger Map Server and obtain census data from the 1990 Census Lookup server. You can search for places, counties or MCDs by entering the name and state abbreviation (optional), or 5-digit zip code."

USGS National Geologic Map Databases

"A resource for maps and related data about geology, hazards, earth resources, geophysics, geochemistry, geochronology, paleontology, and marine geology."