TerrainBase CD-ROM

National Geophysical Data Center has available a collection of public domain digital terrain models (DTMs) for the world on CD. This collection, called the TerrainBase CD-ROM, includes an improved 5-minute DTM of land and ocean values for the entire world. TerrainBase includes ten additional sources of data which provide a substantial improvement in overall quality of DTMs.

We are pleased to provide on-line access to the 5-minute global DTM (TerrainBase) and to the TerrainBase CD-ROM which contains all the data on which the 5-minute DTM was based. Available models are listed in the table below.

Digital Terrain Models Available from NOAA/NGDC
January 1994

For information on a particular model, click on the Coverage description. To download the binary data file, click on the Topography/Bathymetry description. Also download the Header file for information on the number of rows and columns, maximum and minimum latitude and longitude, etc. All the data on the TerrainBase CD are two-byte binary integers byte-swapped for the PC. Therefore, if you are using the data on a UNIX or Macintosh machine the bytes must be swapped.

All the data on the TerrainBase CD are accessible with GeoVu, a general browse and visualization application. To access the data on the TerrainBase CD with GeoVu, you must also download the Format and Header files for each data file.

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                         Grid      Topo/ Header Format

Coverage                Spacing    Bathy File   File   Developer/contributor

---------------------   -------    ----- ------ ------ ------------------------

GLOBAL LAND and OCEANS  5-min      Both  Header Format NGDC

Global land             10-min     Topo  Header Format NCAR and FNOC

Global oceans           5-min      Bathy Header Format Washington University

North America           5-min      Both  Header Format U.S. DMA

Europe                  5-min      Both  Header Format U.S. DMA

Conterminous USA        30-sec     Topo  Header Format NOAA/NGDC

Italy                   30-sec     Both  Header Format Servizio Geol Naznl

Africa                  5-min      Topo  Header Format Australian Natl Univ

Greenland               5x10-min   Topo  Header Format Kort-og Matrikelstyr.

Australia               5-min      Topo  Header Format Australian Natl Univ

Brazil Cerrados region  2-min      Topo  Header Format Cntr Int Agr Tropical

Andes Mtns &            3-min      Both  Header Format Cornell University

Peru/Chile trench

Austria               1.5x2.5-min  Topo  Header Format Tech Univ Graz

Japan, N. and S. Korea  5-min      Both  Header Format U.S. DMA

Netherlands             3x5-min    Topo  Header Format Tech Univ Delft

Alaskan Arctic coast    30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

Bering Strait coast     30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

Alaska Pacific coast    30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

U.S. Atlantic coast     30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

Great Lakes             30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

U.S. Gulf Mexico coast  30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

U.S. Pacific coast      30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

Hawaiian Islands coast  30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

Puerto Rico coast       30-sec     Bathy Header Format NOAA/NGDC

Central NW Terr, Canada 5-min      Both  Header Format NOAA/NGDC

Madagascar              30-sec     Topo  Header Format USGS, EROS Data Center

Haiti, Dom. Republic,   30-sec     Topo  Header Format USGS, EROS Data Center

  and Puerto Rico

Additional Bathymetry data.