The US government is a labyrinth of information crossing numerous agencies, sometimes doing double work. But it is also a repository of some of the most valuable and complete information on the state of our land, water, animal and plant life that has ever existed.
We’ve included some of our favorite resources from the federal government and other organizations for getting a real in-depth understanding of your site.
Topography maps
Lidar (laser imaging, detection, and ranging" - the use of laser to measure topography) is more accurate and offers more data than traditional topo maps (1 foot intervals instead of 10 feet). It is the new standard, but it isn’t available everywhere yet. Keep checking as they add new maps regularly. Here are a few:
https://gisgeography.com/top-6-free-lidar-data-sources/
https://www.floridagio.gov/pages/lidar-resources (has national maps too)
Most county assessors have good topographic maps using Lidar. Many have multi-year maps. These can show a lot about what was done to your land in the past that can be useful to know. Look up your address at the assessor's website, and look for ways to check on further data.
Topo maps can be found at USGS, these show 10 foot intervals)
https://apps.nationalmap.gov/downloader/#/
Climate
Overall weather - historical
https://weatherspark.com/
Rainfall - historic
https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/maps/ncei/summaries/monthly
Ketchum drought index, Florida
http://fireweather.fdacs.gov/wx/kbdi_index.html
US/world drought indexes
https://www.wfas.net/index.php/keetch-byram-index-moisture--drought-49
https://spei.csic.es/map/maps.html#months=3#month=2#year=2021
USDA planting zones
https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-2ba96/product_images/uploaded_images/usda-zonemap2.jpg
Plant heat zones
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/dirt/blogfiles/37486_original.jpg
Chill hours
http://site.extension.uga.edu/climate/files/2018/01/chillMap_US.png
https://www.north-florida-garden-guide.com/images/chill-hours-florida-map.jpg
Koppen climate classifications (limited use)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification
Climate info NOAA
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information
Temperature extremes
https://www.currentresults.com/Yearly-Weather/USA/extreme-annual-usa-index-low-temperature.php
To find temperature extremes click on map to zoom to your location - left hand column has many records
Not sure how far back Msn records go, the cold extremes are higher than other records
https://www.msn.com/en-us/Weather/records
Solar altitude calculator
https://www.suncalc.org/#/40.1789,-3.5156,3/2021.06.13/23:38/1/3
https://keisan.casio.com/exec/system/1224682331
Heat and heat islands
https://www.heat.gov/
https://ghhin.org/
Climate risks - flood, fire, heat
https://riskfactor.com/
Soil testing
USGS offers a very comprehensive survey of soils throughout the US. Worth looking up the technical soil terms to understand your soil horizons and much else about them.
https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm
Another great tool for fast assessment
https://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/gmap/?fbclid=IwAR3XYdSNrx7p_KcGESoG39DuDr5vB-Sz_q9gonCR8_BFrEc3TduzEHLQ3NA
Water
USGS Aquifer map and data
https://water.usgs.gov/ogw/aquifer/map.html
Florida geodata (including some hydrological info, etc)
https://geodata.floridadisaster.org/
EPA site on water quality
https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/hows-my-waterway
National groundwater test site - find your region and data on local water quality
https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/maps/interactive-map-groundwater-monitoring-information-united-states
Groundwater depletion resources - where are there issues?
https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/maps/groundwater-depletion-map-united-states
https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/national-water-quality-assessment-nawqa?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects
https://www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/geology/groundwater/mapping
Advanced design tools
Forest carbon maps - useful for assessing where we are making gains and losses, for decisions on large scale projects, possible use for funding, or activism. This org has a number of maps showing deforestation, fires and other info of interest.
https://data.globalforestwatch.org/
Bombing ranges (potential toxicity or unexploded ordnance)
https://projects.propublica.org/bombs/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social#b=27.176216702576657,-85.29254150390625,29.530203214244054,-80.01910400390625&c=shrink
Rainfall patterns for West Central Florida, scroll down for maps
https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/resources/weather-hydrology/hydrologic-conditions-reports
Toxic release data, EPA
https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery