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GeoCommons: Finding Data

Prepare your data

You can upload data with these requirements:

  • Tabular data must be a CSV ASCII file.
  • Tabular data should be fairly cleaned up beforehand, best with one header row and no extraneous comments.
  • Shapefile layers must inlcude at least the .shp, .shx, and .dbf files.  The .prj projection file is needed if the shapefile uses other than WGS84 (native to Google Earth), and any metadata in an .xml file will help populate the metadata in GeoCommons.
  • NOTE: It may take a while for GeoCommons to ingest a newly uploaded file; files will be in a "pending" queue while being ingested.

Upload your own data

Click one of the "Upload Data" buttons on the main page. Then look for the Upload Data box and choose "Upload Files."

  • Format options include CSV (Comma Separated Value) tabular data, Esri Shapefiles, and Google Earth KML files.
  • Upload files up to 20 MB in size
  • Unlimited storage on GeoCommons if you make the data public
  • Store up to 20 MB of private data (available only to you or specified group)

Documentation on uploading

Find data in GeoCommons

Look for one of the search boxes on main page to search for data that others have uploaded to GeoCommons or maps they have created. There is also a search box if you go to the "Upload Data" page.

NOTE: Including a plus symbol (+) before a search word forces it to be included in each result, greatly helping to focus a search.

The data may be tabular or geographic (locational infomation already embedded).

  • Datasets
  • Maps
    • View custom maps that others have created
    • Look at "details" for metadata on the map.
    • The creator may have enabled editing.

Documentation on finding data