Available Sources of Geomatic Data on / applicable to Belize

(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Rationale

In addition to groundbreaking initiatives like the forthcoming Biodiversity ClearingHouse Mechanism (CHM) which should radically alter how geomatic data is accessed in Belize, there is, undoubtedly, quite a bit of information currently inhabiting the World Wide Web. This page is simply an attempt to share that with the rest of Belize's burgeoning geospatial community. Please feel free to email me links for other Belize-related data.

SITE

DESCRIPTION

SOFTWARE

GRASS

A FREE, Linux-based GIS / remote sensing software application.

ESRI Arc Explorer

ESRI's FREE, scaled-down counterpart to its popular ArcView and ArcGIS applications.

PROGRAM EXTENSIONS

ESRI Arc Extensions

Downloadable scripts (extensions) for ESRI products (ArcView, ArcGIS, etc.) - FREE

ERDAS IMAGINE models

Downloadable models for ERDAS IMAGINE 8.x. Includes, for instance, models for converting Landsat TM band 6 into Celsius temperature values of land features, or applying atmospheric corrections to satellite imagery - FREE

DATA - RASTER

DEM: NASA STRM 90m

Currently, the best available elevation model of Belize, FREE and downloadable in one GCS-WGS 84 tile (GeoTiff format). The spatial scale is 90m, with a height resolution of 1m increments. Through the use of ESRI's 3D Analyst extension for its ArcView and ArcGIS programs, this DEM (and other DEMs) can be used to create contour lines, at varying levels of detail.

DEM: USGS GTOPO30

Where DEM tiles of the region and of Belize can be downloaded at the above sites, the USGS also offers Global Topographic 30 arc second (GTOPO30) data. The link on the left is of a FREE tile that includes all of the Central America, Caribbean, and portions of North and South America. As this data is 30 arc second (0.9km), the resolution is of a coarser scale than available at the other links. The DEM is stored in the Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) rather than in Belize's standard UTM-NAD27.

Satellite Imagery: ASTER (NASA)

ASTER data has a better spectral resolution than Landsat Thematic Mapper data (see below). These images are not free.

Satellite Imagery: LANDSAT (GLCF)

The University of Maryland at College Park's Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) is the largest archive of FREE global satellite imagery online. Downloadable at the GLCF are 6 Landsat TM / ETM images of Belize, ranging from 1988-2002. The Landsat Worldwide Reference System for its Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) images captures scenes of Belize in 3 tiles (Path 19, Rows 47-49). The spatial resolution for Landsat is 30m.

Satellite Imagery: LANDSAT (TRFIC)

Michigan State University's Tropical Rain Forest Information Center (TRFIC) facilitates the transfer of Landsat satellite imagery by offering Landsat TM and Landsat ETM imagery for sale at greatly discounted prices (US $25 per TM scene / US $50 per ETM scene).

Satellite Imagery: LANDSAT (USGS)

The US Geological Survey markets the satellite imagery captured by NASA's Landsat imagery (temporal resolution: 1 image of Belize every 16 days). At this site, one can browse jpegs of captured imagery, prior to purchase. Belize Landsat scenes (new) cost US $600 for the first scene, and US $250 for each additional, putting the cost of a full Belize coverage at US $1,100. For free imagery, try GLCF. Highly discounted imagery is available at TRFIC.

Satellite Imagery: MODIS (NASA)

NASA's Moderate Imaging Satellite (MODIS) captures FREE daily images of the entire world, at spatial scales of 1km, 500m, and 250m. The link on the left, available through CCAD, has an extensive image catalog of Belize / Guatemala (both nations are included in the area's MODIS scene). Through the use of the downloadable header files, the imagery can be imported into various GIS / remote sensing software applications.

DATA - VECTOR

Belize Biodiversity Mapping Service

The BBMS contains FREE counterpart coverages to those of BTFS (see below), as well as a prototype map-server, which allows one to perform certain spatial analyses without having to own GIS software of one's own.

Biodiversity.info / BTFS

The site managed by Belize Tropical Forest Studies (BTFS) has quite a number of useful FREE coverages of Belize, such as the "aquatic ecosystems map" (a detailed rivers / streams coverage), and the broadly-classified version of Belize's ecosystems map (1999?).

CCAD Ecosystem Maps

Completed in 2002, the Central America Ecosystems Mapping project utilized Landsat TM data from the 1990s to delineate the various land cover types present in the region, as part of the efforts of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor project. The Belize ecosystems map (FREE) was generated from classifying data from Landsat TM scenes of different years - 1993, 1996 and 1998. Following in the footsteps of Brokaw & Iremonger, this represents the most comprehensive land cover study of Belize TO DATE.

CCAD National coverages

Belize's Land Information Centre (LIC) has prices for a number of the coverages it has developed. Strangely enough, the same data (submitted to the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor project) is available online for FREE. While what is there represents the "official" data of the various CCAD member states, as a caveat it must be mentioned that inaccuracies in the data have not been "cleaned up," hence the data is "as is." Notable useful coverages include Belize's boundaries, towns, roads, rivers, watersheds, and Holdridge Life Zones. As a further caveat, one must be aware that the CCAD data is all in the GCS (lat-long), rather than in Belize's standard format (UTM-NAD27, Zone 16N).

GIS Data Depot - Belize coverages

Miscellaneous FREE coverages of Belize. Caveat: not the best available data.

La Milpa coverages

Researchers from Boston University have made available FREE coverages they have generated of the work they have been conducting at La Milpa in Orange Walk, Belize.

PROARCA - C. America Land Cover Classification & Conservation Status

One of the few coverages with an accuracy assessment (said to exceed 80%), this work was done using 1km-resolution Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite imagery to classify the land cover of Central America. Aside from the land cover / vegetation coverage, the FREE coverages included in the zip include a 1996 protected areas coverage, 1995 ecoregions, and a 1km-scale DEM.

TUTORIALS - SOFTWARE

ERDAS IMAGINE (UW SAL)

Courtesy of the University of Washington's Spatial Analysis Laboratory (SAL), a set of tutorials on the basics of ERDAS IMAGINE 8.x. Includes tutorials on how to register images, perform atmospheric and topographic corrections,  supervised & unsupervised land cover classification, and accuracy assessments.

ESRI ArcGIS (UW CFR)

Courtesy of the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources (CFR), an INTENSE set of tutorials (including exercises one can attempt oneself) on ArcGIS 8.x / 9. Includes tutorials on production of watershed maps and contour lines from DEMs, projecting data between different formats (datums), and the ins and outs of spatial data manipulation. Highly recommended reading.

ESRI ArcGIS (UW SAL)

Courtesy of the University of Washington's Spatial Analysis Laboratory (SAL), a set of tutorials on the basics of ArcGIS 8.x / 9.

ESRI ArcView (UW SAL)

Courtesy of the University of Washington's Spatial Analysis Laboratory (SAL), a set of tutorials on the basics of ArcView 3.x.

RSI ENVI (UW SAL)

Courtesy of the University of Washington's Spatial Analysis Laboratory (SAL), a set of tutorials on the basics of ENVI 3.x. Similar to the applications of ERDAS IMAGINE, this tutorial also addresses geo-rectification (registration) of images, and supervised / unsupervised land cover classification.

TUTORIALS - THEMATIC

NASA - Remote Sensing

Interested in learning more about the scientific basis of remote sensing? Then click on the link on the right!

REPORTS / LITERATURE

Cherrington (2004)

"The Belize Debt-for-Nature Swap: Foundation of a Framework for Program Evaluation" (Master of Science thesis: University of Washington) - Written by yours truly, the argument laid forth is that the beneficiaries of the 2001 Belize Debt-for-Nature Swap (DNS) could utilize remote sensing of satellite imagery in a rather cost-effective system of monitoring landscape level changes across parcels funded through the DNS. Essentially, US $1,100 worth of satellite imagery purchases one an entire coverage of Belize. Land cover (i.e. ecosystems / vegetation) can then be extracted from the imagery using computer software such as ERDAS IMAGINE or RSI ENVI. The benefit is that such imagery provides landscape-level perspective of Belize's environment.

DiFiore (2002)

"Remote Sensing and Exploratory Data Analysis as Tools to Rapidly Evaluate Forest Cover Change and Set Conservation Priorities along the Belize River, Belize" (Master of Science thesis: Columbia University) - Following in the footsteps of sporadic attempts at using remote sensing in monitoring land cover changes in Belize, DiFiore (2002) explores deforestation along the riparian corridor of the Belize River using 1989 and 2001 Landsat Thematic Mapper data. One of DiFiore's recommendations is for the expansion of such monitoring to the broader Belizean landscape.

Meerman & Sabido (2001)

"Central American Ecosystems Map: Belize, Volumes 1 & 2" - Executed through the auspices of the Central America Ecosystems Mapping project funded by the World Bank, the Netherlands and the governments comprising the CCAD (Central American Commission on Environment & Development), this two-volume report and accompanying geospatial data examine the land cover of Belize in the 1990's. One recommendation of the report is that the data generated could serve as a baseline for further land cover studies of Belize.