Geospatial Data and Software

Geospatial data and software are used to collect, analyze and interpret geographic information. Geomatics is the science of collecting, storing, analyzing and interpreting spatial data. Geospatial data can be used in a variety of applications such as mapping, surveying, navigation, land use planning, environmental monitoring, and resource management.

Nova Scotia Open data and other Free Geospatial Data setsGeomatics data and software are used in industries such as agriculture, forestry, engineering, urban planning, oil and gas, and mining. Geomatics software includes Geographic Information Systems (GIS), satellite imagery, surveying and mapping software, and other specialized applications. The combination of these technologies allow for efficient and accurate data collection and analysis, as well can be used to help identify trends and patterns in the environment, track the movement of animals and natural resources, and monitor the health of ecosystems. Geomatics data and software are essential for understanding and managing the Earth‘s resources.

The “Geospatial Data and Software” section of our site includes information related to a wide array of geospatial data and software related topics. See the various pages listed further below for more information …

If you have information related to Geospatial Data and Software that you think we should share here, then please do let us know.

Elections Nova Scotia Interactive Web Map

Elections Nova Scotia Interactive Web Map

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Yesterday Nova Scotia went to the polls for their 39th Provincial Election and at the end of the day elected a new Government. This time around Elections Nova Scotia, the organization responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the Province's election related data and governing election activities provided an online interactive web mapping application tool.
Submit an Online Web Mapping Site

Halifax Regional Municipality Crime Mapping

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A combined commitment between the Halifax Regional Police and Halifax District RCMP now provides effective communication to the community through the 'Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) Crime Mapping' application pilot project. HRM Crime Mapping is an interactive online crime mapping tool created to provide the public with information about various crimes happening in the HRM. Making the spatial knowledge of existing crimes available can help increase crime prevention by making people more aware of what crimes are happening in their community.
Historic Bird's Eye Views of several Canadian Cities

Historic Bird’s Eye Views of several Canadian Cities

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Canada is certainly not an old country when compared to many others like France or the UK but it has been around long enough to have some very interesting history. Here are some historic aerial images of major cities in Canada. It is interesting to compare some of these with modern maps and aerial images to get a real appreciation on what urban sprawl is and how cities develop and spread over time.
Thompson’s 1826 Map of Northwestern North America

Thompson’s 1826 Map of Northwestern North America

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I recently returned from giving a presentation at Carto2013; an annual Canadian cartographic themed conference that was held at the University of Alberta co-hosted by the Canadian Cartographic Association (CCA) & the Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (ACMLA). One of the key themes evident at the conference was related to history of cartography and history through maps", a topic that many of the presentations were related to and several of these talks were about 1826 maps of Northwestern North America created by David Thompson. I myself have never really had much interest in history however these presentations provided me with a much different perspective on history and maybe I have found myself a new (or old??) to explore. Yesterday while searching for some Canadian maps with my daughter I stumbled across yet some more historic themed cartography, so I thought perhaps we should start a new section on CanadianGIS.com related to Historic Cartography since it is pretty evident that this is becoming topic of interest to many in the Canadian Geomatics community. Find out more about Canadian Geographic Maps & Thompson’s 1826 Map of Northwestern North America ...
1917 Vancouver Mission Route Map - sm

1917 Vancouver Mission Route Map

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Today we have a scan of a Vancouver Mission (British Columbia) Route Map taken from The Automobile Blue Book published in 1917.
Submit an Online Web Mapping Site

Avoid the Traffic with ReRouteMe Mapping Application

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Want to avoid the traffic, then the ReRouteMe online web mapping application can help you avoid construction, accidents and traffic congestion.This online mapping application takes the basic functionality of Google maps (such as the display of the reference map and the address search ability) and combines it with custom functionality and databases that are completely independent from Google to provide a powerful value added product that can help you avoid accidents, traffic cams, construction and any congestion on your everyday commute. Today I take a closer look at ReRouteMe mapping applicationand what it has to offer the Canadian Urban Commuter.
Submit an Online Web Mapping Site

Learn where the Antipode for your area is – Just Point, Click & Reveal

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Ever hear anybody use the expression “You better be careful you don’t dig too deep or you will end up in China” while digging a hole? Even if that could be possible (to dig down through the Earth’s core and come up on the other side of the world), would it really be China on the other side of that hole? What would be the  real Antipode (straight line that connects one location on the globe with a location on the other side of a globe while going through the center axis) for that hole you were digging? The antipodes interactive web map depicts antipodes automatically for any location that you select. Simply point and click and then easily reveal the place that is on the other side of the world for any location on the Earth’s surface (without doing the math).
Submit an Online Web Mapping Site

New and Improved GeoGratis Website

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Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has recently launched a new update to the already innovative GeoGratis website. GeoGratis is a web portal that provides access to a wide collection of Canadian geospatial data, maps, images, and publications at no cost and without restrictions. All distributed data accessed via GeoGratis comes with an Unrestricted Use Licence Agreement that grants users a non-exclusive, royalty-free right and licence to exercise all intellectual property rights in the data including the right to use, incorporate, sub-license, modify, further develop, and distribute the data. Improvements to the new site made go much deeper then just minor cosmetic changes; the site is now easier to use and allows access to better search tools where one can now view and download all available geospatial data sets consolidated into the same web site. The new Platform also now better supports developers that want to create unique and innovative mapping applications with Canadian data, images and documents using one of the three available GeoGratis Application Programming Interfaces (API’s).
Submit an Online Web Mapping Site

Submit an Online Web Mapping Site

Online Web mapping involves designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps to end users via the Internet through common web browsers, allowing people to use maps interactively with out needing high end software. Our Web mapping section examines the various online web mapping and web GIS applications that have been created all across Canada. If you know of one that is not listed on the site then let us know and we will see that it is added, just use the form on this page to send us the details.