Data banks
Data repositories (vector)
GADM: administrative boundaries accessible by country
Diva-GIS: the DIVA free GIS software site, which also provides free vector data on administrative boundaries, hydrography, transport, population, etc., classified by country
Géoportail: a national data distribution platform based on IGN reference systems and institutional data producers (French territory only).
OpenStreetMap: free geographic database in the world. Data can be extracted in SHP format via Geofabrik
Land cover/ land use (raster)
Corine: European Earth monitoring programme, the main aim of which is to manage environmental information and actions with the EU. In particular, it maps the distribution of different types of land cover (Corine Land Cover), with five versions to date (1990, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018).
Worldcover: European global land use mapping programme
USGS: USGS (United States) platform for viewing and downloading various USGS and NASA databases, including MODIS and LANDSAT satellite images and their derived products.
Elevation (raster)
- SRTM: global data from the Shuttle Radar topography Mission with a resolution of 90m at the equator
- ASTER: a more recent, complementary version of SRTM with 30m resolution at the equator
Others (raster)
Data banks
Free GIS Data: a comprehensive directory from a former colleague of mine at the University of Southampton, with links to a wide range of database categories
Natural Earth: worldwide data, including administrative boundaries, hydrography, bathymetry and raster maps
Georezo: the French-language geomatics portal
Geonetwork: FAO metadata catalogue providing access to a wide range of vector and raster data, particularly on developing countries.