Abstract:
The Right-to-Know GIS Atlas of the United States CD is a comprehensive
collection of public knowledge GIS data. The maps work with the free
ArcExplorer GIS viewer, ArcView GIS, and many other GIS and mapping programs.
NO EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED. We include easy to follow instructions and if you
want to add maps from other sources, our free Learn2Map GIS Tutorial is
available to help you each step
... of the way.
The CD includes the following maps, images and data:
-Abandoned Mine Land Inventory - Coal Mine Related Problems
-Agriculture Census
-Airports
-Amphibians (data file)
-Aquifers of Alluvial and Glacial Origin
-Arsenic in Groundwater (TIFF image)
-Average Annual Precipitation
-Breeding Bird Survey Routes of North America
-Butterflies (data file)
-Cancer Mortality
-1980 Census (data file)
-1990 Census (data file)
-2000 Census (data file)
-Cities and Towns
-Coal Fields of the United States
-Congressional Districts of the United States - 107th Congress
-Congressional Districts of the United States - 108th Congress
-Continental Divide
-County Boundaries 2001
-County Boundaries 2000
-County Boundaries 1990
-County Boundaries 1980
-Crimes
-Dams
-Estimated Exposures and Thyroid Doses Received by the American People from
I-131 in Fallout Following Nevada Atmospheric Nuclear Bomb Tests (these are map
images rather than GIS shapefiles)
-Federal and Indian Land Map Extracts (click for details). These are extracts
from the maps below that we now include at no additional cost.
-Federal and Indian Lands
-Forest Cover Types (TIFF image)
-Forest Fragmentation Index Map of North America (TIFF image)
-Historical North Atlantic Hurricane Tracks
-Historical North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Tracks
-Hydrologic Unit Boundaries
-Invasive Species (Chinese Privet, Chinese Tallow Tree, Common Gorse, Leafy
Spurge, Purple Loosestrife, Zebra Mussels) (data file)
-Land Cover Characteristics (TIFF image)
-Land Cover Diversity (TIFF image)
-Landslide - Costly Events
-Landslide - Costly Regional Landslide Events
-Landslide Incidence and Susceptibility
-Magnetic Field (several)
-Mining Operations (several)
-Mortality
-NAWQA Surface-Water Sampling Sites
-Nighttime Lights of North America (TIFF image)
-North American Bat Ranges
-Official Protraction Diagrams/Leasing Map
-Parkways and Scenic Rivers
-2000 Presidential General Election, State Results (data file)
-Principal Aquifers
-Public Land Survey System
-Railroads
-Realtime Steamflow Stations
-Roads
-Seismic Hazards
-Shaded Relief of North America (TIFF image)
-Significant and Historic Earthquakes
-States
-Streams and Water Bodies
-Time Zone
-Toxic Release (TRI) maps (click for details)
-Urban Areas
-Volcanoes
-Water Features
-West Nile Virus
-Wilderness Areas
-Wildlife Mortality (several) (data file)
The main purpose of this data is for building a "geography of risk." You can
easily map layers that show you the locations of airports, abandoned mines, and
dams for instance. You could then add precipitation, cancer mortality, crime
data, hurricanes and seismic activity. This gives you an idea of the sorts of
knowledge you can begin to build. Armed with this knowledge you may decide to
find out more about the risks near you or use it to relocate to a place better
to your liking.
The options are really wide open. You are not limited to the map layers that
are included with the atlas. If you wanted to find out more about toxic
chemicals in your neighborhood, you could add a TRI 2000 map layer from our
library (these are now included on the CD as of November 6, 2002). There are
many free maps available as well. Our list of free GIS programs and data has
several sources for these. One link on that page will take you to a site where
you can download local streets, stream, census boundaries, railroads and dozens
of other base layers for your map project. You can also add some of the free
maps that we make available.
The CD includes:
- Maps of fallout from Nevada nuclear tests by county.
- All 21 of our Toxic Release (TRI) maps.
- Our Federal and Indian Lands maps.
- ArcExplorer GIS program.
- Updated and newly added maps and data.
- Free access to our Learn2Map GIS Tutorial.
[Summary provided by CMRN] 
