Research Guides: Geographical, Environmental, and GIS Data: Environmental Data Resources

Illinois Resources

HAARGIS
Historic Architectural and Archaeology Resources Geographic Information System (HAARGIS) to enable the public to locate and retrieve information about Illinois' cultural resources.
IEPA
Illinois Environment Protection Agency web site.
IEPA Site Remediation Program Database Search Page
"...identifies the status of all voluntary remediation projects administered through the Pre-Notice Site Cleanup Program (1989 to 1995) and the Site Remediation Program (1996 to the present)."
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Incident Tracking (LIT)
IEPA database that Identifies the status of all Illinois LUST incidents reported to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency ("IEMA") and to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Water

Aquastat
Global information system on water and agriculture, developed by the Land and Water Division of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
EPA Water Quality Standards Database (WQSDB)
Provides access to EPA and state water quality standards (WQS) information in text, tables, and maps.
Gemstat - Global Water Quality Database
United Nations Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) Water Programme shares surface and ground water quality data sets.
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The data is collected from the GEMS/Water Global Network, including more than 3,000 stations, close to four million records, and over 100 parameters.
USGS Ground Water Networks
Contains records from about 850,000 wells that have been compiled during the course of ground-water hydrology studies over the past 100 years.
Water Resources of the United States
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) information about the Nation's water resources including water data, publications, and maps, and recent water projects and events.
World Meteorological Organization
World's Water
Data tables from the World's Water series, along with select content from the 2008-2009 edition.

Land

ISRIC World Soil Information
"Search and download ISRIC data sets. In collaboration with its partners, ISRIC has been working for over 50 years on compiling and harmonising data on soils and their properties. If you are looking for data from your area, country, or the entire globe, you have come to the right place."
Google Earth
National Wetlands Inventory mapper
USGS National Map Viewer
The National Map is a collaborative effort among the USGS and other Federal, State, and local partners to improve and deliver topographic information for the Nation.
Web Soil Survey (WSS)
Provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey.

Air

AirBase
Public air quality database system of the European Environment Agency (EEA).
AIRNow
U.S. EPA, NOAA, NPS, tribal, state, and local agencies provide access to national air quality information. Provices links to international agencies.
Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA)
Information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide.
NOAA Global Monitoring Division
Data sets containing ong-term measurements of key atmospheric species at sites spanning the globe.
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These key species include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxide, surface and stratospheric ozone, halogenated compounds including CFC replacements, hydrocarbons, sulfur gases, aerosols, and solar and infrared radiation.

Websites, datasets, interactive maps, and databases

Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)
"...specializes in on-line data and information management, spatial data integration & training, and interdisciplinary research related to human interactions in the environment.
Encyclopedia of Earth
A new electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society.
Energy Citations Database
Provides free access to over 2.3 million science research citations primarily from 1943 forward from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.
EnviroFacts
Retrieve information from multiple sources.
EnviroLink
The EnviroLink Network is a non-profit organization which has been providing access to thousands of online environmental resources since 1991.
Environmental Protection Agency
The mission of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment.
European Environment Agency (EEA)
"...is an agency of the EU. Our task is to provide sound, independent information on the environment."
FactFinder
U.S. Census Bureau web site for population, housing, economic, and geographic data.
FEMA Map Service
Including Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM), disaster maps, hurricane maps, and flood maps.
International Data Base of World Demographics (IDB)
"Find tabular data for countries and regions as well as demographic indicators, population pyramids and source information for countries."
International Energy Agency
is the energy forum for 28 industrialized countries.
International Institute for Sustainable Development
"...provides a variety of multimedia informational resources for environment and sustainable development policymakers, including daily coverage of international negotiations, analyses and photos."
NASA - Global Change Master Directory
More than 25,000 Earth science data set and service descriptions, which cover subject areas within the Earth and environmental sciences.
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The GCMD’s primary responsibility is to maintain a complete catalog of all NASA’s Earth science data sets and services. The project also serves as one of NASA’s contributions to the international Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), through which it is known as the CEOS International Directory Network (IDN).
National Oceanographic Data Center
"...a national repository and dissemination facility for global oceanographic data which acquires and preserves a historical record of the Earth's changing environment to be used for operational applications and ocean climate research."
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center
ORNL DAAC is operated by the ORNL Environmental Sciences Division and is responsible for data archival, product development and distribution, and user support for biogeochemical and ecological data and models.
Search your environment by zipcode
Four online databases (Envirofacts, EnviroMapper, Surf Your Watershed and UV Index) may be searched by zip code. Descriptions of and direct links to each database are included.
Sustainability Program of EPA’s Office of Research and Development
Provides one-stop access to EPA and related programs and the latest research and activities related to Urban Sustainability and the Built Environment; Water and Ecosystem Services; Energy, Biofuels and Climate Change; and Materials Mgmt and Human Health.
EPA Toxics Release Inventory
Explore on-site toxic releases and hazardous waste sites.
United Nations Environment Programme
Serves as the "the voice for the environment within the United Nations system. UNEP acts as a catalyst, advocate, educator and facilitator to promote the wise use and sustainable development of the global environment."
World Bamk Environmental Data
Data provided cover forests, biodiversity, emissions, and pollution
World Data Center for Marine Environmental Sciences
Aimed at collecting, scrutinizing, and disseminating data related to Global Change and earth system research in the fields of environmental oceanography, marine geosciences, and marine biology.

Geographical, Environmental, and GIS Data

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Illinois Resources

Water

Land

Air

Websites, datasets, interactive maps, and databases