National Weather Service GIS Data Portal

National Weather Service GIS surveyThe National Weather Service produces several data sets that are available in formats available to import into Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS is a collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. It takes the numbers and words from the rows and columns in databases and spreadsheets and puts them on a map.

Go to the National Weather Service GIS pages in the following formats:

KML

Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is used by a variety of GIS and mapping applications and the specifications are freely available to the public and available to the user community without charge or restriction.KML is an XML-based language for managing the display of three-dimensional geospatial data in the programs Google Earth, Google Maps,Google Mobile, ArcGIS Explorer, and WorldWind. The word Keyhole is an earlier name for the software that became Google Earth; the software was produced in turn by Keyhole, Inc, which was acquired by Google in 2004.

The term "Keyhole" actually honors the KH reconnaissance satellites, the original eye-in-the-sky military reconnaissance system now some 30 years old.) KML files are very often distributed as KMZ files, which are zipped KML files with a .kmz extension. (more about KML)

Shapefile

Shapefiles are a geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems software. Shapefiles spatially describe points, lines and polygons. A "shapefile" commonly refers to a collection of files with ".shp", ".shx", ".dbf", and other extensions on a common prefix name (i.e., "lakes.shp"). SHP files can be viewed in GIS viewers as well as more sophisticated GIS applications. (more about shapefiles)

National Weather Service Basemaps are available in shapefiles.
The AWIPS map database catalog contains background map data in shapefile format that are used by the National Weather Service (NWS) for use by the user community. These data consist of a variety of official NWS forecast zones and county designations used by be NWS. In addition other data that might be of interest and that are used by the (NWS) Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS) are available through the catalog.

Other

This page contains links to data that are distrubted via server technology such as the OGC WMS and WFS protocols. In addion, some of the NWS data is available as georeferenced image files such as geo-gifs.

GIS FAQ's?

What is GIS?

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. A Geographic Information System (GIS) uses computers and software to leverage the fundamental principle of geography—that location is important in people's lives.

GIS takes the numbers and words from the rows and columns in databases and spreadsheets and puts them on a map. Placing data on a map highlights information in a much visible way. It allows you to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize your data in ways simply not possible in the rows and columns of a spreadsheet. And with data on a map, you can ask more questions. You can ask where, why, and how, all with the location information on hand. You can make better decisions with the knowledge that geography and spatial analysis are included.

How is GIS used in the National Weather Service?

Meteorology and maps are a natural fit. Integrating real time, climatic and forecast weather information with geographic features allows ease in viewing the placement of meteorlogical features over a particular geographic location.

What is a shape file (.shp) and KML?

Learn more about shape files and KML files.

Where can I find other data in GIS format from NOAA?

NOAA produces a variety of geographic information system (GIS) and geospatial data. This list of key sites will enable you to access NOAA GIS data.

How do I use NWS GIS products?

GIS allows you to view weather information with much greater detail. From weather observations to forecasts, multiple meteorological data sets are available for viewing with geographical layers such as roads and cities.

For example, you can view radar data in relation to specific locations such as your home or travel route, or where you are in relation to a tornado warning. This integration of geographical and meteorological data provides you with the means to make better weather sensitive decisions.

How do I view NWS GIS products?

NWS weather data is available in a number of free GIS viewers. These programs take shapefiles (.shp) or key markup language (KML) and project them on top geographic layers. Check out these resources for viewing GIS files...

NASA World Wind viewer (latest version 1.4 released February 14, 2007)
GoogleEarth viewer - KML file format support
ESRI's ArcGIS Explorer - KML file format support
FME (Feature Manipulation Engine) that converts data in one format to another - KML file format support - (for purchase)
ArcGIS extension that allows ESRI software to read KML until the next full release of ESRI software that will natively support KML/KMZ - (for purchase)