Data
A large amount of global data is available for download.
- Africa (original) Africa (resampled)
- Australia/Pacific (original) Australia/Pacific (resampled)
- Europe/Asia (original) Europe/Asia (resampled)
- North America (original) North America (resampled)
- South America (original) South America (resampled)
World Data Grids
This is a MapWindow
project contained in a
zip archive that allows
you to graphically select the DEMs, landuse, and soil maps that you
need for your location. Just unzip the archive and open
the project file World_Data_Grids.mwprj in MapWindow.
Digital Elevation Maps (DEMs)
DEMs for most of the world are available from CGIAR-CSI. The quantity of data for the world is very large, but our geo-processing guide (see the documents page) explains how to select the files you need.
Landuse Maps
Landuse maps for most of the world are available from WaterBase. They
come in the form of zip files containing 1 or more tiles for each continent. They come in two
resolutions, the originals at approximately 400 meters (at the
equator) and the resampled at 800
meters. The first are a little more accurate but the they take some
time to load and minipulate in MapWindow. You may prefer to use the
resampled ones at least while you are learning or experimenting.
Soil Maps
Soil maps for most of the world are available from WaterBase. They
come in the form of zip files containing 1 or more tiles for each continent.
Weather Data
Weather data for a number of weather stations across the world are available from WaterBase for each of the years 2000 to 2005. This data originates from the Global Summary of the Day (GSOD) of the USA's National Climatic Data Centre (NCDC). There is a readme file describing the data's provenance and structure.
You will need to download the list of list of stations plus data for the years you want:
Global River Basins
Shape files for river basins across the world are available from WaterBase, divided into continents: