Binational Mapping Projects
Border Environmental
Health Initiative — United States-Mexico Border GIS (USMX-GIS). The
U.S. Geological Survey’s U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Health
Initiative (BEHI) launched an Internet site to download U.S. and Mexican
environmental datasets (http://borderhealth.cr.usgs.gov/datalayers.html). The BEHI initiative provides an integrated, Web-based, environmental
resource geospatial database for display and analysis to monitor
linkages between environmental health and quality of life issues in the
border region. This multi-discipline initiative includes collaboration
from U.S. and Mexican government agencies. The BEHI data download page
located at the main website,
http://borderhealth.cr.usgs.gov,
under the maps and data option, contains binationally integrated
fundamental geospatial and environmental scientific datasets for the
U.S.-Mexico border region at various scales, current status maps of data
holdings, and direct links to the metadata files. Now that the USGS and
INEGI have signed an annex to allow public release of all high
resolution datasets, harmonized data at the 1:24,000 and 1:50,000-scale
will soon be added to the data download page. The current fundamental
datasets available for download include:
-
Major
ciities
-
All cities
-
Urban areas
-
Colonias:
Texas
-
Hospitals
-
Schools
-
Border
Environmental Health Study Area
-
International boundary
-
Binational
land use and land cover
-
Binational
geology: South Texas
-
Texas
aquifers
Other features
of the data download page include Internet URL addresses and
instructions for accessing digital orthophotos, digital elevation
models, and the North American Atlas from the USGS and INEGI online data
sources.
Monitoring colonias along the U.S.-Mexico Border began as
a joint project between the USGS, HUD and INEGI to create a publicly
available Internet-enabled GIS that allows cities along the U.S.-Mexico
border to manage issues relating to urban growth and low-income housing
developments. The project produced binationally integrated base mapping
layers such as infrastructure, demographics, and land use for several
sister cities along the Arizona and Texas border. Based on results
of the needs assessment conducted in both Arizona and Texas, each state
required a different approach to develop the colonias database.
In Arizona, the project identified colonia-like neighborhoods, used GIS
to delineate their boundaries, and submitted an application to HUD for
colonia status to secure community development loans. Since a major
project goal was to facilitate the preparation of grant and loan
applications for community improvement projects, the project trained
civic leaders in the use of GIS technology tools. For more information
visit the
Arizona Colonias website.
CHIPS: A New Way
to Monitor Colonias Along
the United States – Mexico Border
In Texas, the project
produced a colonia classification system and a report generator tool for
public access, called CHIPS. Cooperation with the HUD, Offices of the
Texas Attorney General, Secretary of State, and the Texas Water
Development Board has allowed the USGS to improve colonia Geographic
Information System (GIS) boundaries and develop the Colonia Health,
Infrastructure, and Platting Status tool (CHIPS). Together, the GIS
boundaries and CHIPS aid the Texas government in prioritizing the
limited funds that are available for infrastructure improvement. CHIPS’s
report generator can be tailored to the needs of the user, providing
either broad or specific output. For example, a Congressman could use
CHIPS to list colonias with wastewater issues in a specific county,
whereas a health researcher could list all colonias without clinic
access. To help cities along the United States-Mexico border manage
issues related to colonias growth, CHIPS is publicly available in an
Internet-enabled GIS as part of a cooperative study between the USGS,
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Mexican
Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática. The database
can be downloaded at the U.S. Geological
Survey’s U.S.-Mexico
Border Environmental Health Initiative (BEHI) site.
The open file report can be downloaded at:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1230/
Predicting Environmental Consequences of Urban Development on the
US-Mexico Border Using GIS and land use change research,
erosion and sediment delivery prediction models are being applied in
this binational watershed to develop predictions of potential dispersion
downstream meant to assist city planning through the identification of
areas of least minimum impact for land development. Models used in this
research include the USLE, SEDMOD and SLEUTH.
Geospatial Analysis of the Lower Colorado River
The history of 20th
century changes in the landscape, river flow, climate, and development
of the Lower Colorado River offers clues to better understand the
environmental processes and conditions needed to maintain populations of
native species and ecosystems. Agriculture and development, together
with dams and channelization of the river, have brought large, mostly
undocumented
changes to the
ecosystems extending from Lake Mead to the Colorado River delta.
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Data Availability and
Ordering Process
United States
The USGS has several options for
ordering hard copy maps, aerial photographs, satellite images, and
digital vector layers.
Information regarding ordering USGS
topographic maps is available at the USGS
General Map Information website.
EarthExplorer can be
used to
query and order satellite images, aerial photographs, and cartographic
products through the USGS.
Other sources of Federal, State, and local
government data can be queried from
Geospatial One Stop.
The four border states: California, Arizona,
New Mexico, and Texas maintain state GIS clearinghouses that allow users
to access geospatial data. The USGS has state liaisons that facilitate
coordination within the state for geospatial data. The clearinghouses
and state liaisons are listed below:
Texas:
Texas
Natural Resource Inventory System
USGS Geospatial Liaison for Texas:
Claire Devaughan
New Mexico:
New
Mexico Resource Geographic Information System
USGS Geospatial Liaison for New Mexico: Gary Kress
gekress@usgs.gov
Arizona:
Arizona Land Resource Information System
USGS Geospatial Liaison for Arizona:
Tom Sturm
California:
California Spatial
Clearinghouse Library
USGS Geospatial Liaison for California:
Carol Ostergren
Mexico
Mexico geospatial
data is available for purchase from the
Instituto Nacional de
Estadística, Geografía, e Informática (INEGI), the official mapping
agency of Mexico. The Digital Elevation Model data is available
for direct download (see
Elevation Data – Mexico)
and the Digital Orthophotos are available for viewing
(see DOQs for Mexico).
Status graphics are
available at <http://antares.inegi.gob.mx/map/prueba/index.html?c=388>
Once at the INEGI
Status Graphics site:
For a list of
available data sorted by state and quad name, select Consulta
interactiva sobre disponibilidad de conjuntos de datos geográficos
digitales escala 1:50,000. From this page, you can view
availability by selecting the Mexican state and type of data product
desired. Once the selection has been made, click Realizar
consulta
to send your query. Note – if you select the individual
product type then the entire quad name and code (clave) for the
quad will appear. If you select all products (cobertura en los
cinco productos), then the selection will only show the quad code.
OR:
For an interactive status graphic map of available data,
select Consulta grafica sobre disponibilidad
de conjuntos de datos geográficos digitales escala 1:50,000.
To start the Internet map server, click Iniciar.
At the bottom left
side of the map, select product type and zoom level. Then click on
the desired area of the map to view quad codes. To view
availability, select the product from the bottom right side, then click
Enviar. To zoom, select zoom level and click on desired area
of the map. Remember that MDE stands for Modelos De
Elevación (DEMs).
On the web page,
there is no information on the price of the products or the method of
ordering. To order the data, you can send an email to their
sales center
in care of Maria Eugenia Cruz (she speaks english), send a fax to her at
(52) 449 916-80-21 or call the INEGI sales center in Aguascalientes at
(52) 449 918-19-48. The email or fax should contain a list of products
and quadrangle codes or names. The INEGI sales center will
calculate the cost in dollars and fax or email the information back to
you. A certified check will need to be used to make the purchase.
Remote Sensing Data
(Aerial
Photos, Digital Orthophotos, Satellite Imagery):
Satellite
Imagery: Previews of medium resolution
satellite imagery such as Landsat, Modis, and Aster can be viewed
at
Glovis for most of
the world. Purchase instructions are also included.
A Digital
Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) is a computer-generated image of an
aerial photograph in which the image displacement caused by terrain
relief and camera tilt has been removed. The DOQ combines the image
characteristics of the original photograph with the georeferenced
qualities of a map. DOQs are black and white (B/W), natural color, or
color-infrared (CIR) images with 1-meter ground resolution.
DOQs for the
United States
Annual partnerships
with the USDA Farm Services Administration’s National Aerial Imagery
Program (NAIP) provide the most current DOQs for the United States. This
partnership is undertaken on a state by state basis which includes
annual digital photography images taken at 1 or 2 meter resolution and
processed into DOQs. The USGS provides access to these DOQs through both
an Internet Map Service (with download capabilities) and a Web Mapping
Service.
Orthophoto viewing through an Internet Map Service (IMS)
and direct download:
http://seamless.usgs.gov
Web Mapping Service
(WMS) for use in a GIS:
http://geodata.usgs.gov
DOQs for Mexico
The
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia, e Informatica (INEGI)
produces DOQs for Mexico. These data are available to be viewed from an
Internet Map Service, accessed in your GIS from a Web Mapping Service,
or purchased on CD from from INEGI (see
Data
Availability and Ordering Process – Mexico).
Orthophoto viewing
through an Internet Map Service (IMS)
http://mapserver.inegi.gob.mx/map/visorto/viewer.htm
Web Mapping Service
(WMS) for use in a GIS:
http://mapserver.inegi.gob.mx/geografia/espanol/prodyserv/ortofotos/ortofotos.cfm?c=718
(Note, the WMS service link is provided in
the instructions or can be directly accessed from from GIS at:
http://antares.inegi.gob.mx/cgi-bin/map4/mapserv_orto).
Top of page
Elevation Data
Elevation data
captured in a digital format can be used for various terrain analysis
applications. Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are useful for many
environmental investigations. In hydrology these may include:
deriving watershed boundaries, investigating flood hazards, as input to
surface water models, and analyzing water quantity and water quality
statistics. In ecology, elevation data may be used to delineate
different ecosystems, analyze climate variations, and automatically
delineate south facing slopes. DEMS are important inputs for
analyzing land use and land cover data. Both the U.S. and Mexico
have publicly available seamless elevation data for their country.
DEMS for the
United States
National Elevation Data
The USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED) has been developed by merging
the highest-resolution, best-quality elevation data available across the
United States into a seamless raster format. NED is the result of the
maturation of the USGS effort to provide 1:24,000-scale Digital
Elevation Model (DEM) data for the conterminous US and 1:63,360-scale
DEM data for Alaska. The shaded relief display is derived from NED using
a hill-shade technique.
Elevation Derivatives for
National Applications (EDNA) is a multi-layered database derived
from a version of the National Elevation Dataset (NED), which has been
hydrologically conditioned for improved hydrologic flow representation.
The seamless EDNA database provides 30 meters resolution raster and
vector data layers including: Aspect, Contours, Filled DEM, Flow
Accumulation, Flow Direction, Reach Catchment Seedpoints, Reach
Catchments, Shaded Relief, Sinks,
Slope,
and Synthetic Streamlines.
To view and
download NED and EDNA data:
http://seamless.usgs.gov
Modelos de Elevación for
Mexico
INEGI has mosaicked
their 50-meter posting digital elevation models for the entire country.
The source for the data is their contours from the 1:50,000-scale maps
and 1:25,000-scale urban maps where available. To edge-match the
borders, INEGI used the USGS National Elevation Dataset and the SRTM
90-meter for Guatemala. The data have been resampled to a 30-meter
grid and are available as “seamless” DEMs at no cost to the user through
INEGI’s website. After creating a username and password, anyone can
download the DEMs. A user-friendly interface is available to browse the
1:50,000 quad grid and enter the grid number manually or to click on the
desired quad. DEMs can be downloaded in .bil format by 1:50,000 quad or
by specifying an area no larger than 2 square degrees.
Base Cartographic Layers
United States
Digital versions of
base Cartographic data layers such as hydrography, transportation,
boundaries, and structures are available from a variety of sources for
the United States.
The USGS maintains a
National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) at both the 1:100,000-scale and
1:24,000-scale. The NHD maintains connectivity between streams and
waterbodies to allow network routing and stream addressing for
hydrologic events. All streams and waterbodies contain the EPA reach
codes. The NHD can be viewed and downloaded at
http://nhd.usgs.gov
The most current
transportation, boundaries, and structures datasets can be found from
the state clearinghouses of the Geospatial One-Stop site. Please
see
Data Availability and Ordering Process – United States.
Mexico
Digital versions of
base cartographic data layers found on INEGI topographic maps are
maintained and offered for sale to the public from INEGI. Please
see
Data
Availability and Ordering Process – Mexico to check data
availability and purchase of the data.
National Land
Cover Dataset for the United States
The USGS in
conjunction with the Multi-resolution Landscape Characterization
Consortium has produced National Land Cover Datasets (NLCD) for the
temporal time periods of 1992 and 2001. The 1992 NLCD was derived
from the early to mid-1990s Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data and
consists of a 21-class land cover classification scheme applied
consistently over the United States and delivered in a raster format.
The spatial resolution of the data is 30 meters and mapped in the Albers
Conic Equal Area projection, NAD 83. The second generation 2001 NLCD
provides a data framework which allows flexibility in developing
and applying each independent data component to a wide variety of other
applications. Components of the database include 29-class land cover
classification scheme applied consistently over the United States,
estimates of percent imperviouseness and percent tree canopy, and
classification rule. All zones in the United States are scheduled to be
completed by December 2006.
National Land Cover Dataset viewing
through an Internet Map Service (IMS) and direct download:
http://seamless.usgs.gov
Web Mapping Service (WMS)
for use in a GIS:
http://geodata.usgs.gov
USGS Land Cover
Institute:
http://landcover.usgs.gov/usgslandcover.php
Uso de Suelo Land
Cover Dataset for Mexico
INEGI
has produced a 1993 (Serie II) and 2001 (Serie III)
1:250,000 scale Uso de Suelo (Land Use) vector (polygon)
digital map. INEGI’s LULC datasets, Serie II and Serie III
were also derived using Landsat imagery, but were created utilizing
manual methods. LULC types were visually interpreted from the Landsat
imagery. Polygons were digitized to delineate LULC types and then
verified with fieldwork. The final INEGI dataset consists of a polygon
layer, which has 89 LULC classes for the border region. The data
can be ordered from the INEGI Sales Center. See
Data
Availability and Ordering Process – Mexico.
National Atlas
Both Mexico and the
United States maintain digital versions of National Atlas Databases that
can be viewed online through a Internet Map Service. These
National Atlases contain data at medium and low resolution for a variety
of themes and are constructed through partnerships with a variety of
federal agencies in both countries.
National Atlas
of the United States
The USGS oversees the
integration of a variety of data layers presented online as electronic
maps and services. Unlike the big
bound map collection of 1970, the latest National Atlas uses information
presentation, access, and delivery technologies that didn't exist 30
years ago to bring you a dynamic and interactive atlas. The National
Atlas has held fast to the tradition of producing the finest maps in the
world.
Atlas Nacional
Interactivo de Mexico
INEGI developed the
Atlas Nacional Interactivo de Mexico as a concrete manifestation of
IDEMEX (Mexico’s spatial data infrastructure). The Atlas is a web
mapping service that allows users to discover geospatial data available
from many different Mexican federal agencies. Map services are not
hosted by the Atlas, but are pulled from their respective agencies. Some
agencies contributing data are: INEGI, SEMARNAT, CENAPRED, INE, CONABIO,
INMujeres, and others. The Atlas does not have download capabilities at
this time
Border Maps
Federal and Indian
lands within 100 miles of the
U.S.-Mexico border
and within the states of
California,
Arizona,
New Mexico,
Texas
References
Osborn, K. 1998. United
States-Mexico transboundary aerial photography and mapping initiative.
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing LXIV (11):1085-1088
Woodward, D. and Durall, R. 1996.
United States-Mexico border area as delineated by a shared-water
resources perspective. U.S. Department of the Interior, Field
Coordinating Committee. Fact Sheet 1. U.S. Geological Survey,
Albuquerque, NM.
