Free GIS Data

This is indeed a very strange blog. All feed up the same day, February 18, 2011 with 54 post about various data set. Two at least did not escape my attention.

The global Evapotranspiration map made by Antonio Trabucco  for the CGIAR-CSI :

Also the reference to the global DEM derived from the satellite Aster measurements is of interest for hydrologists, and according to some paper are better than SRTM data.

These are not the only good data you can find there!

Two other source of information about GIS data are remarkable:  those from Robert T Wilson and those one can find in Tomislav Hengl wiki Spatial-Analyst at the page of global data sets.  Another source of interesting data is here where you can find addresse a map of runoff data by NCAR/UCAR and some interesting considerations.

Naming Rivers

This is a variation on the themes inspected by Boetti and his wife in their "The thousand rivers". In this case, what is inspected is the name with which the river are addressed. Terms like "fork", "canal". Beside, the technology is outstanding. Below, please find the Great Britain.

The case of United States is:

The original sites, images, and explanation regarding how the maps where realized,  can be found at: http://spatialanalysis.co.uk/2011/08/naming-rivers-and-places/
The blog itself is very interesting to follow.

Open Source Software and Intellectual Properties

People often think that using an Open Source License for Software left freedom for any behavior. In fact, this is not the case.  Here you can find a presentation by Bruno Lowagie where he discussed the related issues and obligations.

Open source requires ethics, is a demanding exercise, and it is not about robbery.