Spatial Data from the North American Environmental Atlas

The North American Environmental Atlas combines and harmonizes geospatial data from Canada, Mexico and the United States to allow for a continental and regional perspective on environmental issues. The Atlas continues to grow in breadth and depth as more thematic maps are created through their work and partnerships. Scientists and map makers from Natural Resources Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, Comisión Nacional Forestal, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía and other agencies in Canada, Mexico, and the United States produce the information contained in the Atlas. It is in my judgment an excellent resource for exploring a wide variety of mapped data layers for these three countries. Each data layer can be examined on the Atlas’ interactive mapping interface, and even better, can be downloaded into a GIS in a variety of file formats for further analysis. You may download specific layers from the mapping interface as shown below or go to the data layers page.

The Atlas’ premise, stemming from an agreement on environmental cooperation, is that the issues do not stop at national borders, and that a comprehensive international approach is needed for analysis and assessment, and for protection of natural ecosystems. Hence, the data layers in the atlas thankfully do not stop at political boundaries, eliminating the need for dealing with appending data, map projection, and other GIS related challenges. The atlas themes include climate, biomes, ecosystems, specific species’ extents, land use, and much more. The atlas is in English, French, and Spanish!

I have known about the Atlas stemming from my days at the USGS and have great respect for its mission. I wrote about its educational applications here (https://community.esri.com/community/education/blog/2017/06/29/analyzing-the-environment-in-a-gis-with-the-north-american-environmental-atlas-2). I encourage you to give this resource a try!

North American Environmental Atlas.

–Joseph Kerski