Using ArcGIS, anyone can quickly make and share a map-but creating an effective map requires knowing a few design fundamentals. Enroll in this plan to learn techniques to appropriately symbolize and label map features, apply settings that enhance user interaction with your maps, and create impactful data visualizations that resonate with your intended audience.Goals Choose appropriate map symbols to represent your data. Create attractive labels to provide information about map features. Visualize data in 2D and 3D.

Geospatial Data Pack for Visualization 🗺️

Learn Geographic Mapping with Altair, Vega-Lite and Vega using Curated Datasets

Complete geographic and geophysical data collection for mapping and visualization. This consolidation includes 18 complementary datasets used by 31+ Vega, Vega-Lite, and Altair examples 📊. Perfect for learning geographic visualization techniques including projections, choropleths, point maps, vector fields, and interactive displays.

Source data lives on GitHub and can also be accessed via CDN. The vega-datasets project serves as a common repository for example datasets used across these visualization libraries and related projects.

Why Use This Dataset? 🤔

• Comprehensive Geospatial Types: Explore a variety of core geospatial data models:
  • Vector Data: Includes points (like airports.csv), lines (like londonTubeLines.json), and polygons (like us-10m.json).
  • Raster-like Data: Work with gridded datasets (like windvectors.csv, annual-precip.json).
• Diverse Formats: Gain experience with standard and efficient geospatial formats like GeoJSON (see Table 1, 2, 4), compressed TopoJSON (see Table 1), and plain CSV/TSV (see Table 2, 3, 4) for point data and attribute tables ready for joining.
• Multi-Scale Coverage: Practice visualization across different geographic scales, from global and national (Table 1, 4) down to the city level (Table 1).
• Rich Thematic Mapping: Includes multiple datasets (Table 3) specifically designed for joining attributes to geographic boundaries (like states or counties from Table 1) to create insightful choropleth maps.
• Ready-to-Use & Example-Driven: Cleaned datasets tightly integrated with 31+ official examples (see Appendix) from Altair, Vega-Lite, and Vega, allowing you to immediately practice techniques like projections, point maps, network maps, and interactive displays.
• Python Friendly: Works seamlessly with essential Python libraries like Altair (which can directly read TopoJSON/GeoJSON), Pandas, and GeoPandas, fitting perfectly into the Kaggle notebook environment.

Table of Contents

• Why Use This Dataset?
• Dataset Inventory
• Usage Guide
• Appendix: Geospatial Examples by Technique
• Licenses
• Sources
• Learning Resources

Dataset Inventory 🗂️

This pack includes 18 datasets covering base maps, reference points, statistical data for choropleths, and geophysical data.

1. BASE MAP BOUNDARIES (Topological Data)

2. GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE POINTS (Point Data) 📍

The interactive map creation tools market is experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing demand for visually engaging data representation across diverse sectors. The market, estimated at $2.5 billion in 2025, is projected to witness a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15% from 2025 to 2033, reaching approximately $7.8 billion by 2033. This expansion is fueled by several key factors. The rising adoption of location-based services (LBS) and geographic information systems (GIS) across industries like real estate, tourism, logistics, and urban planning is a major catalyst. Businesses are increasingly leveraging interactive maps to enhance customer engagement, improve operational efficiency, and gain valuable insights from geospatial data. Furthermore, advancements in mapping technologies, including the integration of AI and machine learning for improved data analysis and visualization, are contributing to market growth. The accessibility of user-friendly tools, coupled with the decreasing cost of cloud-based solutions, is also making interactive map creation more accessible to a wider range of users, from individuals to large corporations. However, the market also faces certain challenges. Data security and privacy concerns surrounding the use of location data are paramount. The need for specialized skills and expertise to effectively utilize advanced mapping technologies may also hinder broader adoption, particularly among smaller businesses. Competition among established players like Mapbox, ArcGIS StoryMaps, and Google, alongside emerging innovative solutions, necessitates constant innovation and differentiation. Nevertheless, the overall market outlook remains positive, with continued technological advancements and rising demand for data visualization expected to propel growth in the coming years. Specific market segmentation data, while unavailable, can be reasonably inferred from existing market trends, suggesting a strong dominance of enterprise-grade solutions, but with substantial growth expected from simpler, more user-friendly tools designed for individuals and small businesses.

Discover the booming interactive map creation tools market! This in-depth analysis reveals a $2.5 billion market in 2025, projected to reach $8 billion by 2033, driven by cloud-based solutions and growing data visualization needs. Learn about key players, market segmentation, and regional trends shaping this exciting sector.

Discover how to display and symbolize both 2D and 3D data. Search, access, and create new map symbols. Learn to specify and configure text symbols for your map. Complete your map by creating an effective layout to display and distribute your work.

This map contains multibeam sonar survey data collected during the 2021 field project. This file supports the New Technology and the Search for Historic Shipwrecks StoryMap created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS). The StoryMap can be viewed here. The StoryMap was funded through NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. More information on the project can be found here. All project files are stored in the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

The dataset includes cartographic visualization data and software designed, implemented, and published for the ARCHITRAVE research project website. The research focused on the edition, executed in German and French, of six travelogues by German travelers of the Baroque period who visited Paris and Versailles. The edited texts are published in the Textgrid repository. For all further information on the content and objectives of the research, please refer to the website (https://architrave.eu/) and given literature. Three visualizations were created for the website: the travel stops of five of the travelers on their way to Paris and Versailles the sites in Europe mentioned in the six travelogues the sites in Paris described by the six travelers The visualizations were implemented with Leaflet.js. The dataset contains scripts for data crunching processed geodata scripts for leaflet.js License README

Download statistics and trends for 141 plugins in the Visualization & Mind Maps category

Context

COVID-19, India This tutorial help in understanding basics of data visualization and mapping using Python.

Content

Data sets contain State wise confirmed cases, death toll, and cured cases till date.

Acknowledgements

I owe my thanks to the data sets provider.

Inspiration

Data visualization helps in creating trends, patterns, interactive graphs and maps. This will help policy and decision makers to understand,discuss and visualize the data.

Map Visualization example of RHESSys output at Coweeta subbasin18

In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within California’s State Waters. The program supports a large number of coastal-zone- and ocean-management issues, including the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) (California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2008), which requires information about the distribution of ecosystems as part of the design and proposal process for the establishment of Marine Protected Areas. A focus of CSMP is to map California’s State Waters with consistent methods at a consistent scale. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpretation, and visualization of swath sonar data (the undersea equivalent of satellite remote-sensing data in terrestrial mapping), acoustic backscatter, seafloor video, seafloor photography, high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, and bottom-sediment sampling data. The map products display seafloor morphology and character, identify potential marine benthic habitats, and illustrate both the surficial seafloor geology and shallow (to about 100 m) subsurface geology. It is emphasized that the more interpretive habitat and geology data rely on the integration of multiple, new high-resolution datasets and that mapping at small scales would not be possible without such data. This approach and CSMP planning is based in part on recommendations of the Marine Mapping Planning Workshop (Kvitek and others, 2006), attended by coastal and marine managers and scientists from around the state. That workshop established geographic priorities for a coastal mapping project and identified the need for coverage of “lands” from the shore strand line (defined as Mean Higher High Water; MHHW) out to the 3-nautical-mile (5.6-km) limit of California’s State Waters. Unfortunately, surveying the zone from MHHW out to 10-m water depth is not consistently possible using ship-based surveying methods, owing to sea state (for example, waves, wind, or currents), kelp coverage, and shallow rock outcrops. Accordingly, some of the data presented in this series commonly do not cover the zone from the shore out to 10-m depth. This data is part of a series of online U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) publications, each of which includes several map sheets, some explanatory text, and a descriptive pamphlet. Each map sheet is published as a PDF file. Geographic information system (GIS) files that contain both ESRI ArcGIS raster grids (for example, bathymetry, seafloor character) and geotiffs (for example, shaded relief) are also included for each publication. For those who do not own the full suite of ESRI GIS and mapping software, the data can be read using ESRI ArcReader, a free viewer that is available at http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcreader/index.html (last accessed September 20, 2013). The California Seafloor Mapping Program is a collaborative venture between numerous different federal and state agencies, academia, and the private sector. CSMP partners include the California Coastal Conservancy, the California Ocean Protection Council, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Geological Survey, California State University at Monterey Bay’s Seafloor Mapping Lab, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories Center for Habitat Studies, Fugro Pelagos, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, including National Ocean Service–Office of Coast Surveys, National Marine Sanctuaries, and National Marine Fisheries Service), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey. These web services for the Offshore of Tomales Point map area includes data layers that are associated to GIS and map sheets available from the USGS CSMP web page at https://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/mapping/csmp/index.html. Each published CSMP map area includes a data catalog of geographic information system (GIS) files; map sheets that contain explanatory text; and an associated descriptive pamphlet. This web service represents the available data layers for this map area. Data was combined from different sonar surveys to generate a comprehensive high-resolution bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter coverage of the map area. These data reveal a range of physiographic including exposed bedrock outcrops, large fields of sand waves, as well as many human impacts on the seafloor. To validate geological and biological interpretations of the sonar data, the U.S. Geological Survey towed a camera sled over specific offshore locations, collecting both video and photographic imagery; these “ground-truth” surveying data are available from the CSMP Video and Photograph Portal at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7J1015K. The “seafloor character” data layer shows classifications of the seafloor on the basis of depth, slope, rugosity (ruggedness), and backscatter intensity and which is further informed by the ground-truth-survey imagery. The “potential habitats” polygons are delineated on the basis of substrate type, geomorphology, seafloor process, or other attributes that may provide a habitat for a specific species or assemblage of organisms. Representative seismic-reflection profile data from the map area is also include and provides information on the subsurface stratigraphy and structure of the map area. The distribution and thickness of young sediment (deposited over the past about 21,000 years, during the most recent sea-level rise) is interpreted on the basis of the seismic-reflection data. The geologic polygons merge onshore geologic mapping (compiled from existing maps by the California Geological Survey) and new offshore geologic mapping that is based on integration of high-resolution bathymetry and backscatter imagery seafloor-sediment and rock samplesdigital camera and video imagery, and high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles. The information provided by the map sheets, pamphlet, and data catalog has a broad range of applications. High-resolution bathymetry, acoustic backscatter, ground-truth-surveying imagery, and habitat mapping all contribute to habitat characterization and ecosystem-based management by providing essential data for delineation of marine protected areas and ecosystem restoration. Many of the maps provide high-resolution baselines that will be critical for monitoring environmental change associated with climate change, coastal development, or other forcings. High-resolution bathymetry is a critical component for modeling coastal flooding caused by storms and tsunamis, as well as inundation associated with longer term sea-level rise. Seismic-reflection and bathymetric data help characterize earthquake and tsunami sources, critical for natural-hazard assessments of coastal zones. Information on sediment distribution and thickness is essential to the understanding of local and regional sediment transport, as well as the development of regional sediment-management plans. In addition, siting of any new offshore infrastructure (for example, pipelines, cables, or renewable-energy facilities) will depend on high-resolution mapping. Finally, this mapping will both stimulate and enable new scientific research and also raise public awareness of, and education about, coastal environments and issues. Web services were created using an ArcGIS service definition file. The ArcGIS REST service and OGC WMS service include all Offshore of Tomales Point map area data layers. Data layers are symbolized as shown on the associated map sheets.

This study focuses on the use of citizen science and GIS tools for collecting and analyzing data on Rose Swanson Mountain in British Columbia, Canada. While several organizations collect data on wildlife habitats, trail mapping, and fire documentation on the mountain, there are few studies conducted on the area and citizen science is not being addressed. The study aims to aggregate various data sources and involve citizens in the data collection process using ArcGIS Dashboard and ArcGIS Survey 123. These GIS tools allow for the integration and analysis of different kinds of data, as well as the creation of interactive maps and surveys that can facilitate citizen engagement and data collection. The data used in the dashboard was sourced from BC Data Catalogue, Explore the Map, and iNaturalist. Results show effective citizen participation, with 1073 wildlife observations and 3043 plant observations. The dashboard provides a user-friendly interface for citizens to tailor their map extent and layers, access surveys, and obtain information on each attribute included in the pop-up by clicking. Analysis on classification of fuel types, ecological communities, endangered wildlife species presence and critical habitat, and scope of human activities can be conducted based on the distribution of data. The dashboard can provide direction for researchers to develop research or contribute to other projects in progress, as well as advocate for natural resource managers to use citizen science data. The study demonstrates the potential for GIS and citizen science to contribute to meaningful discoveries and advancements in areas.

This case study includes multiple workflows, visualizing global countries' COVID-19 cases as dynamic maps, such as HTML, GIF, and MP4.

The Flood Inundation Mapping (FIM) Visualization Deck is a web-based application designed to display and compare flood extent and depth information across various temporal and scenario conditions. It provides a front-end interface for accessing geospatial flood data and interacting with mapped outputs generated from hydraulic modeling.

Core Functions: • Flood Extent Mapping: Visualizes flood extents from modeled scenarios (e.g., 2-year, 10-year, 100-year events) and real-time conditions based on streamflow observations or forecasts. • Flood Depth Visualization: Displays depth rasters over affected areas, derived from hydraulic simulations (e.g., HEC-RAS). • Scenario Comparison: Allows side-by-side viewing of multiple FIM outputs to support calibration or decision analysis. • Layer Management Toolbox: Users can toggle basemaps, adjust layer transparency, load datasets, and control map extents.

Data Inputs: • Precomputed flood inundation extents (raster/tile layers) • Depth grids • Stream gauge metadata • Associated hydraulic model outputs

Technical Stack: • Front-end: Built with JavaScript, primarily using Leaflet.js for interactive map rendering. • Back-end Services: Uses GeoServer to serve raster tiles and vector layers (via WMS/WFS). Uses OGC-compliant services and REST endpoints for data queries. • Data Formats: Raster layers (e.g., GeoTIFF, PNG tiles), vector layers (GeoJSON, shapefiles), elevation models, and model-derived grid outputs. • Database: Integrates with a PostgreSQL/PostGIS backend or similar spatial database for hydrologic and geospatial data management. • Deployment: Hosted via University of Iowa infrastructure, with modular UI elements tied to specific watersheds or study areas.

Intended Use: The application provides a reference and exploratory tool for comparing modeled flood scenarios, visualizing extent and depth data, and interacting with region-specific inundation data products.

A GeoHub banner image serves as a visual header for geospatial data platforms, enhancing user engagement and branding. These banners typically feature maps, aerial imagery, GIS elements, and thematic visuals related to infrastructure, land use, environmental monitoring, and community planning. Designed for public-facing portals, GeoHub banners establish a professional and visually appealing presence for GIS data sharing and collaboration.

This map provides a colorized representation of aspect, generated dynamically using the server-side aspect function on the Terrain layer. The orientation of the downward sloping terrain (0° – 360°) is indicated by different colors, rotating from green (North) to blue (East), to magenta (South) to orange (West). Flat areas having no down slope direction are given a value of 361° and rendered as gray. This service can be used for visualization or analysis. Note: If you require access to numeric (float) aspect values, use the Terrain - Aspect layer, which returns orientation values from 0 to 360 degrees. Units: DegreesUpdate Frequency: QuarterlyCoverage: World/GlobalData Sources: This layer is compiled from a variety of best available sources from several data providers. To see the coverage and extents of various datasets comprising this service in an interactive map, see World Elevation Coverage Map.What can you do with this layer?Use for Visualization: Yes. This colorized aspect map is appropriate for visualizing the downslope direction of the terrain. This layer can be added to applications or maps to enhance contextual understanding.Use for Analysis: Yes. 8 bit color values returned by this service represent integer aspect values. For float values, use the Terrain - Aspect layer.For more details such as Data Sources, Mosaic method used in this layer, please see the Terrain layer. This layer allows query, identify, and export image requests. The layer is restricted to a 5,000 x 5,000 pixel limit in a single export image request.

This layer is part of a larger collection of elevation layers that you can use to perform a variety of mapping analysis tasks.

The Digital Geologic-GIS Map of San Miguel Island, California is composed of GIS data layers and GIS tables, and is available in the following GRI-supported GIS data formats: 1.) a 10.1 file geodatabase (smis_geology.gdb), a 2.) Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) geopackage, and 3.) 2.2 KMZ/KML file for use in Google Earth, however, this format version of the map is limited in data layers presented and in access to GRI ancillary table information. The file geodatabase format is supported with a 1.) ArcGIS Pro map file (.mapx) file (smis_geology.mapx) and individual Pro layer (.lyrx) files (for each GIS data layer), as well as with a 2.) 10.1 ArcMap (.mxd) map document (smis_geology.mxd) and individual 10.1 layer (.lyr) files (for each GIS data layer). The OGC geopackage is supported with a QGIS project (.qgz) file. Upon request, the GIS data is also available in ESRI 10.1 shapefile format. Contact Stephanie O'Meara (see contact information below) to acquire the GIS data in these GIS data formats. In addition to the GIS data and supporting GIS files, three additional files comprise a GRI digital geologic-GIS dataset or map: 1.) this file (chis_geology_gis_readme.pdf), 2.) the GRI ancillary map information document (.pdf) file (chis_geology.pdf) which contains geologic unit descriptions, as well as other ancillary map information and graphics from the source map(s) used by the GRI in the production of the GRI digital geologic-GIS data for the park, and 3.) a user-friendly FAQ PDF version of the metadata (smis_geology_metadata_faq.pdf). Please read the chis_geology_gis_readme.pdf for information pertaining to the proper extraction of the GIS data and other map files. Google Earth software is available for free at: https://www.google.com/earth/versions/. QGIS software is available for free at: https://www.qgis.org/en/site/. Users are encouraged to only use the Google Earth data for basic visualization, and to use the GIS data for any type of data analysis or investigation. The data were completed as a component of the Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) program, a National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Division funded program that is administered by the NPS Geologic Resources Division (GRD). For a complete listing of GRI products visit the GRI publications webpage: For a complete listing of GRI products visit the GRI publications webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/geologic-resources-inventory-products.htm. For more information about the Geologic Resources Inventory Program visit the GRI webpage: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/gri,htm. At the bottom of that webpage is a "Contact Us" link if you need additional information. You may also directly contact the program coordinator, Jason Kenworthy (jason_kenworthy@nps.gov). Source geologic maps and data used to complete this GRI digital dataset were provided by the following: American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Detailed information concerning the sources used and their contribution the GRI product are listed in the Source Citation section(s) of this metadata record (smis_geology_metadata.txt or smis_geology_metadata_faq.pdf). Users of this data are cautioned about the locational accuracy of features within this dataset. Based on the source map scale of 1:24,000 and United States National Map Accuracy Standards features are within (horizontally) 12.2 meters or 40 feet of their actual location as presented by this dataset. Users of this data should thus not assume the location of features is exactly where they are portrayed in Google Earth, ArcGIS, QGIS or other software used to display this dataset. All GIS and ancillary tables were produced as per the NPS GRI Geology-GIS Geodatabase Data Model v. 2.3. (available at: https://www.nps.gov/articles/gri-geodatabase-model.htm).

Context

When I started exploring how to create interactive maps (using the leaflet() package in R) I come across this free data set (shapefile format) that contains the geographical coordinates (polygons) for all the countries in the world. I thought it would be nice to share this with the Kaggle community.

Content

The .zip folder contains all the necessary files needed for the shapefile data to work properly on your computer. If you are new to using the shapefile format, please see the information provided below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile "The shapefile format stores the data as primitive geometric shapes like points, lines, and polygons. These shapes, together with data attributes that are linked to each shape, create the representation of the geographic data. The term "shapefile" is quite common, but the format consists of a collection of files with a common filename prefix, stored in the same directory. The three mandatory files have filename extensions .shp, .shx, and .dbf. The actual shapefile relates specifically to the .shp file, but alone is incomplete for distribution as the other supporting files are required. "

Acknowledgements

Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com.

Summary:

A sub-set of the Gaia Data Release 3 data centered on the Sun for use in mapping the local Galaxy. The data includes three columns for each star: parallax, heliocentric longitude, and heliocentric latitude. Data can be converted to Galactocentric Rectangular Coordinate (X, Y, Z) or Galactocentric Cylindrical Coordinate (R, Phi, Z). PLEASE NOTE: There are many incorrectly measured parallaxes -- all negative parallaxes must be removed.

Columns:

• parallax (units: mas) - Parallactic angle (used for determining the distance to a star).
• longitude (units: degrees) - The heliocentric longitude, with zero degrees corresponding to the direction of the Galactic Center.
• latitude (units: degrees) - The heliocentric latitude, with +90 degrees corresponding to the North Galactic Pole and 0 degrees corresponding to the Galaxy's mid-plane.

Query from Gaia Database:

SELECT gaia_source.parallax, gaia_source.l, gaia_source.b

FROM gaiadr3.gaia_source 

WHERE 

gaia_source.random_index < 5000000 AND

gaia_source.phot_g_mean_mag BETWEEN 14 AND 18 AND

gaia_source.bp_rp BETWEEN 0.5 AND 2.5 AND

(1.0 / gaia_source.parallax) * COS(RADIANS(gaia_source.b)) < 0.250

Note the final condition in the query limits the selection of stars to those within 250 parsecs (in-plane distance) of the Sun. In other words, we are examining the stars in a cylinder of radius 250 parsecs centered on the Sun, punching perpendicularly through the Milky Way disk.

License:

The Gaia Data is under the following license: Open Source With Attribution to ESA/Gaia/DPAC, reproduced here:

"The Gaia data are open and free to use, provided credit is given to 'ESA/Gaia/DPAC'. In general, access to, and use of, ESA's Gaia Archive (hereafter called 'the website') constitutes acceptance of the following general terms and conditions. Neither ESA nor any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering the website shall be liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages arising out of user access to, or use of, the website. The website does not guarantee the accuracy of information provided by external sources and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such data."

All of my course materials are free to use with attribution as well.