Geospatial Data Availability 

for Haiti: An Aid in the 

Development of GIS-Based 

Natural Resource Assessments 

for Conservation Planning

Maya Quiñones, William Gould, and Carlos D. Rodríguez-Pedraza

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Forest Service

International Institute

of Tropical Forestry

General Technical

Report

IITF-GTR-33

February 2007
Authors

Maya Quiñones is a cartographic technician, William Gould is a research 

ecologist, and Carlos D. Rodríguez-Pedraza is an ecologist, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Jardín 

Botánico Sur, 1201 Calle Ceiba, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00926-1119. Email: 

wgould@fs.fed.us.

Cover photo: Landsat ETM+ mosaic courtesy of the Global Land Cover Facility 

(U.S. Geological Survey 2002).

The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of 

multiple use management of the Nation’s forest resources for sustained yields of wood, 

water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the 

States and private forest owners, and management of the National Forests and National 

Grasslands, it strives—as directed by Congress—to provide increasingly greater service 

to a growing Nation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and 

activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, 

sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic 

information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income 

is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all 

programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of 

program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET 

Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write 

USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 

20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal 

opportunity provider and employer.
Abstract

Quiñones, Maya; Gould, William; Rodriguez-Pedraza, Carlos D. 2006. 

Geospatial data availability for Haiti: an aid in the development of GIS-based 

natural resource assessments for conservation planning. Gen. Tech. Rep. 

IITF-GTR-33. San Juan, PR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry. 55 p.

This report documents the type and source of geospatial data available for Haiti. 

It was compiled to serve as a resource for geographic information system (GIS)-

based land management and planning. It will be useful for conservation planning, 

reforestation efforts, and agricultural extension projects. Our study indicates that 

there is a great deal of geospatial information available for Haiti, both digitally 

georeferenced and hardcopy. The sources of geospatial information range from 

historical maps to recent satellite imagery and thematic maps. The types of information are described and their sources indicated with a series of 14 figures and 15 

tables. The sources of information include personal correspondence and Internet 

and literature searches. The report represents a substantial amount of information 

and also indicates some gaps in available information. Information not documented 

in this report may have been missed in our search efforts or is nonexistent. Sources 

most likely to be missed include work in progress and local government or university work that is not widely distributed. The primary gaps in available geospatial 

information include information on soils and hazard assessments such as flooding and landslides, information on current conservation areas and practices, and 

information on wildlife and endangered species distributions.

Keywords: Haiti, remote sensing, conservation planning, GIS, geospatial data, 

reforestation efforts, watershed restoration.
Contents

1 Introduction

1 Background

3 Summary of Data Available and Its Potential Uses

3 Topographic Maps

5 Satellite Imagery

16 Aerial Photography and Videography

17 Georeferenced Vector and Additional Raster Files

22 Maps

24 Assessment of Data Gaps and Needs

25 Conclusion

25 Acknowledgments

25 English Equivalents

25 References

28 Glossary

31 Appendix 1: Tables and Ancillary Information

54 Appendix 2: The Nature Conservancy GIS Data Disclaimer 

 Acknowledgment and Release Form
Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Introduction 

This report provides information on the sources and availability of geospatial data 

for Haiti to assist in natural resource assessments and planning. The report covers 

geospatial information on the watersheds, infrastructure, and natural resources of 

Haiti, with particular attention to data sets that cover the entire country and data 

sets that cover specific watersheds, including the uplands bordering the Dominican 

Republic in southeastern Haiti (the Mapou and Fonds-Verrettes areas). The report 

will facilitate the compilation of data to assist in prioritizing restoration efforts, 

determining what those restorations could or should entail, and in planning and 

implementing conservation and restoration action. 

This report describes search efforts, data available, and references to assist in 

the acquisition of the data. Data descriptions include the following:

• Type of geospatial data available (i.e., topography, hydrology, 

infrastructure, land cover, soils, or political boundaries). 

• Format of the data (i.e., hardcopy, digital, georeferenced, remotely sensed, 

aerial photo, or maps). 

• Scale and extent of the data. 

• Source, availability, and cost. 

• Ancillary information (i.e., who compiled the data, how old it is, and 

how accurate it is). 

• Utility (i.e., what kinds of information can be assessed from this data 

type that will be useful in conservation efforts). 

• Gap assessment (i.e.,what information or type of information is lacking 

that would be potentially useful for planning and design of watershed 

restoration activities).

Background

Haiti is located in the Caribbean Sea on the island of Hispaniola (fig. 1), which it 

shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti occupies the western third of the island 

(fig. 2) and has 8.4 million inhabitants and a population density of 300 people per 

km2 (Canadian International Development Agency 2005). The area was populated 

by the Arawak Indians when Columbus arrived in 1492. From the 1500s to the 

1700s, Hispaniola played a role as the testing laboratory for the introduction of new 

plant and animal species as well as a role as the Spanish administrative and military 

bastion. Much of what is now Haiti was cleared for the planting of sugar cane and 

coffee and the initiation of the plantation economy. With the plantation economy 

and the decline of the native Indian population, African slaves were brought to the 

island for labor. 
GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

In the 17th century, the Spanish government lost control of the western part 

of the island to the French, who continued to import slaves in great quantities to 

keep up the production of sugar cane and coffee. After years of slave revolts, Haiti 

proclaimed its independence in 1804. It was the second European colony, after the 

United States, to do so. 

Today, Haiti is the most underdeveloped country in the Americas. More than 

70 percent of its population lives below the poverty line, most of them earning, on 

average, a dollar (US$1.00) per day (Canadian International Development Agency 

2005). Part of this poverty is a result of the deforestation, land degradation, and soil 

loss that has continued throughout centuries. Haiti’s forests covered only about 1 

percent of the total land area in 1995 (FAO 2003). Heavy rainfall continually results 

in devastating floods, causing further erosion of fertile lands. The country has 

incurred a large external debt (US$1.2 billion) to provide for its basic necessities 

(World Facts Index 2004). 

0 250 500 750 1,000 Km

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o

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Figure 1—Haiti in the Caribbean. Modified from Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) world data.
Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Mao

Limbe

Jimani

Hinche

Jacmel

Corail

Oriendo

Jeremie

Barahona

San Juan

Desdunes

Gonaives

Elis Pina

Les Cayes

Pedernales

Anse Rouge

Saint-Marc

Les Anglais

Cap-Haitien

Petionville Petit Goave

Monte Cristi

Port-de-Paix

Fort Liberte

PORT-AU-PRINCE

Mole St-Nicoles

Grande-Riviere-du-Nord Mao

Limbe

Jimani

Hinche

Jacmel

Corail

Oriendo

Jeremie

Barahona

San Juan

Desdunes

Gonaives

Elis Pina

Les Cayes

Pedernales

Anse Rouge

Saint-Marc

Les Anglais

Cap-Haitien

Petionville Petit Goave

Monte Cristi

Port-de-Paix

Fort Liberte

PORT-AU-PRINCE

Mole St-Nicoles

Grande-Riviere-du-Nord

Atlantic Ocean

Mao

Limbe

Jimani

Hinche

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D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

Jacmel

Corail

Oriendo

Jeremie

Barahona

San Juan

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Gonaives

Elis Pina

Les Cayes

Pedernales

Anse Rouge

Saint-Marc

Les Anglais

Cap-Haitien

Petionville Petit Goave

Monte Cristi

Port-de-Paix

Fort Liberte

PORT-AU-PRINCE

Mole St-Nicoles

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T O R T U G A

Figure 2—Major cities of Haiti. Modified from The Nature Conservancy public access data.

Summary of Data Available and Its Potential Uses

The findings of this report are divided into five main sections: “Topographic maps,” 

“Satellite Imagery,” “Aerial Photography,” “Vector and Additional Raster Files,” 

and “Maps.” Each section contains a brief introduction with a description of the 

type of data and its applications. After each section’s introduction, the sources are 

identified and described with the products found for Haiti identified for each particular source. The Internet addresses of the sources are given in appendix 1 table 1.

Topographic Maps

Topographic maps are useful tools in which surface relief is represented by contour 

lines. Topographic maps can also portray political boundaries, drainage, vegetation, populated places, cultural features, roads, and railroads. The scale of the map 

will determine the amount of detail it will have. Topographic maps are most often 

used as general reference maps. However, they can be used for the identification 

of slopes, valleys, sinkholes, and other topographic features and applied to urban 
GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

planning, military defense, emergency and disaster response, and other uses. These 

maps have the advantage of incorporating topographic and general descriptive 

features that are very similar regardless of who produced them or what part of the 

world they are from, making them indispensable as a startup geographical reference. Ultimately, they can be used to produce vector data through digitalization 

methods.

Two Internet Web sites for topographic maps are (1) Omni Resources map 

catalog and (2) East View Cartographic. Both Web sites are online map catalogs 

where you can buy digital georeferenced versions of existing topographic maps 

from the entire world, among other products. Another source for topographic maps 

is (3) The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

1. The Omni Resources1

 Map Catalog Web site is an online store of hardcopy 

and digital maps from different sources worldwide. For Haiti, the site has a 

countrywide set of 92 1:50,000-scale topographic maps from the National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (fig. 3). The maps are sold as individual 

paper sheets, nongeoreferenced digital, or georeferenced digital format. The 

georeferenced version is priced at US$50 each. For a list of the maps and 

prices refer to appendix 1 table 2. Omni Map has two other sets of topographic maps available for Haiti with resolutions of 1:250,000 (countrywide) and 1:12,500 to 1:10,000 (8 cities only). These maps are only available 

in hardcopy. 

2. The East View Cartographic online store sells a vast range of maps, books, 

and other cartographic resources. For Haiti, it contains topographic maps 

from different sources and at different scales. All sources and specifications 

are documented on the Web site (app. 1 table 3). There are topographic maps 

at scales of 1:1,000,000, 1:500,000, 1:250,000, 1:200,000, 1:50,000, 1:12,500, 

and 1:10,000. However, the 1:12,500- and 1:10,000-scale maps are not available for the entire country. The 1:50,000 scale or greater is well suited to 

watershed-scale planning in a relatively small country like Haiti. Prices 

range depending on the resolution, source, and format (app. 1 table 3).

3. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is an international nonprofit organization 

whose mission “is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and 

waters they need to survive” (The Nature Conservancy 2005). The Nature 

1 The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not 

imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service.


Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Conservancy acquired 1:50,000 georeferenced digital topographic maps for 

most of Haiti (fig. 4). However, this set is not complete. The southern part of 

the island, between the east part of the Sud department and west part of the 

Nippes department, is missing. These maps as well as an index vector file 

can be accessed free of charge through a TNC file transfer protocol (FTP) 

address obtained from TNC after filling out their disclaimer form (app. 2). 

Satellite Imagery

In the last 30 years, satellite imagery has become one of the most important tools 

for the development of geospatial data and a powerful tool for natural resources 

assessment. Satellite images are raster images collected from satellites. The type of 

sensor onboard the satellite determines the type of information the image portrays. 

There are a number of different satellites and therefore a wide range of satellite 

imagery products available. Each satellite has its own specifications and products. 

Satellite imagery can be obtained either by procuring a special-order mission from 

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0 10 20 40 60 80 Km

C a r i b b e a n S e a

A t l a n t i c O c e a n

o

Figure 3—Omni Resources topographic index for Haiti. Modified from Omni Resources online index map.


GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

a satellite imagery company or by purchasing archived images that have already 

been collected by the satellite during past missions. 

In a special-order mission, the desired specifications for the satellite imagery 

(such as geographical area and maximum cloud cover percentage per scene) are 

provided to the company. The satellite is then programmed to acquire new imagery with the required specifications over a period of time. After collecting all the 

imagery, some preprocessing is typically done before final delivery of the product. 

Satellite companies usually offer different levels of preprocessing depending on the 

user’s needs and budget. Note that special-order missions are more expensive than 

archived images. Also, the waiting time will be longer, as the images need to be 

collected, preprocessed, and assessed for accuracy.

Online satellite imagery catalogs are very common and convenient tools. They 

offer a selection of archived images already collected by satellites in past missions. 

Some online catalogs provide images from more than one satellite. These catalogs 

use a graphic interface, which enables the user to perform a search for images and 

Figure 4—The Nature Conservancy’s topographic map index. Modified from The Nature Conservancy public access data.

1822

1815 1816

1832

1807 1808 1901

1831 1925

1823 1824 1917

1829 1830

1829 Island Missing

Map

H A I T I

D O M I N I C A N

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1829 1830

1864

1829 Island

1863

1909
Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

products by using a wide selection of criteria options such as country or region, 

percentage of cloud cover, date, quality, angle, and other parameters depending on 

the company or agency. The images can also be previewed before ordering. 

Optical—

Multispectral—Optical multispectral satellite sensors collect a certain range from 

the electromagnetic spectrum and record the intensity of that particular range 

as pixel values. Each range creates one image. The images for each band can be 

displayed together by using image processing software, with each band displayed 

in different colors to create true or false color images that can enhance certain 

features of the landscape depending on how they are combined. Multiple bands can 

be analyzed by using principal components analyses or other multivariate statistical 

processes to assess similarity between pixels and to classify images.

The research and management applications of optical multispectral satellite 

images depend on their spatial (pixel size) and spectral (number of bands) 

resolution of the collected images. For the purpose of this report we classified 

the multispectral satellites by spatial resolution. Low-spatial-resolution satellites 

include AVHRR and MODIS, medium-spatial-resolution satellites include 

Landsat MSS, Landsat TM, Landsat ETM+, EO-1 ALI, and SPOT 5, and highspatial-resolution satellites include IKONOS, Orbview, and QuickBird. For sensor 

specifications refer to appendix 1 table 4. 

Low-resolution images are characterized by a footprint of several hundred 

square kilometers, typically with a high revisit capability that offers permanent 

monitoring of environmental phenomena on a regional or global scale. In some 

cases, low-spatial-resolution satellites have the capability to collect more bands 

within the electromagnetic spectrum, therefore, producing images with a larger 

spectral resolution (i.e., MODIS). This allows better analyses of vegetation and soil 

properties by using multispectral indexes or other unique band combinations that 

enable the identification of environmental patterns and that can enhance the identification of landscape features. 

Medium-resolution images typically offer a balance between spatial and 

spectral resolution. Most multispectral medium-resolution sensors collect seven 

or more bands of spectral information. This makes them suitable for vegetation 

and soil indexes for identifying environmental patterns. However, because the 

footprint of these images is smaller and the revisit capability is lower, they are less 

appropriate for large regional or global monitoring. Instead, they are often used for 

local to regional-scale observation of environmental phenomena such as land cover 

and detection of land cover change. 
GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

High-resolution images have a very high spatial resolution, usually ranging 

from less than 1 m to 5 m pixel size. They often (but not always) have lower spectral resolution and are typically 5 bands: one panchromatic (black and white), three 

bands in the visible part of the spectrum (blue, green, and red), and one nearinfrared band. The high spatial resolution permits the identification of metric and 

submetric objects on the landscape, extraction of detailed information for urban 

planning, urban forestry, geomarketing, and defense, and texture analysis for 

forestry and agricultural applications. 

Several online catalogs were searched to assess the availability of multispectral 

images for Haiti including (1) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Explorer, (2) 

Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) Earth Science Data Interface (ESDI), (3) Spot 

Image SIRIUS, (4) Space Imaging CARTERRA online, (5) Digital Globe Archive, 

and (6) ORBIMAGE online archive. An additional source of satellite images for 

Haiti is (7) The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Web-Based Access and 

Retrieval Portal (WARP).

1. The USGS Earth Explorer is an online catalog where different types of 

geospatial data can be purchased. Although Earth Explorer contains data 

mainly for the United States, some satellite imagery can be obtained for 

other parts of the world. However, some products are available only to 

approved USGS researchers. For a list of prices of USGS Earth Explorer 

products, refer to appendix 1 table 5. A Haiti imagery search produced 

results for the following satellite sensors: AVHRR, Landsat MSS, Landsat 

TM and Landsat ETM+ images for the whole island, and EO-1 ALI images 

for parts of the island (fig. 5). For a full list of products available for Haiti 

from Earth Explorer, refer to appendix 1 table 5.

2. The GLCF is a project from the University of Maryland Institute for 

Advanced Computer Studies that focuses on the study of land cover change 

in local and global scales. The project aims to provide remotely sensed satellite data and products through their Earth Science Data Interface (ESDI) 

for the study of land cover change. These online data sets are available to 

download for free from FTP links provided in ESDI. 

Haiti images were found from the following satellites: AVHRR, MODIS, 

Landsat MSS, Landsat TM, and Landsat ETM+. Countrywide coverage 

was found for all of these satellites, with corresponding metadata 

describing image preprocessing. For the Landsat TM and ETM+ satellites, 

both individual images and mosaics that cover a larger area are available. 

The Landsat TM mosaic was produced from images from the years 1985 to 


Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

1993, and the Landsat ETM+ mosaic was produced from images that range 

between the years 1999 and 2002.

3. Spot Image is the company that launched the SPOT series satellites. Their 

online archive, called SIRIUS, stores archived images from past missions 

that can be purchased from within the catalog. The catalog archives images 

from all SPOT satellites. For a list of prices as of December 1, 2005, refer 

to appendix 1 table 6. For Haiti, archived images were found for most of the 

country from different dates and SPOT satellites (fig. 6). 

4. CARTERRA is the online archive for Space Imaging, the company that 

launched the IKONOS satellite. CARTERRA has images available from the 

IKONOS satellite and the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) system satellites 

1C and 1D. Through a partnership with Antrix Corporation, Limited, a 

division of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Space Imaging 

has exclusive marketing and distribution rights for IRS satellite imagery 

outside India (Space Imaging 2005a). Prices were not provided in Space 

Imaging’s Web site; instead it instructed the user to contact customer 

Figure 5—Archived EO-1 ALI satellite image coverage (dark grey area) of Haiti on the USGS Earth Explorer online 

archive. Modified from the USGS Earth Explorer online archive search results map (U.S. Geological Survey 2005).

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10

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

service or a sales representative from an authorized reseller. However, the 

Web site for LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping, LLC, a Space Imaging 

authorized reseller, has price quotes for images of various parts of the world 

including the Caribbean. Similar Web sites of other resellers showed the 

same prices. For the IKONOS product prices provided by the authorized 

resellers, refer to appendix 1 table 7. For IRS 1C/1D product prices from 

LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping, LLC, refer to appendix 1 table 8.

A search for Haiti imagery within CARTERRA resulted in IRS 5-mresolution panchromatic images (fig. 7) and IKONOS 1-m panchromatic/

4-m multispectral images (fig. 8). Archived images for neither satellite 

cover the entire island, although the IRS images cover most of it. 

Figure 6—Archived SPOT satellite images coverage (dark grey area) of Haiti on SIRIUS. Modified from SIRIUS search 

results map (SPOT Image 2002).

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11

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

5. Digital Globe’s Image Library stores images from past missions of their 

QuickBird satellite. Prices were not provided in Digital Globe’s Web site; 

instead it instructed the user to contact customer service or a sales representative from an authorized reseller. Price quotes were found in the Web 

site for LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping, LLC, also an authorized reseller 

for QuickBird imagery. For a list of prices, refer to appendix 1 table 9. 

Images are available for most of Haiti as shown in figure 9. 

6. The ORBIMAGE online archive stores images from the OrbView satellite. 

For a list of prices, refer to appendix 1 table 10. For Haiti, only single-band 

panchromatic images were available and only for a few areas of the island 

(fig. 10). 

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Gonâve

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C a r i b b e a n S e a

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Figure 7—Archived IRS satellite images coverage (dark grey area) of Haiti on CARTERRA. Modified from CARTERRA 

search results map (Space Imaging 2006).
12

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

7. The WARP is a system funded by the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency to store and facilitate access and processing of U.S. government 

information. The portal is intended for U.S. federal agencies only, restricting its access to U.S. federal agency employees. 

The portal has four IKONOS—two panchromatic and two multispectral 

—and four OrbView images for Haiti. The IKONOS scenes were taken 

December 16, 2005, and the OrbView images were taken June 29, 2005. In 

addition to the Haiti images, the portal also has one Dominican Republic 

IKONOS multispectral and panchromatic image from August 12, 2000. 

Figure 8—Archived IKONOS satellite images coverage (dark grey area) of Haiti on CARTERRA. Modified from CARTERRA search results map (Space Imaging 2005b).

D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

0 2525 5050 75 100 Km

Île de 

Gonâve

Île à Vache

Tortuga

C a r i b b e a n S e a

A t l a n t i c O c e a n

o

D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

H A I T I
13

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Figure 9—Archived QuickBird satellite images coverage (dark grey area) of Haiti on Digital Globe Image Library. 

Modified from Digital Globe Image Library search results map (Digital Globe 2005). 

D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

0 2525 5050 75 100 Km

Île de 

Gonâve

Île à Vache

Tortuga

C a r i b b e a n S e a

A t l a n t i c O c e a n

o

D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

H A I T I

Hyperspectral—Hyperspectral sensors follow the same principle as multispectral 

sensors. The main difference from multispectral sensors is that they collect hundreds of narrow ranges from the electromagnetic spectrum. This produces an image 

that contains hundreds of bands and millions of possible combinations. It is from 

these combinations that certain aspects of the Earth surface can be identified by a 

very specific and mostly unique grouping of bands. A specific band combination 

that uniquely identifies a homogenous aspect of the Earth’s surface is called a spectral signature. Spectral signatures are what make hyperspectral images so useful in 

the remote sensing field. However, these images require a great deal of processing 

time and powerful and expensive computer equipment, which limits their usability 

within today’s technological capabilities. 
14

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Some of the hyperspectral imagery applications include the identification of 

geological features and rock compositions, mineral detection and exploration for 

mining purposes, forestry and agriculture applications, and marine research and 

reef monitoring. Archived EO-1 Hyperion satellite images were found for Haiti in 

the USGS Earth Explorer online catalog. 

1. The USGS Earth Explorer is an online catalog where different types of 

geospatial data can be purchased. For a full list of products available for 

Haiti from Earth Explorer, refer to appendix 1 table 5. For a list of prices 

of Hyperion scenes within the USGS Earth Explorer and as a special-order 

mission, also refer to appendix 1 table 5. Some archived images were found 

for Haiti, although they did not cover the entire country (fig. 11). 

D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

0 25 50 75 100 Km

Île de 

Gonâve

Île à Vache

Tortuga

C a r i b b e a n S e a

A t l a n t i c O c e a n

o

D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

H A I T I

Figure 10—Archived OrbView satellite images coverage (dark grey area) of Haiti on the ORBIMAGE Online 

Archive Imagery Search Tool. Modified from ORBIMAGE Online Archive Imagery Search Tool search results 

map (ORBIMAGE 2005). 
15

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Radar—

Radar satellites function in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum 

and fundamentally operate as a ranging instrument. The instrument emits pulses 

of microwave energy at regular intervals, which is then backscattered and recorded 

creating a two-dimensional image of the surface. The type of information that 

can be gathered from radar images depends on the type of sensor the satellite has. 

Radar images are primarily used for terrain mapping and have the benefit of being 

able to collect data through cloud coverage. Other uses for radar images include 

study of geology and hydrology; mineral and petroleum prospecting; detecting of 

surface movements, seismic activity, landslides, and subsidence; maritime applications such as surveillance of shipping and detecting of marine pollution; disaster 

management and mitigation of floods and forest fires; detecting changes owing to 

vegetation growth and variations in soil humidity; and defense and intelligence 

surveillance (Spot Image 2005). 

D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

0 25 50 75 100 Km

Île de 

Gonâve

Île à Vache

Tortuga

C a r i b b e a n S e a

A t l a n t i c O c e a n

o

D O M I N I C A N

R E P U B L I C

H A I T I

Figure 11—Archived EO-1 Hyperion satellite images coverage (dark grey area) of Haiti on the USGS Earth Explorer online 

archive. Modified from USGS Earth Explorer online archive search results map (U.S. Geological Survey 2005).
16

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Although radar images were not found for Haiti, the raster data from 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Shuttle Radar 

Topography Mission (SRTM) (data available from the USGS) were created by 

using radar images that may be available. Also, as with satellites equipped with 

optical instruments, special-order missions can be made to collect images for 

user-specified areas, from satellites such as Radarsat, Envisat, and others.

Aerial Photography and Videography

Aerial photography had its beginnings in 1839 when the first aerial photo was 

taken from a balloon. Since then, aerial photos have come a long way with 

technologically advanced cameras and sensors that can be fitted into planes 

to take pictures and images of different kinds. The resolution of the photo or 

image depends on the height of the plane and the specifications of the camera 

lens or sensor used. Once taken, aerial photos can be scanned, rectified, and 

georeferenced for use in GIS and remote-sensing applications. Aerial photos 

are useful as a reference layer for image interpretation, texture analysis, urban 

planning, object identification, visual reference, and other uses. 

Aerial videography is the recording of analog video footage from the surface. It is possible to take video footage of different regions of the spectrum (i.e., 

infrared) or with multiple bands. The spatial and spectral resolution depends on 

the type of equipment used. Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements can 

be recorded simultaneously during the flight to assign a location and elevation to 

the footage. Some of the applications of aerial videography are natural resource 

management, detection of forest insect and disease problems, analysis of hazardous waste sites, detection of soil conditions, water-quality studies, irrigation 

mapping, crop mapping, and condition assessment (Lillesand and Kiefer 1994). 

No online data sources were found with these types of data for Haiti. 

However, there are aerial photos and videography available from the Unité de 

Télédétection et de Systèmes d’Information Géographique (UTSIG). 

1. The UTSIG is a GIS and remote-sensing Haitian government unit under 

the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation (Ministère de la 

Planification et de la Coopération Externe). Among UTSIG’s data sets 

are two countrywide aerial photo sets—one taken in 1978 and the most 

recent in 2002—and videographic data collected in flights over Haiti 

protected areas: Pine Forest, Parc La Visite, and Parc Pic Macaya. 
17

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Georeferenced Vector and Additional Raster Files

Vector and raster files are two formats for representing geospatial data in digital 

format. In the vector format, information is provided as points, lines, or polygons. 

The raster format provides information in pixel values; generally this results in files 

larger than those in vector format. The pixel size of the image limits the resolution 

and amount of detail of the image. Most data can be portrayed in either raster or 

vector formats; however, some data are easier to work with in a specific format. 

Geographic information can be incorporated into both vector and raster data to 

be used as layers in a GIS. Applications of vector and raster files depend on the 

specific features they represent. For a complete list of vector files and additional 

raster files, refer to appendix 1 tables 11 and 12, respectively.

Five sources for vector and raster geospatial data were found including 

(1) Geo Community Web site, (2) Go Spatial online catalog, (3) USGS Seamless 

catalog, (4) TNC, and (5) GLCF ESDI. 

1. The GeoCommunity Web site is a GIS online portal created for GIS, 

remote sensing and cartography professionals, students, and enthusiasts. 

The portal offers a wide range of relevant information, GIS data, and ways 

for users of geospatial data to interact. Among the amenities offered is an 

online catalog with geospatial data for the entire world that can be downloaded or ordered on CD. There are two download options for the catalog: 

a free-of-charge regular download and a monthly-fee premium download. 

Some data in the catalog are available for both types of downloads and 

some are only available for the premium option. For Haiti, the catalog has 

many vector files available from the Digital Chart of the World (DCW), 

Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) in raster format from the National 

Imagery Mapping Agency (NIMA) and two Landsat TM and Landsat 

ETM+ satellite image mosaics for the years 1990 and 2000, respectively. 

For a complete list of files, refer to appendix 1 table 14.

The DCW is an Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) 

product originally developed for the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency 

(DMA). The data were created by Environmental Systems Research 

Institute, Inc. (ESRI) by using DMA aeronautical charts, which emphasize 

important landmarks from flying altitudes. The GeoCommunity Web site 

distributes the DCW 1993 version at a scale of 1:1,000,000. The following topics were found for Haiti within the DCW: agricultural land cover, 
18

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

transportation, hydrography, hypsography, and administrative and political 

boundaries. Note that at this scale, several details are lost. The metadata 

(GeoCommunity 2005) indicates that: 

The DMA data sources are aeronautical charts, which emphasize 

landmarks important from flying altitudes. This explains why there 

is a separate aeronautical theme with all conceivable airports, yet 

why on some themes small islands and lakes are simply unnamed 

points. ESRI, in compiling the DCW, also eliminated some detail 

and made some assumptions for handling tiny polygons and edge 

matching. Also, note that the completeness of the thematic categories present in each layer will vary. 

2. The Go Spatial Ltd., Web site is an online store of geospatial data that 

provides vector data from different sources, satellite imagery snapshots, 

and DEMs. The vector files are sold in a Caribbean-wide package as 

compressed ESRI shape files (*.shp). The majority of the files are Vector 

Smart Map Level 0 (VMap0) data from the National Imagery and Mapping 

Agency, some point files derived from the GEOnet Names Server database, and other files from various public domain sources. The Web site 

also offers true color satellite imagery and shaded relief images supplied as 

JPEG (*.jpg) files, and 1-km DEMs in band-interleaved (*.bil) format. The 

raster data provided in JPEG format should only be used as visual reference 

and not as a data layer inside a GIS or remote sensing software, because 

this format does not support geographic reference tags or band layers. For a 

complete listing of available files and prices, refer to appendix 1 table 15. 

The VMap0 database provides low-resolution vector-based geospatial 

data at a 1:1,000,000 scale. The primary source for the database is the 

1:1,000,000-scale Operation Navigation Chart (ONC) series co-produced 

by the military mapping authorities of Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, 

and the United States. The themes covered by the database include political 

boundaries, elevation, hydrography, industry, physiography, population, 

transportation, utilities, and vegetation. Data gaps may exist where source 

information is not available. VMap0 can be downloaded in its original 

format, vector product format (VPF), free of charge from the mapAbility 

Web site. 
19

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

The GEOnet Names Server (GNS) is an online database of global place 

names from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the 

U.S. Board on Geographic Names (US BGN). United States names can 

be found in another database and therefore are not included in this one. 

The GNS provides place names and their coordinates in text files, by area 

or search results, with a spreadsheet-like format that can be converted to 

point files by using GIS software. The online database is updated on a 

biweekly schedule, and the last modified date is included in the file for each 

of the names. However, it is noted in the Web site that “coordinates in the 

GEONet Names Server are approximate and are intended for finding purposes only” (National Geospatial-Intelligence Server 2005). There are no 

licensing requirements or restrictions in place for the use of the GNS data. 

3. The Seamless Data Distribution System (SDDS) is an online catalog of 

GIS and remotely sensed data created or stored by the USGS and the Earth 

Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center (EDC). Although 

the catalog is primarily aimed at the United States, it has some worldwide 

data. The only data found for Haiti was the SRTM 3-arc-second DEM with 

a 90-m resolution. 

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is a joint project between the NGA 

and NASA to produce digital topographic data for 80 percent of the Earth’s 

land surface (all land areas between 60° north and 56° south latitude). 

The data for this project were collected by a satellite equipped with radar 

instruments. The images were collected from February 11, 2000, through 

February 22, 2000. Products from this mission include 1-arc-second (30-m 

pixel) DEMs, 3-arc-second (90-m pixel) DEMs, and 30-arc-second (1-km 

pixel) DEMs, with each product having different coverages (figs. 12, 13, 

and 14). The DEMs were generated with data points spaced every 1, 3, or 

30 seconds of latitude and longitude.
20

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

0 2,500 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 Km

o

Figure 12—Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) coverage (grey area) for 1-arc-second digital elevation models and derived 

products. Modified from Global Land Cover Facility SRTM figures (Global Land Cover Facility 2005). 

0 2,500 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 Km

o

Figure 13—Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) coverage (grey area) for 3-arc-second digital elevation models and derived 

products. Modified from Global Land Cover Facility SRTM figures (Global Land Cover Facility 2005). 
21

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Figure 14—Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) coverage (grey area) for 30-arc-second digital elevation models and derived 

products. Modified from Global Land Cover Facility SRTM figures (Global Land Cover Facility 2005).

0 2,500 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 Km

o

4. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has a range of vector and raster files 

available for Hispaniola Island. However, some data are only available for 

the Dominican Republic’s side of the island, which might be useful when 

working with areas in the border between the countries. For a complete 

list of files for Haiti and the Dominican Republic, please refer to appendix 

1 table 13. Geospatial data layers are most useful when accompanied by 

explicit metadata that indicate the sources, methods, accuracy, and date of 

the development of the geospatial information. Only a few TNC files had 

metadata, and the majority of these are for the Dominican Republic. This 

information is available from TNC free of charge. A TNC disclaimer form 

must be signed prior to download or use of this data (app. 2).

The themes of TNC geospatial data that cover Haiti or all the Hispaniola 

Island include bathymetry, geoclimate, geology, SRTM products, hydrography, land cover, political divisions, and marine features.
22

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

5. The Global Land Cover Facility is a project from the University of 

Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies that focuses on the 

study of land cover change in local and global scales. Through ESDI, GLCF 

provides free access to all their online data sets, which can be downloaded 

from FTP links. 

In addition to satellite images, some GLCF SRTM data were found for 

Haiti. The SRTM data found within ESDI were reprocessed and reprojected 

by GLCF. The reprocessing done to the original datasets included (1) converting all original data from SRTM raw format (*.hgt) to GeoTiff format, 

(2) making tiles of the 1-arc-second and 3-arc-second data to match the 

World Referencing System 2 (WRS2) tiling format that Landsat images are 

in, (3) re-projecting into UTM coordinates, and (4) creating a 30-arc-second 

SRTM-GTOPO30 global mosaic. Among the SRTM products found were a 

Caribbean 30-arc-second DEM, the global 30-arc-second DEM, and Haitiwide coverage of 3-arc-second DEM tiles.

Maps

Hardcopy and scanned maps are a good source of information when other geospatial data are not available. Some maps have data that have not been released to the 

public, and others were manually produced (traditional cartography). Manually 

produced maps can be digitized and georeferenced to convert the data to a digital 

format that can be used with GIS and cartography software. In addition, some older 

maps have old information that can be used with recent data for land cover change 

detection. 

The search focused on electronically available maps, but hardcopy maps and 

publications are available in libraries, universities, and other institutions, that have 

not been scanned or made publicly available via the Internet. Of the maps we found, 

the majority were simple maps with the coastal boundary and main cities indicated. 

In some cases there was topographic information, rivers, and lakes. Only a few 

more specialized maps were found. Four Internet map sources had specialized maps 

of interest: (1) Caribbean Geology and Tectonics Web site, (2) ConserveOnline, (3) 

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, and (4) Caribbean Disaster Mitigation 

Project. All sites have free access to their map collections. Another source of maps 

and geodata is (5) UTSIG.
23

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

1. The Caribbean Geology and Tectonics Web site of Florida International 

University provides a place for the Caribbean geology community to 

share information. The Web site also aims to spread information about 

the geosciences in the Caribbean and adjacent areas. In their Gateway to 

Geological Information on the Caribbean, a Hispaniola-wide 1995 geological map was found (Draper et al. 1995). 

2. ConserveOnline is a community-driven Web site with conservation as a 

central topic. The Web site serves as a database for members to upload 

information and publications about conservation. A vegetation map for 

Haiti was found at this site. The vegetation map was submitted by The 

Nature Conservancy (2001) and was developed from SPOT satellite images. 

No additional metadata accompany the map.

3. The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection is part of the University of 

Texas Library System that stores scanned images from their physical map 

collection and links to maps in other Web sites. The library has a huge 

collection of maps from all over the world for various dates. For Haiti, we 

found a series of links to maps in other Web sites and maps from their own 

collection. The maps from the library collection were originally prepared 

by the U.S. Army Map Service and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. 

The U.S. Army maps are a series of orthophotos of Port-au-Prince specially prepared for military use. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency maps 

include three 1984 scanned topographic maps, two 1987 and 1999 political 

Haiti maps, a 1999 shaded relief map, a 1970 economic activity map, a 1970 

population map, and a 1970 vegetation map (University of Texas Libraries 

2005).

Most of the links, except for ReliefWeb, were to general maps showing 

political boundaries, main cities, some rivers, and other political departments. The ReliefWeb is a United Nations Web site for time-critical 

humanitarian information on complex emergencies and natural disasters. 

The Web site has a series of natural disaster maps for Haiti ranging from 

Caribbean-wide hurricane warnings to maps of flooded areas. 
24

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

4. The Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project (2002) was a joint effort 

between the Organization of American States (OAS) and the U.S. Agency 

for International Development (USAID) to assess potential storm phenomena in the Caribbean region. The project started in 1993 and was finished 

in 1999, producing an atlas with Caribbean-wide and countrywide maps 

of storm probability estimates of winds, surges, and waves for four return 

periods: 10, 25, 50, and 100 years. These maps are the result of complex 

modeling techniques and statistical analysis. The input data used to create 

the maps was 1 km in resolution (30 arc seconds). 

5. Unité de Télédétection et de Systèmes d’Information Géographique is the 

GIS and remote sensing unit of the Haiti Ministry of Planning and External 

Cooperation. In cooperation with IGN France International-Aquater S.p.A., 

Ministere de la Planification de la Cooperation Externe (2002) developed 

the project, Projet Utilisation de l’imagerie satellitaire pour l’aménagement 

du territoire. Under the project, a land use map, “Carte de couverture du 

sol,” was created and published in 2002. The map was developed from 

SPOT satellite images, aerial photographs, and topographic maps in addition to numeric models. Under the same project, erosion real-risk maps 

(Carte du risque réel d’érosion) were also published. The erosion maps were 

developed by using mathematical models, taking into account topography, 

climate, ground properties, and vegetation cover. In addition to the land use 

and erosion hazard maps, the UTSIG made available “Notes explicatives 

des cartes thématiques,” a document explaining the methodology used to 

create the maps.

Assessment of Data Gaps and Needs

The available geospatial data that were found for Haiti are quite substantial. The 

data gaps include (1) detailed and high-resolution information on land use and land 

cover, specifically local ground cover species and growth forms and soil conditions; 

(2) information on land ownership and stewardship; and (3) detailed and highresolution information on hazards such as flooding, landslides, fire, erosion, and 

loss of habitat, and detailed climate information. Some of this information may 

exist in less accessible forms such as local universities and research publications. 

Much of the thematic GIS information available does not have accompanying 

metadata, which lessens the use of that information. 
25

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Conclusion

The information documented here provides a resource to initiate a GIS-based 

natural resource assessment of Haiti to guide conservation efforts. More 

information will likely come to light as more specific needs are identified for 

specific regions of Haiti and local experts and data sources are queried.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the International Institute of Tropical Forestry 

and International Programs of the USDA Forest Service in Washington D.C. 

Thanks to Mike Benge, Senior forestry advisor (USAID); Liz Mayhew, Latin 

America Program Coordinator International Programs (USFS); Steve Schill of 

The Nature Conservancy, Glenn R. Smucker, consultant; Paul Greenfield, National 

Remote Sensing Program Manager (USDA Forest Service); and William Belton, 

Assistant Remote Sensing Program Manager (USDA Forest Service) for all their 

help and guidance to existing sources of geospatial data for Haiti. This research 

was supported by the International Institute of Tropical Forestry GIS and Remote 

Sensing Laboratory. All research at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry 

is done in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico.

English Equivalents

When you know: Multiply by: To find:

Centimeters (cm) 0.394 Inches

Meters (m) 3.28 Feet

Kilometers (km) 0.621 Miles

Square kilometers (km2) 0.386 Square miles

References

Canadian International Development Agency. 2005. Haiti: facts at a glance. 

http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/webcountry.nsf/VLUDocEn/HaitiFactsataglance. (14 December 2005).

Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project. 2002. Atlas of probable storm effects in 

the Caribbean Sea. http://www.oas.org/CDMP/document/reglstrm/index.htm. 

(9 January 2006).

Digital Globe. 2005. Digital Globe archive search. http://archivetool3.digitalglobe.

com/ot/Map.jsp;jsessionid=f6pyjvqsw1. (7 December 2005).
26

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Draper, G.J.; Lewis, J.F.; Gutiérrez, G. 1995. Geologic map of Hispaniola. 

http://www.fiu.edu/orgs/caribgeol/hispaniola.html. (16 December 2005).

East View Cartographic, Inc. 2005. Latin America, Haiti topographic maps. 

http://cartographic.com/xq/ASP/AreaID.90/RegionID.121/Latin%20America/

HAITI/qx/data/topographic/maps/catalog.asp. (9 November 2005).

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO]. 2003. State 

of the world’s forests. http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/

DOCREP/005/Y7581E/y7581e00.htm. (15 December 2005). 

GeoCommunity. 2005. The GIS data depot. http://data.geocomm.com/. 

(8 November 2005).

Global Land Cover Facility. 2005. SRTM technical guide. http://glcf.umiacs.umd.

edu/data/guide/technical/srtm.shtml. (7 December 2005).

Go Spatial. 2004. Limited GIS data products. http://go spatial.com/html/comp_

order.asp?Region=CEN-007&PageID=5. (3 November 2005).

LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping, LLC. 2004. Price list. http://www.landinfo.

com/prices.htm. (14 December 2005).

Lillesand, T.M.; Kiefer, R.W. 1994. Remote sensing and image interpretation, 

3

rd ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 750 p.

Ministere de la Planification de la Cooperation Externe and IGN France 

International-Aquater S.p.A. 2002. Projet utilisation de l’imagerie satellitaire 

pour l’aménagement du territoire: notes explicatives des cartes thématiques: 

occupation du sol, risque réel d’érosion. Port-Au-Prince: Republique d’Haiti.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Server. 2005. GEOnet names server. 

http://earth-info.nima.mil/gns/html/. (14 December 2005).

Omni Resources. [N.D.]. Haiti topographic map series–1:50,000. http://www.

omnimap.com/catalog/int/haiti50t.htm. (9 November 2005).

ORBIMAGE. 2005. ORBIMAGE online archive imagery search tool. 

http://orbimage.datadoors.net/DataDoorsWeb/Intro.aspx. (7 December 2005).

ORBIMAGE. 2006. OrbView-3 Commercial Satellite Imagery Product Catalog. 

http://www.orbimage.com/docs/OV-3_Catalog_FINAL_1_4_2006.pdf. 

(12 January 2005).

Space Imaging. 2005a. IRS (Indian Remote Sensing). http://www.spaceimaging.

com/products/irs/index.htm. (7 December 2005).
27

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Space Imaging. 2005b. CARTERRA online. http://carterraonline.spaceimaging.

com/cgi-bin/Carterra/phtml/login.phtml. (7 December 2005).

SPOT Image. 2002. SIRIUS online catalog. http://sirius.spotimage.fr/

anglais/welcome.htm. (6 December 2005).

SPOT Image. 2005. Spot products and services price list.

http://www.spotimage.fr/automne_modules_files/standard/public/

p336_ba582c667a21f3b7d1108ad9773629fdListePrix_An0705.pdf. 

(1 December 2005).

The Nature Conservancy. 2001. Haiti vegetation map. http://conserveonline.org/

coldocs/2001/07/haiti_veg.jpg. (15 December 2005)

The Nature Conservancy. 2005. About Us. http://nature.org/aboutus/. 

(29 November 2005).

University of Texas Libraries. 2005. Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. 

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/haiti.html. (14 December 2005).

U.S. Geological Survey. 2002. Landsat (sensor: ETM+) Mosaic, ID N-18-20; 

ID N-18-15. Sioux Falls, South Dakota: USGS. Global Land Cover Facility. 

http://www.landcover.org. (13 January 2006).

U.S. Geological Survey. 2005. Earth Explorer. http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/

EarthExplorer/. (28 November 2005).

World Facts Index. 2004. Facts about Haiti. http://worldfacts.us/Haiti.htm. 

(15 December 2005).
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GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Glossary

AVHRR—Advanced very-high-resolution radiometer; multispectral 

low-resolution satellite sensor.

Band—Portion of the electromagnetic spectrum sampled by a remote 

sensing instrument and available as a remotely sensed image.

Band interleaved—Raster file format.

Bathymetry—The description of elevation and slope characteristics of 

underwater terrain. Bathymetric data are used in navigational charts but are 

also useful for marine investigations, coastal studies, tectonic research, and 

sea floor mapping.

CARTERRA—Space Imaging’s online archive.

Digital Elevation Model (DEM)—Raster images in which each pixel represents 

an elevation value in the surface. DEMs come in different resolutions giving 

the user more or less detail about the terrain. DEMs are used for a very wide 

range of applications including water flow and habitat modeling, terrain features 

extraction, and three-dimensional mapping, among others. 

EDC—Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center of the 

United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Elevation contours—A set of lines with each line representing one elevation 

value.

EO-1 ALI—Earth Observing Advanced Land Imager; multispectral mediumresolution sensor onboard the EO-1 satellite.

EO-1 Hyperion—Hyperspectral high-spatial-resolution sensor onboard the 

EO-1 satellite.

Extent—Spatial area covered by a map or other geospatial product.

Geoclimate—Combination of climatic zones and geological features whereby the 

landscape can be devided into geoclimatic zones. Geoclimatic zones assist in the 

identification of vegetation types. Geoclimate data is a useful resource for climate 

change research, vegetation mapping, and environmental studies and assessment.

Georeferenced—Digital spatial information that is internally referenced to 

a known coordinate system such as latitude and longitude or the Universal 

Transverse Mercator system (UTM).
29

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

GeoTiff—Geographic tagged image-file format; spatially referenced raster 

file format.

GLCF—Global Land Cover Facility, University of Maryland.

Hydrography—The mapping and description of surface water bodies such as 

rivers, lakes, lagoons, watersheds, and basins. 

Hyperspectral—Sensors with the ability to resolve small differences in 

electromagnetic wavelength, typically with a spectral resolution of several 

hundred bands.

Hypsography—The representation and description of elevation characteristics 

by using elevation contours. They are mainly found in topographic maps and 

serve as a base to create DEMs. Elevation contours are often developed by ground 

surveying, although they can be extracted from DEMs.

IKONOS—High-spatial-resolution satellite-based remote sensing instrument.

IRS—Indian Remote Sensing satellite system equipped with multispectral 

medium- to high-spatial-resolution sensors.

Land use/land cover—Data describing the surface of the landscape in terms 

of its general use or superficial cover. Applications for such data include habitat 

modeling, environmental assessment, urban change, vegetation change, urban 

planning, natural disaster risk assessment, and others.

Landsat ETM+—Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus; multispectral 

medium-spatial-resolution, satellite-based instrument.

Landsat MSS—Landsat Multispectral Scanner; multispectral medium-spatialresolution, satellite-based instrument.

Landsat TM—Landsat Thematic Mapper; multispectral medium-spatialresolution, satellite-based instrument.

MODIS—Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer; multispectral lowto medium-spatial-resolution satellite-based remote sensing instrument.

Multispectral—Typically 5- to 15-band remote sensing instrument.

NASA—National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

NGA—National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

OrbView— Multispectral high-spatial-resolution satellite-based instrument.

Orthophoto—Terrain-corrected overhead (downlooking) aerial photos.
30

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Pixel—Minimum unit of a raster image.

QuickBird—Multispectral high-spatial-resolution satellite-based remotesensing instrument.

Raster—Image file format composed of pixels.

SDDS—Seamless Data Distribution System; online catalog of GIS and 

remote-sensing data created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)

Signature—A specific band combination within hyperspectral images that 

uniquely identifies a homogenous aspect of the Earth’s surface. 

SIRIUS—Spot Image’s online archive.

SPOT—Satellite series that specializes in multispectral medium-spatial-resolution 

remote-sensing instruments.

SRTM—Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. A joint project by NGA and NASA, 

the project collected radar images that were used to create digital topographic data 

for 80 percent of the Earth’s surface at different resolutions.

UTSIG—Unité de Télédétection et de Systèmes d’Information Géographique 

(Haiti remote sensing and GIS unit).

Vector—File format composed of points, lines, and polygons.
31

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Appendix 1: Tables and Ancillary Information

Table 1—Online sources and corresponding Web site addresses for Haiti geospatial data

Name Web site Date last visited 

Topographic maps:

The Nature Conservancy ftp address* —

Omni Map http://www.omnimap.com/ Jan. 13, 2006

East View Cartographic http://www.cartographic.com/index.asp Jan. 12, 2006

Satellite imagery:

Earth Explorer http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/ Jan. 13, 2006

Global Land Cover Facility— 

 Earth Science Data Interface

http://glcfapp.umiacs.umd.edu:8080/esdi/index.jsp Jan. 13, 2006

Space Imaging—CARTERRA http://carterraonline.spaceimaging.com/cgi-bin/Carterra/

 phtml/login.phtml

Jan. 13, 2006

Digital Globe Image Library http://archivetool.digitalglobe.com/ Jan. 13, 2006

Spot Imaging—SIRIUS http://sirius.spotimage.fr/anglais/welcome.htm Jan. 13, 2006

LANDinfo World Mapping, LLC http://www.landinfo.com/ Jan. 13, 2006

ORBIMAGE online archive http://orbimage.datadoors.net/DataDoorsWeb/Intro.aspx Jan. 13, 2006

Georeferenced vector and additional raster geospatial data:

The Nature Conservancy ftp address* —

GeoCommunity http://data.geocomm.com/ Jan. 12, 2006

Go Spatial http://www.go spatial.com/ Jan. 12, 2006

MapAbility http://www.mapability.com/ Dec. 15, 2005

Global Land Cover Facility— 

 Earth Science Data Interface

http://glcfapp.umiacs.umd.edu:8080/esdi/index.jsp Jan. 13, 2006

Maps:

The Caribbean Geology and

 Tectonics Web site

http://www.fiu.edu/orgs/caribgeol/ Jan. 12, 2006

ConserveOnline http://conserveonline.org/ Jan. 12, 2006

Perry-Castañeda Library map collection http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ Jan. 12, 2006

ReliefWeb http://www.reliefweb.int/ Dec. 16, 2005

Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project http://www.oas.org/CDMP/ Jan. 09, 2006

* For TNC ftp address, contact Steven R. Schill, Ph.D., at sschill@tnc.org. TNC disclaimer form must be signed prior to download and 

use of the data (app. 2).
32

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Table 2—Haiti topographic maps and reference numbers (see fig. 4) available 

from Omni Resources map catalog as of January 13, 2006

Map number Map description

66-33793-53701 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5370-1. 

66-33793-53704 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5370-4. 

66-33793-53711 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5371-1. 

66-33793-53712 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5371-2. 

66-33793-53713 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5371-3. 

66-33793-53714 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5371-4. 

66-33793-54701 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5470-1. 

66-33793-53702 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5370-2. 

66-33793-53703 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5370-3. 

66-33793-54704 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5470-4. 

66-33793-54711 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5471-1. 

66-33793-54712 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5471-2. 

66-33793-54713 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5471-3. 

66-33793-54714 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5471-4. 

66-33793-55701 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5570-1. 

66-33793-55704 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5570-4. 

66-33793-55713 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5571-3. 

66-33793-55711 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5571-1. 

66-33793-55712 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5571-2. 

66-33793-55714 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5571-4. 

66-33793-55721 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5572-1. 

66-33793-55722 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5572-2. 

66-33793-55724 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5572-4. 

66-33793-55751 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5575-1. 

66-33793-55753 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5575-3. 

66-33793-55752 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5575-2. 

66-33793-55754 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5575-4. 

66-33793-56701 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5670-1. 

66-33793-56704 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5670-4. 

66-33793-56712 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5671-2. 

66-33793-56713 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5671-3. 

66-33793-56711 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5671-1. 

66-33793-56721 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5672-1. 

66-33793-56722 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5672-2. 

66-33793-56723 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5672-3. 

66-33793-56724 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5672-4. 

66-33793-56733 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5673-3. 

66-33793-56731 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5673-1. 

66-33793-56732 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5673-2. 

66-33793-56734 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5673-4. 

66-33793-56741 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5674-1. 

66-33793-56744 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5674-4. 

66-33793-56751 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5656-1. 

66-33793-56752 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5675-2. 

66-33793-56753 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5675-3. 

66-33793-56754 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5675-4. 

66-33793-56761 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5676-1. 

66-33793-56762 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5676-2. 

66-33793-56763 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5676-3. 

66-33793-56764 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5676-4. 

66-33793-57704 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5770-4. 

66-33793-57701 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5770-1. 
33

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Table 2—Haiti topographic maps and reference numbers (see fig. 4) available 

from Omni Resources map catalog as of January 13, 2006 (continued)

Map number Map description

66-33793-57711 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5771-1. 

66-33793-57712 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5771-2. 

66-33793-57713 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5771-3. 

66-33793-57714 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5771-4 Port au Prince. 

66-33793-57722 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5772-2. 

66-33793-57721 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5772-1. 

66-33793-57723 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5772-3. 

66-33793-57724 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5772-4. 

66-33793-57731 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5773-1. 

66-33793-57732 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5773-2. 

66-33793-57733 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5773-3. 

66-33793-57734 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5773-4. 

66-33793-57741 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5741-1. 

66-33793-57742 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5774-2. 

66-33793-57743 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5774-3. 

66-33793-57744 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5774-4. 

66-33793-57751 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5775-1. 

66-33793-57752 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5775-2. 

66-33793-57753 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5775-3. 

66-33793-57754 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5775-4. 

66-337262-58701 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5870-1. 

66-337262-58702 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5870-2. 

66-33793-58703 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5870-3. 

66-33793-58704 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5870-4. 

66-33793-58713 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5871-3. 

66-33793-58714 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5871-4. 

66-33793-58721 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5872-1. 

66-33793-58722 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5872-2. 

66-33793-58723 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5872-3. 

66-33793-58724 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5872-4. 

66-337262-58731 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5873-1. 

66-337262-58732 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5873-2. 

66-33793-58733 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5873-3. 

66-33793-58734 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5873-4. 

66-337262-58741 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5874-1. 

66-337262-58742 Haiti/Dominican Republic 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5874-2. 

66-33793-58743 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5874-3. 

66-33793-58744 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5874-4. 

66-33793-58753 Haiti 1:50,000 georeferenced topo, #5875-3. 

Note: Prices for all maps are US$20 for paper, $25 for digital format, and $50 for georeferenced digital format.

Source: Omni Resources, n.d.
34

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Table 3—East View Cartographic topographic maps and prices

1:1,000,000 1:500,000 1:250,000 1:200,000 1:50,000 1:12,500 1:10,000 1:10,000

Producer MTDGSa MTDGSa NGIAb MTDGSa NGIAb NGIAb NGIAb MTDGSa

Vintage 1975–1981 1980–1981 Varies Varies Varies 1987–1994 1988 1983

Projection Gauss- Gauss- UTM/ Gauss- Transverse Transverse Transverse Gauss-Kruger/ Kruger Kruger WGS84 Kruger Mercator Mercator/ Mercator/ Pulkovo 1942

 Everest WGS84 WGS84 Krassovsky

Language Russian Russian English Russian English English English Russian

Size 6 × 4 3 × 2 90 × 60 60×40 15 × 15 120 × 65 cm 120 × 65 cm — degrees minutes minutes minutes minutes

Contours 50–100 m 50 m 330 feet 40 m 5–12 m 10–5 m 20 m —

Sheet count 2 3 5 11 91 7 2 1

Coverage Haiti Haiti Haiti Haiti Haiti Cap Haitien Aquin Port-au-Prince

Fort Liberte Petit Goave

Gonaives

Jacmel

Jeremie

Port de Paix

Saint Marc

Pricesc

Paper 44.00 44.00 79.00 79.00 44.00 54.00 54.00 249.00

Digital 54.00 44.00 79.00 79.00 44.00 54.00 54.00 199.00

GeoRef 89.00 69.00 104.00 104.00 69.00 79.00 79.00 224.00

a MTDGS stands for Military Topography Directorate of the General Staff.

b NGIA stands for National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

c Prices quoted here are per sheet as of December 14, 2005, in U.S. dollars.

Source: East View Cartographic, Inc. 2005
35

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Table 4—Optical satellite sensors general specifications

Number Swath Archived images

Satellite of bands Spatial resolution width Haiti cover Online catalog(s)

Multispectral:

AVHRR 4–6 1.1 km 2700 km All Earth Explorer

 GLCF ESDI

MODIS 36 250 m (bands 1–2) 2330 km All GLCF ESDI

 500 m (bands 3–7)

 1000 m (bands 8–36)

Landsat MSS 4 80 m 185 km All Earth Explorer

 GLCF ESDI

Landsat TM 7 30 m multispectral 185 km All Earth Explorer

 120 m thermal band GLCF ESDI

Landsat ETM+ 7 + 1 pan 30 m multispectral 183 km All Earth Explorer

 60 m thermal GLCF ESDI

 15 m panchromatic

EO-1 ALI 9 + 1 pan 30 m multispectral

 10 m panchromatic 37 km Partial Earth Explorer

SPOT 3 + 1 pan SPOT 2&4 60 km Partial SIRIUS

 (SPOT 2) 20 m multispectral

 10 m panchromatic

 4 + 1 pan SPOT 5

(SPOT 4&5) 10 m multispectral

 5 m panchromatic

IRS 1 pan 5 m panchromatic 70 km Partial CARTERRA

IKONOS 4 + 1 pan 4 m multispectral 13 km Partial CARTERRA

 1m panchromatic

OrbView3 4 + 1 pan 4 m multispectral 8 km Partial ORBIMAGE

 1 m panchromatic 

QuickBird 4 + 1 pan 2.44 m–2.88 m multispectral 16.5 km Partial Digital Globe

 61 cm - 72 cm panchromatic 

Hyperspectral:

EO-1 Hyperion 220 30 m 7.5 km Partial Earth Explorer

Note: AVHRR = Advanced Very-High-Resolution Radiometer.

EO-1 = Earth Observing One.

GLCF = Global Landcover Facility.

ESDI = Earth Science Data Interface.

IRS = Indian Remote Sensing satellite system.
36

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Table 5–Earth Explorer satellite imagery products and prices as of December 14, 2005

Product Pricea

 U.S. dollars

AVHRR:

Raw (level 1b) single sceneb 50

Raw (level 1b) stitched orbital segments No charge

Georegistered (level 1b) single scene 190

EO-1c

Radiometrically corrected Hyperion (level 1R) 250

Radiometrically corrected ALI (level 1R) 250

Geometrically corrected ALI (level 1Gs) 500

Terrain corrected ALI (level 1Gst) 500

Landsat MSS:

Systematic correction (level 1G) 200 + 100 each additional scene

Precision correction (level 1P)b 300 + 150 each additional scene

Terrain correction (level 1T)b 375 + 190 each additional scene

Landsat TM:

Systematic correction (level 1G) 425 + 200 each additional scene

Precision correction (level 1P)b 550 + 225 each additional scene

Terrain correction (level 1T)b 625 + 310 each additional scene

TM orthorectified mosaics 30 per mosaic, 60 per DVD

Landsat ETM+ SLC-on:

Raw uncorrected (level 0Rp) 475 + 200 each additional scene

Systematic correction (level 1G) 600 + 250 each additional scene

Precision correction (level 1P)b 725 + 400 each additional scene

Terrain correction (level 1T)b 800 + 425 each additional scene

Landsat ETM+ SLC-off:

Raw uncorrected (level 0Rp) 200 + 90 each additional scene

Systematic correction (level 1G) 250 + 110 each additional scene

Systematic (level 1G) Gap-filled SLC-on to SLC-off data merge 275

Systematic (level 1G) Gap-filled SLC-off to SLC-off data merge 300

Precision correction (level 1P)b 310 + 180 each additional scene

Terrain correction (level 1T)b 340 + 190 each additional scene

Orthorectified ETM+ 30 per scene, 60 per DVD

Orthorectified ETM+ Pan sharpened 30 per scene, 60 per DVD

a

All prices quoted here are in U.S. dollars per scene unless otherwise stated in the product description.

b

Under current U.S. Geological Survey policy, this data can only be distributed to USGS-approved users.

c

EO-1 data have a $750 service fee for tasking the sensor to collect customer request. This fee does 

not apply if ordering an archived image.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey 2005.

Additional charges: all USGS orders have a $5 handling charge. 
37

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Preprocessing levels (taken from Earth Explorer product descriptions):

Raw (Level 1b)—AVHRR data with radiometric calibration coefficients and Earth 

location data appended but not applied.

Georegistered (Level 1b)—Single-Scene AVHRR is radiometrically and geometrically 

corrected single-scene AVHRR data that are processed according to user-specified 

parameters such as projection, resampling method, and pixel size. The data are available in 

binary (8- or 10-bit) format, and are distributed on CD-ROM or DVD.

Level 1R—Radiometrically corrected with no geometric correction applied. The image 

data are provided in 16-bit radiance values. The data are available in hierarchical data 

format (HDF) and are distributed on CD-ROM, DVD, and via file transfer protocol (FTP).

Level 1Gs—Geometrically corrected and provided as a single “stitched” file. The image 

data are provided in 16-bit radiance values. The data are available in HDF or geographic 

tagged image-file format (GeoTIFF) and are distributed on DVD and via FTP.

Level 1Gst—Terrain corrected and provided as a single “stitched” file. The image data are 

provided in 16-bit radiance values. The data are available in HDF and are distributed on 

DVD and via FTP.

Raw uncorrected (Level 0Rp)—No radiometric or geometric correction applied. Scan 

lines are reversed and nominally aligned. Image data are provided in 8-bit unsigned integer 

(DN) values.

Systematic correction (Level 1G)—Includes both radiometric and geometric correction. 

The scene will be rotated and aligned to a user-defined map projection. For Landsat TM 

products, absolute geometric accuracy of the systematically corrected TM product can 

vary, depending upon the accuracy of the predicted ephemeris that is used for processing. 

Users should be aware that subsequent image geocorrection and/or coregistration to known 

ground control points (GCPs) may be necessary with a TM product. For Landsat ETM+ 

products, geometric accuracy of the systematically corrected product should be within 250 

m (1 sigma) for low-relief areas at sea level. If the image was acquired in SLC-off mode, a 

scan gap mask will be included with the final product. Level 1G products can be processed 

by either the Level 1 Product Generation System (LPGS) or the National Land Archive 

Production System (NLAPS).

Systematic correction (Level 1G) gap-filled (SLC-off only)—Includes radiometric 

correction, geometric correction, and replacement of all missing image pixels within the 

SLC-off (primary) scene with estimated values based on histogram-matched data from one 

or more user-defined “fill” scenes acquired on a separate date. The image will be rotated 

and aligned to a user-specified projection. A scan gap mask is included with the final 

product. All Level 1G SLC-off gap-filled products are processed by the LPGS.

Precision correction (Level 1P)—Includes radiometric and geometric correction, as 

well as the use of GCPs to improve accuracy. For locations outside the United States, the 

availability of a precision-corrected product will depend on the availability of local GCPs.

Terrain correction (Level 1T)—Includes radiometric, geometric, and precision 

correction, as well as the use of a digital elevation model (DEM) to correct parallax error 

owing to local terrain elevation. For locations outside the United States, the availability 

of a terrain-corrected product will depend on the availability of local GCPs, as well as the 

resolution of the best available DEM.
38

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Table 6–SPOT Image products and prices for international users as of December 14, 2005

SPOT Scene—standard images—preprocessing levels 1A, 1B or 2A

 Full scene

Product Full scene 1⁄2 scene 1⁄4 scene 1⁄8 scene old archivea

Euros

Archived products:

20-m colour 1,900 — — — 1,200

10-m pan 1,900 — — — 1,200

10-m colour 2,700 2,025 1,350 1,020 1,200

5-m pan 2,700 2,025 1,350 1,020 1,200

5-m colourb 5,400 — — — 1,200

2.5-m pan 5,400 4,050 2,700 2,040 1,200

2.5-m colourb 8,100 — — — 1,200

Programmed productsc:

20-m colour 2,700 — — — —

10-m pan 2,700 — — — —

10-m colour 3,500 2,825 2,150 1,820 —

5-m pan 3,500 2,825 2,150 1,820 —

5-m colourb 6,200 — — — —

2.5-m pan 6,200 4,850 3,500 2,840 —

2.5-m colourb 8,900 — — — —

SPOTView Precision—Level 2B

30′ by 30′ Full scene

Product (full scene) 15′ by 15′ 7′30′′ by 7′30′′ Old archivea

Euros

Archived products:

20-m colour 2,440 1,190 640 —

10-m pan 2,440 1,190 640 —

10-m colour 3,240 1,600 930 —

5-m pan 3,240 1,600 930 —

5-m colour 5,940 2,680 1,420 —

2.5-m pan 5,940 2,680 1,420 —

2.5-m colour 9,180 4,300 2,370 —

Programmed productsc:

20-m colour 3,240 1,990 1,440 —

10-m pan 3,240 1,990 1,440 —

10-m colour 4,040 2,400 1,730 —

5-m pan 4,040 2,400 1,730 —

5-m colour 6,740 3,480 2,220 —

2.5-m pan 6,740 3,480 2,220 —

2.5-m colour 9,980 5,100 3,170 —
39

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Table 6–SPOT Image products and prices for international users as of December 14, 2005 

(continued)

SpotView Ortho—Level 3

30′ frame Full scene

Product (full scene) 15′ frame 7′30′′ frame old archivea

Euros

Archived products:

20-m colour 2,620 1,300 700 —

10-m pan 2,620 1,300 700 —

10-m colour 3,420 1,710 1,000 —

5-m pan 3,420 1,710 1,000 —

5-m colour 6,120 2,800 1,500 —

2.5-m pan 6,120 2,800 1,500 —

2.5-m colour 9,400 4,500 2,500 —

Programmed productsc:

20-m colour 3,420 2,100 1,500 —

10-m pan 3,420 2,100 1,500 —

10-m colour 4,220 2,510 1,800 —

5-m pan 4,220 2,510 1,800 —

5-m colour 6,920 3,600 2,300 —

2.5-m pan 6,920 3,600 2,300 —

2.5-m colour 10,200 5,300 3,300 —

a

Old archive scenes range between the years 1986 and 2003.

b

Available as full scene products only.

c

Programming service subject to feasibility study.

Note: All price quotes are stated in euros as this is the currency used by SPOT Image, and 

exchange rates may vary on a daily basis. All price quotes are for the standard license of one 

user. For multiuser licenses of two to three users add 30 percent of total. For 4 to 10 users add 40 

percent. For more than 10 users, contact SPOT Image. All multiuser licenses are subject to prior 

agreement from SPOT Image. More information at http://www.spotimage.com/licensing.htm.

Source: Spot Image 2005.

Image sizes: 

For Spot Scene standard images, full scenes cover an area of 60 by 60 km depending on the 

viewing angle. Scene extracts cover a floating area within a Spot scene. A 1⁄2 scene covers an 

area of 40 by 40 km, a 1⁄4 scene is 30 by 30 km, and a 1/8 scene is 20 by 20 km, depending on 

the viewing angle.

For SPOTView products, a full scene covers an area of about 60 by 60 km minimum depending 

on viewing angle. A frame 30′ by 30′ covers an area of 54 by 54 km at the equator, frames 15′

by 15′ cover 27 by 27 km, and frames 7′30′′ by 7′30′′ cover 13 by 13 km. The area decreases as 

the latitude increases.

Preprocessing levels descriptions from the SPOT Image Web site:

SPOT Scene:

Level 1A: Radiometric correction of distortions owing to differences in sensitivity of the 

elementary detectors of the viewing instrument. Intended for users who wish to do their own 

geometric image processing. 

Level 1B: Radiometric correction identical to that of level 1A. Geometric correction of 

systematic effects (panoramic effect, Earth curvature, and rotation). Internal distortions 

of the image are corrected for measuring distances, angles, and surface areas. Specially 

designed product for photointerpreting and thematic studies. 

Level 2A: Radiometric correction identical to that of level 1A. Geometric correction done 

in a standard cartographic projection (UTM WGS84 by default) not tied to ground control 

points. Allowing for possible differences in location, this product is used to combine the 

image with geographic information of various types (vectors, raster maps, and other satellite 

images). 
40

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

SPOTView:

Level 2B (Precision): This product comes in a map projection with ground control points 

taken on maps or from GPS-type measurements taken in the field. The image is corrected 

for a mean elevation in a projection and a standard map frame. This product is used when 

deformations owing to relief are not important (flat ground, etc.).

Level 3A (Ortho): Map projection based on ground control points and a digital elevation 

model based on Reference3D data to eliminate distortions owing to relief.
41

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Table 7—IKONOS satellite imagery products and prices as of December 14, 2005

1-m pan-sharpened

Product type 1-m panchromatic multispectral 4-m multispectral 1-m/4-m bundle

U.S. dollars per km2

Geo 18.00 19.80 18.00 25.20

Geo archivea 7.00 7.70 7.00 9.80

PRO 29.00 31.90 29.00 38.00

Precision 45.00 49.50 45.00 63.00

Precision stereo 48.00 52.80 — —

Precision plus Pricing by custom

quote only

Geo ortho kitb 20.00 22.00 20.00 28.00

Geo ortho kit archivea b 12.00 13.20 12.00 16.80

Referencec 25.00 27.50 25.00 35.00

Reference stereoc 36.00 39.60 — —

a Only available for imagery already in archive 6 months or older.

b Geo ortho kit: includes IGM (imagery geometry model), elevation angle >60° (>72° for an additional $2 per km2

). c Reference orders outside of the United States require a feasibility analysis prior to order acceptance to determine 

availability of source materials for digital elevation model generation.

Source: LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping, LLC 2004.

Products overview:

The IKONOS products available differentiate from each other in their positional accuracy. 

The IKONOS satellite collects four multispectral bands and a panchromatic band. Image prices depend not only 

on the type of product preferred, but also on the amount of bands wanted. One-meter panchromatic images only 

include the 1-m resolution panchromatic (black and white) band. One-meter pan-sharpened multispectral (PSM) 

products include a choice of three of the four spectral bands in one true (natural) or false (infrared) color image. 

Four-meter multispectral images include the four multispectral bands. The 1-m/4-m bundle includes all bands 

including the panchromatic 1-m band.

Image product categories from the Space Imaging Web site:

Space Imaging imagery products are categorized by positional accuracy. Accuracy is determined by the reliability 

of an object in the image matching its actual location on the ground. This reliability is defined in meters as circular 

error with 90 percent confidence (CE90). Corresponding root mean square error (RMSE) and U.S. National Map 

Accuracy Standards (NMAS) values are shown for reference.

Name CE90 RMS US NMAS

Meters

Geo 15a NA NA

Reference 25 11.8 1:50,000

Pro 10 4.8 1:12,000

Precision 4 1.9 1:4,800

Precision Plus 2 0.9 1:2,400

a Not including effects of terrain.

Product description from LANDinfo Worldwide Mapping:

Geo: No orthorectification, tonal balancing, or mosaicking, 60 to 90° elevation angle, 15-m CE90 (As the 

product is not orthorectified, the Geo accuracy specifications do not include the effects of terrain).

Reference: Includes orthorectification, tonal balancing, and mosaicking, 60 to 90° elevation angle, 25-m 

CE 90, 11.8-m RMS. Reference orders outside of the United States require a feasibility analysis prior to 

order acceptance to determine availability of source materials for digital elevation model generation.

Pro: Includes orthorectification, tonal balancing, and mosaicking, 66 to 90° elevation angle, 10-m CE 90, 

4.8-m RMS.

Precision: Includes orthorectification, tonal balancing, and mosaicing, 72 to 90° elevation angle, 4-m 

CE 90, 1.9-m RMS.

Precision plus: Includes orthorectification, tonal balancing, and mosaicking, 75 to 90° elevation angle, 

2-m CE 90, 0.9-m RMS.
42

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Table 8—Indian Remote Sensing 1C and 1D satellite 

products and prices as of December 14, 2005

Product Price per scene

U.S. dollars

Geo 5-m pan 1,500

Reference 5-m pan Custom quote

Source: LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping, LLC 2004.

Product descriptions from LANDinfo Worldwide Mapping LLC:

Geo: Five-meter resolution panchromatic band system-corrected 

70 by 70 km scene.

Reference: Five-meter resolution orthorectified 70 by 70 km 

scene, panchromatic or color.

Table 9—QuickBird products and prices as of 

December 14, 2005

Archived Programmed

Product product price product price

U.S. dollars per km2

60-cm pan 16 22

2.44-m multispectral 16 22

60-cm 3-band PSM 16 22

60-cm 4-band PSM 17 28

Bundle 17 28

Source: LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping, LLC 2004.

Product description from LANDinfo Worldwide Mapping 

LLC:

60-cm pan—single-band image of 60-cm resolution 

panchromatic (black and white) band.

2.44-m multispectral—single four-band image of 2.44-m 

resolution. Includes all multispectral bands (visible and near 

infrared).

60-cm 3-band pan-sharpened multispectral (PSM)—single 

three-band image (true [natural] or false [infrared] color) of 

60-cm resolution.

60-cm 4-band PSM—four individual images of 

multispectral bands at 60-cm resolution.

Bundle–all bands, panchromatic and multispectral. 
43

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Table 10—OrbView products and prices for U.S. and International 

customers as of January 13, 2006

Product name Spectral bands Price

U.S. dollars per km2

OrbView BASIC express Panchromatic 10

Multispectral 10

Stereo (pan) 34

OrbView BASIC enhanced Panchromatic 10

Multispectral 10

Stereo (pan) 34

OrbView BASIC 1:50k Panchromatic 17

Multispectral 17

Stereo (pan) 43

OrbView BASIC 1:24k Panchromatic 19

Multispectral 19

Stereo (pan) 48

OrbView GEO express Panchromatic 10

Multispectral 10

Stereo (pan) 34

OrbView GEO enhanced Panchromatic 10

Multispectral 10

Stereo (pan) 34

OrbView GEO 1:50k Panchromatic 17

Multispectral 17

Stereo (pan) 43

OrbView GEO 1:24k Panchromatic 19

Multispectral 19

Stereo (pan) 48

OrbView ORTHO 1:50k Panchromatic 20

Multispectral 20

OrbView ORTHO 1:24k Panchromatic 24

Multispectral 24

Source: ORBIMAGE 2006.

Product description from ORBIMAGE:

OrbView BASIC—All OrbView BASIC imagery products are radiometrically corrected 

and include satellite projection information. The OrbView BASIC options are:

OrbView BASIC Express—Includes real-time down-linked satellite telemetry data 

(orbit and attitude data) and rational function coefficients. This product is designed 

for customers who have imagery needs with quick delivery times and less accurate 

geometric requirements.

OrbView BASIC Enhanced—Includes postprocessed satellite telemetry data (orbit 

and attitude data) and rational function coefficients. This product serves as a baseline 

product for higher level products (e.g., orthorectified images) and includes sufficient 

metadata to allow customers to perform a rigorous photogrammetric triangulation.

OrbView BASIC 1:50k—Accuracy equivalent to 1:50,000-scale map product 

(25-m CE 90 percent for pan product). Includes satellite and attitude ancillary data, 

and rational functions. The rational functions have been updated as a result of a 

geopositioning process with the full satellite model. The geopositioning is performed 

by measuring common points between two or more strips of imagery.
44

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

OrbView BASIC 1:24k—Accuracy equivalent to 1:24,000-scale map product (12-

m CE 90 percent for pan product). Includes satellite and attitude ancillary data, and 

rational function coefficients. The rational functions have been updated as a result of a 

geopositioning process. In this case, the bundle adjustment is performed by measuring 

common points between two or more strips of imagery and registering the imagery 

to ground control points. For image products outside the United States and Canada, 

required ground control points are to be provided by the customer.

OrbView GEO—All GEO image products are delivered in a nominal map (north up) 

geometry and are referenced to the WGS-84 ellipsoid and datum. The image undergoes the 

same radiometric corrections as the BASIC products. In addition, the image is resampled 

to a local geographic projection at a nominal geodetic elevation. The GEO image products 

are single-image products that are primarily differentiated by the accuracy that is attained 

when geopositioning by using the supplied rational function projection models. The 

OrbView GEO options are:

OrbView GEO Express—Intended to support users who have an immediate need for 

current imagery mainly for interpretation applications. These images are shipped with 

rational function coefficiencts (RFC) derived from the unrefined orbits of the satellite 

and therefore have less precise positioning accuracy. These images may also be used for 

geospatial product generation, especially by customers with access to ground control 

points and geopositioning capability.

OrbView GEO Enhanced—Includes improved positioning capability derived from 

the refined GPS ephemeris and postprocessed attitude data. The enhanced RFCs allow 

significant improvement in geolocation accuracy for geospatial production, especially 

when no ground control information is available. This data set is primarily designed for 

customers with geopositioning capability based on RFC sensor modeling.

OrbView GEO 1:50k—Accuracy equivalent to 1:50,000-scale map product 

(25-m CE 90 percent for pan product; 30-m CE 90 percent for multispectral image 

[MSI] product), when using the supplied RFCs. Image sets include RFCs that have 

been derived from the results of a block triangulation using tie points between strips 

of adjacent images. The availability of this product is dependent on adjacent image 

availability.

OrbView GEO 1:24k—Accuracy equivalent to 1:24,000-scale map product 

(12-m CE 90 percent for pan product; 15-m CE 90 percent for MSI product), when using 

the supplied RFCs. Includes RFCs that have been derived from the results of a block 

triangulation with a priori parameter weighting and ground control points.

OrbView ORTHO—All OrbView ORTHOTM products are radiometrically and 

geometrically corrected, and have been corrected for the effects of systematic distortions, 

Earth rotation and curvature effects, variations in orbital altitude, and variations in the 

Earth’s surface. OrbView ORTHO products are delivered in the UTM projection as the 

default, but can be provided in other projections as required by the customer. For image 

products outside the United States and Canada, required ground control points and 

elevation models are to be provided by the customer. The OrbView ORTHO options are:

OrbView ORTHO 1:50k—Radiometrically and geometrically corrected. One or 

more OrbView-3 images that have been orthorectified, radiometrically balanced, 

and mosaicked together. As part of the production process, the imagery undergoes a 

geopositioning process. The geopositioning is performed by measuring common points 

between two or more strips of imagery. This product is derived from OrbView BASIC 

1:50k products.

OrbView ORTHO 1:24k—Radiometrically and geometrically corrected. One or 

more OrbView-3 images that have been orthorectified, radiometrically balanced, 

and mosaicked together. As part of the production process, the imagery undergoes a 

geopositioning process. In this case, the geopositioning is performed by measuring 

common points between two or more strips of imagery, and by registering the imagery 

to ground control points. This product is derived from OrbView BASIC 1:24k products.
45

Table 11—Vector files Vector File description File namea Resolution type Metadata Source Bathymetry: Hispaniola-wide polygon of surface Hisp_bathymetry_200m 1 km Poly — 

above -200 m under sea level Geoclimate: Hispaniola-wide geoclimate Hisp_geoclimate_040817 — Poly — 

Haiti-wide geoclimate Haiti-geoclimate — Poly — 

Geology Hispaniola-wide geology Hisp_geology_class-dissolved_050216 — Poly — 

Rocks — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

Hydrography: Hispaniola-wide basins Dr_basins 30 m Poly X SRTM 

Hispaniola-wide primary basins Dr_primary_basins 30 m Poly X SRTM Hispaniola-wide synthetic streams Dr_synthetic_streams 30 m Line X SRTM 

Hispaniola-wide artificial lakes Hisp_artificial-lakes_040803 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide coastal lagoons Hisp_coastal-lagoons_040803 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide natural lakes Hisp_natural-lakes_040803 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide water bodies Hisp_water_bodies_gclc — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide wetlands Hisp_wetland_040803 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide areas over 600 m and Hisp_04-over-600-under-1800-msnm_040524 — Poly — 

under 1800 m in elevation Hispaniola-wide areas under Hisp_04-under-600-msnm_040524 — Poly — 600 m in elevation Hispaniola-wide basins Hisp_rt-07-08-basins_040525 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide stream orders 4 through 6 Hisp_rt-stream-order-4-6_040406 — Line — Hispaniola-wide stream orders 7 and 8 Hisp_rt-stream-order-7-8_040406 — Line — Hispaniola-wide water bodies Hisp_water-bodies-gclc_040226 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide watersheds Hisp_watersheds_040414 — Poly — 

Drainage network DNNET 1:1,000,000 Poly X DCW Drainage points DNPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Drainage supplemental points DSPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Inland water areas, perennial — 1:1,000,000 Poly X VMAP0 

Nonperennial inland water areas — 1:1,000,000 Poly X VMAP0 

and flood-prone areas Canals — Point X GNS 

Dams and weirs — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

Locks — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

Rapids — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

Reservoirs — Point X GNS 

Text annotation for inland water — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

areas and watercourses Wells — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 
46

Table 11—Vector files (continued) Vector File description File namea Resolution type Metadata Source 

Aqueducts, canals, and flumes — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

Streams and watercourses — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

Hypsography: Hypsography network HYNET 1:1,000,000 Poly X DCW 

Hypsography points HYPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Hypsography supplemental lines HSLINE 1:1,000,000 Line X DCW Hypsography supplemental points HSPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Spot elevations — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

Elevation contours — - Line X SRTM 

Land use/land cover: Haiti-wide natural vegetation Haiti_natural_vegetation_jun04 — Poly — 

Haiti vegetation patches by geoclimate Haiti_terr_targets_jun04 — Poly — 

Land cover polygon LCPOLY 1:1,000,000 Poly X DCW Built-up areas — 1:1,000,000 Poly X VMAP0 

Extraction and mining areas — 1:1,000,000 Poly X VMAP0 

Ground surface types — 1:1,000,000 Poly X VMAP0 

Forests — - Point X GNS 

Sugar cane plantations — - Point X GNS 

Swamp point locations — - Point X GNS 

Marine:

Hispaniola-wide coastal systems Dr_coastal_systems — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide watersheds Hisp_xsheds_050216 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide watersheds Hisp_xsheds_clip_050216 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide beaches Hisp_beaches_050216 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide coral reefs Hisp_coral-reefs-andrefouet_050216 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide estuarine mangrove forests Hisp_mangrove-estuaries_050216 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide nonestuarine mangrove forests Hisp_non-estuarine-mangroves_050216 — Poly — 

Hispaniola-wide rocky shores Hisp_rocky-shores_050216 — Poly — 

Caribbean-wide seagrass areas Hisp_seagrass_050216 — Poly — 

Ocean features lines OFLINE 1:1,000,000 Line X DCW Ocean features points OFPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Political and socioeconomic:

Hispaniola oceanic political boundary Hisp_eez_031202 — Poly — 

Haiti/Dominican Republic political boundary Hisp_haiti-dr-boundary_031202 — Line — Hispaniola-wide major cities Hisp_major-cities_040218 — Point — 

Hispaniola political boundary Hisp_outline_040205 — Poly — 

Haiti political boundary Haiti-outline-poly-utm19 — poly — 

Aeronautical points AEPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Railroad lines RRLINE 1:1,000,000 Line X DCW Road lines RDLINE 1:1,000,000 Line X DCW 
47

Table 11—Vector files (continued) Vector File description File namea Resolution type Metadata Source 

Cultural landmarks lines CLLINE 1:1,000,000 Line X DCW 

Cultural landmarks points CLPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Political/ocean network PONET 1:1,000,000 Poly X DCW 

Political/ocean points POPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Populated places points PPPOINT 1:1,000,000 Point X DCW 

Populated places polygons PPPOLY 1:1,000,000 Poly X DCW 

State and provincial boundaries — — Poly Various public domain sources 

Airports — — Point X GNS 

Ancient sites — — Point X GNS 

Capitol cities — — Point X GNS 

Estates — — Point X GNS 

Farms — — Point X GNS 

Lighthouses — — Point X GNS 

Islands — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

Mines — — Point GMLD 

Miscellaneous populated places — — Point X GNS 

Named populated places — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

Railroad stations — — Point X GNS 

Ranches — — Point X GNS 

Ruins — — Point X GNS 

Storage tanks — 1:1,000,000 Point X VMAP0 

Unnamed populated places and assigned — — Point X GNS 

names from low-resolution data sources from USGS NIMA Various types of towers — — Point X GNS 

Cable car and ski-lift lines — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

Pipelines — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

Political boundaries — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

Powerlines — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

Railroads — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

Roads — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

Transportation structures — 1:1,000,000 Line X VMAP0 

aThe Go Spatial Web site did not have the actual file name but a brief description of what the file contained. Therefore the file name section in this table was omitted for the Go Spatial products. Note: TNC = The Nature Conservancy. VMAP0 = Vector Map Level 0. SRTM = Shuttle radar topography mission. DCW = Digital chart of the world. GNS = Geo names server. NIMA=National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
48

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Table 12—Additional raster files found for Haiti

 Resolution

File description File name (pixel size) Format Metadata Source Catalog

Bathymetry:

Hispaniola-wide bathymetry hispbathy 1 km GRID — TNC

Hispaniola-wide bathymetry hill shade hispbathyhs 1 km GRID — TNC

Digital elevation models:

Dominican Republic and east part Dr30mhs 30 m GRID X SRTM TNC

 of Haiti DEM—hillshade

Digital terrain elevation data W070_n10 to W079_n27 1 km DTED X NIMA Geocomm

(level 0). Multiple files.

Caribbean-wide 1-km DEM in — 1 km .bil — Go Spatial

 band-interleaved format (.bil)

SRTM 3-arc- second DEM — 90 m — X SRTM SDDS

SRTM 3-arc-second DEM — 90 m GeoTiff X SRTM GLCF

 reprocessed by GLCF

SRTM 30-arc-second DEM — 1 km GeoTiff X SRTM GLCF

 reprocessed by GLCF

Hydrography:

Stream-line data layer derived Dr_strord2 30 m GRID X SRTM TNC

from 30-m DEM

Stream-line data layer derived from Dr_strordutm 30 m GRID — TNC

 30-m DEM in UTM projection

Marine:

Coral reef threats model research Wri_cd 1 km GRID Xa — TNC

Coral reef threats model research Wri_mbp 1 km GRID Xa — TNC

Coral reef threats model research Wri_ovf 1 km GRID Xa — TNC

Coral reef threats model research Wri_sed 1 km GRID Xa — TNC

Political and socioeconomic:

Hispaniola-wide population density hispopden 1 km GRID — TNC

Hispaniola-wide human influence footprint wcshfoot 1 km GRID Xa — TNC

a

No traditional metadata or metadata information within the file was found. Instead articles that do not refer directly to the 

specific file mentioned here were available.

Note: DEM = Digital elevation model.

DTED = Digital terrain elevation data.

GLCF = Global Landcover Facility.

GRID = raster format of Environmental Systems Research Institute ArcGIS software.

NIMA = National Imagery and Mapping Agency.

SDDS = Seamless Data Distribution System.

SRTM = Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission.

TNC = The Nature Conservancy.

UTM = Universal Transverse Mercator.

X = yes.
49

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Table 13—The Nature Conservancy public vector and raster files for Haiti and Dominican Republic as of 

December 14, 2005

File description File name Data type

Haiti-wide files:

Geoclimate Haiti-geoclimate Vector

Land use/land cover:

Natural vegetation Haiti natural vegetation Vector

 Vegetation patches by geoclimate Haiti terrestrial targets Vector

Political boundary Haiti-outline-poly-utm19 Vector

 Haiti outline poly Vector

Hispaniola-wide files:

Bathymetry:

 Polygon of surface above -200 m under sea level Hisp_bathymetry_200m Vector

 Bathymetry hispbathy Raster

 Bathymetry hill shade hispbathyhs Raster

Geoclimate Hisp_geoclimate_040817 Vector

Geology Hisp_geology_class-dissolved_050216 Vector

Hydrography:

 Basins Dr_basins Vector

 Primary basins Dr_primary_basins Vector

 Synthetic streams Dr_synthetic_streams Vector

 Stream-line data layer derived from 30-m DEM Dr_strord2 Raster

 Stream-line data layer derived from 30-m DEM Dr_strordutm Raster

 in UTM projection

Artificial lakes Hisp_artificial-lakes_040803 Vector

 Coastal lagoons Hisp_coastal-lagoons_040803 Vector

Natural lakes Hisp_natural-lakes_040803 Vector

 Water bodies Hisp_water_bodies_gclc Vector

 Wetland areas Hisp_wetland_040803 Vector

 Areas over 600 m and under 1800 m in elevation Hisp_04-over-600-under-1800-msnm_040524 Vector

 Areas under 600 m in elevation Hisp_04-under-600-msnm_040524 Vector

 Selected basins Hisp_rt-07-08-basins_040525 Vector

 Stream orders 4 through 6 Hisp_rt-stream-order-4-6_040406 Vector

 Stream orders 7 and 8 Hisp_rt-stream-order-7-8_040406 Vector

 Water bodies Hisp_water-bodies-gclc_040226 Vector

 Watersheds Hisp_watersheds_040414 Vector

Marine:

 Coral reef threats model research Wri_cd Raster

 Coral reef threats model research Wri_mbp Raster

 Coral reef threats model research Wri_ovf Raster

 Coral reef threats model research Wri_sed Raster

 Coastal systems Dr_coastal_systems Vector

 Watersheds Hisp_xsheds_050216 Vector

 Watersheds Hisp_xsheds_clip_050216 Vector

 Beaches Hisp_beaches_050216 Vector

 Coral reefs Hisp_coral-reefs-andrefouet_050216 Vector

 Estuarine mangrove forests Hisp_mangrove-estuaries_050216 Vector

Nonestuarine mangrove forests Hisp_non-estuarine-mangroves_050216 Vector

 Rocky shores Hisp_rocky-shores_050216 Vector

 Caribbean-wide seagrass areas Hisp_seagrass_050216 Vector
50

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Table 13—The Nature Conservancy public vector and raster files for Haiti and Dominican Republic as of 

December 14, 2005 (continued)

File description File name Data type

Political and socioeconomic:

 Population density hispopden Raster

Human influence footprint wcshfoot Raster

 Hispaniola oceanic political boundary Hisp_eez_031202 Vector

 Haiti/Dominican Republic political boundary Hisp_haiti-dr-boundary_031202 Vector

 Major cities Hisp_major-cities_040218 Vector

 Hispaniola political boundary Hisp_outline_040205 Vector

Dominican Republic-wide files

Digital elevation model:

 30-m DEM hillshade covers all Dominican Republic dr30mhs Raster

 and east of Haiti

Geoclimate:

 Life zones dr_lifezones_040817 Vector

Geology dr_geology_050216 Vector

Hydrography:

 Channels Dr_channels Vector

 Dammed lakes Dr_dammed_lakes Vector

 Freshwater systems Dr_freshwater_systems Vector

 Hydrogeographic regions boundaries Dr_hydrogeographic-regions-boundaries Vector

 Hydrogeographic regions Dr_hydrogeographic-regions Vector

 Main rivers Dr_main-rivers Vector

 Rivers Dr_rivers Vector

 Hydro features from USGS topographic maps Dr_usgs_topo_map_hydro_features Vector

 Watersheds Dr_watersheds Vector

 Dams dr_dams_041216 Vector

 Lakes Dr_lakes Vector

Land use/land cover:

 Land cover 30-m resolution Dr_30m-landcover-04 Vector

 Land cover 90-m resolution Dr_90m-landcover-04 Vector

 Features from USGS topographic maps Hisp_usgs_topo_features Vector

 Vegetation patches by geoclimate Dr terrestrial targets Vector

 Mangrove areas dr_mangroves04_30m.shp Vector

Marine:

 Inshore intensity Insh_intens Raster

 Inshore area Inshore_area Raster

 Pelagic intensity Pelag_intens Raster

 Pelagic areas Pelagic_area Raster

 Reef areas Reef_area Raster

 Reef intensity Reef_intens Raster

 Marine protected areas Dr_marine protected areas Vector
51

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Table 13—The Nature Conservancy public vector and raster files for Haiti and Dominican Republic as of 

December 14, 2005 (continued)

File description File name Data type

Political:

 Main roads Dr_main-roads Vector

 All roads Dr_roads Vector

 Secondary roads Dr_secondary-roads Vector

 Municipalities Dr_municipals Vector

 Municipal lines Dr municipals_lines Vector

 Country outline Dr outline Vector

 Hispaniola outline cropped with straight line through Haiti Dr outline lc90m Vector

 Provinces Dr provinces Vector

 Province lines Dr provinces lines Vector

 Towns Dr towns Vector

 Cities as from USGS topographic maps Dr usgs cities Vector

 Protected-area polygons Dr_protected area system Vector

 Agriculture types Dr-lc96-agtypes-031208 Vector

 Cocoa plantations dr_ag_cacao_expert Vector

 Coffee plantations dr_ag_cafe_expert Vector

 Intensive agriculture dr_ag_cultivos_intensivos Vector

 Agriculture types dr_ag_types_expert Vector

 Irrigation areas dr_current-irrigation-areas_041216 Vector

 Golf courses dr_golfcourses Vector

 Hotels dr_hotels Vector

 Sugar cane plantations dr_lc04_cane_30m Vector

 Citrus plantations dr_lc04_citrus_30m Vector

 Cocoa plantations dr_lc04_cocoa_30m Vector

 Coconut plantations dr_lc04_coconut_30m Vector

 Coffee plantations dr_lc04_coffee_30m Vector

 Intensive agriculture dr_lc04_intensive_cultivation_30m Vector

 Mines dr_lc04_mines_30m Vector

 Mixed agriculture dr_lc04_mixed_agriculture_30m Vector

 Pasture areas dr_lc04_pasture_30m Vector

 Rice plantations dr_lc04_rice_30m Vector

 Urban areas dr_lc04_urban_30m Vector

 Marinas dr_marinas Vector

 Tourist polo dr_polo_turistico Vector

 Potential irrigation areas dr_potential-irrigation-areas_041216 Vector

 Tourism zones dr_tourism_zones Vector

Soils dr_soils Vector

TNC public data is accessible for free from their FTP server. A disclaimer form needs to be signed prior to download or use of this data (app. 2).

Note: DEM = Digital elevation model.

TNC = The Nature Conservancy.

UTM = Universal Transverse Mercator.

USGS = U.S. Geological Survey.
52

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Table 14—GeoCommunity products available for Haiti as of December 14, 2005

Product description File size CD write fee Format Download typea

U.S. dollars

Landsat mosaics—1990/2000:

ETM+, 2000–N Hemi, UTM Zone 18, Lat 15 to 20 83.01 MB 13.06 MrSid Premium

ETM+, 2000–N Hemi, UTM Zone 18, Lat 20 to 25 108.26 MB 17.03 MrSid Premium

ETM+, 2000–N Hemi, UTM Zone 19, Lat 15 to 20 70.73 MB 11.12 MrSid Premium

TM, 1990 16.71 MB 2.62 MrSid Premium

Digital terrain elevation data (DTED) Level 0:

10 Deg Grid Cell: N10, W70 1.87 MB 1.07 DTED Normal and premium

10 Deg Grid Cell: N20, W70 791.98 KB 0.45 DTED Normal and premium

Landuse/land cover—1 m 5.93 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Hydrography:

Drainage—network 40.19KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Drainage—points 0.60KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Drainage supplemental points 1.14KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Ocean features—lines 15.59 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Ocean features—points 2.01 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Hypsography:

Hypsography—network 158.37 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Hypsography—points 2.19 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Hypsography supplemental—lines 19.10 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Hypsography supplemental—points 6.93 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Transportation:

Aeronautical—points 0.83 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Railroads—lines 3.77 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Roads—lines 36.93 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Administrative/political boundaries:

Cultural landmarks—lines 0.79 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Cultural landmarks—points 0.98 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Political/ocean—network 24.64 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Political/ocean—points 0.78 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Populated places—Points 5.87 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

Populated places—Polygons 3.79 KB 0.15 E00 Normal and premium

a

Normal downloads are free for everyone. Premium service has fees involved.

Source: GeoCommunity 2005.

The Premium service allows users to obtain data not available to regular users and the use of a high-speed download link. 

Once the premium service account is opened, data blocks need to be bought in order to download premium data. The data 

blocks available are: Starter Block 150 MB for US$24.95, 1 GB for US$109.95, 4 GB for US$299.95 and 8 GB for US$499.95.

ETM+ = enhanced thematic mapper.

TM = thematic mapper.

UTM = Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system.

Table 15—Go Spatial products for Haiti as of December 14, 2005

Producta Resolution Formatb Pricec

U.S. dollars

Digital elevation model 1 km .bil 20

Vector base map 1:1,000,000 .shp 29

a All products sold at Go Spatial are packaged by geographic region. The products 

mentioned here are for Central America and the Caribbean.

b Formats: .bil = band interleaved, .shp = shape file.

c Orders under US$20 will incur an additional US$3 charge.
53

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

Map layers included in vector base map

Description Type Features Source

Built-up areas Polygon 423 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Extraction and mining areas Polygon 5 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

First-order administrative areas Polygon 1,074 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Ground surface types Polygon 137 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Inland water areas, perennial Polygon 1,006 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Nonperennial inland water areas and flood-prone areas Polygon 134 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

State and provincial boundaries Polygon 1,073 Various public domain sources

Swampy areas (North America and Europe only) Polygon 416 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Airports Point 174 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Ancient sites Point 200 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Canals Point 62 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Capitol cities Point 24 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Dams and weirs Point 69 NIMA VMAP Level 0 vector base map

Estates Point 991 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Farms Point 2,078 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Forests Point 13 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Islands Point 220 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Lighthouses Point 7 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Locks Point 3 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Mines Point 1,749 Global mine location database

Miscellaneous populated places Point 102 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Mountains Point 5,204 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Named populated places Point 986 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Railroad stations Point 229 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Ranches Point 504 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Rapids Point 14 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Reservoirs Point 91 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Rocks Point 3 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Ruins Point 33 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Spot elevations Point 7,710 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Storage tanks Point 60 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Sugar cane plantations Point 17 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Swamp point locations Point 65 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

Text annotation for inland water areas and watercourses Point 249 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Unnamed populated places and assigned names from Point 2,268 NIMA GEOnet Names Server

low-resolution data sources from the USGS and NIMA

Various types of towers Point 9 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Wells Point 2 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Aqueducts, canals, and flumes Line 4 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Cable car and ski-lift lines Line 12 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Coastlines Line 1,212 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Elevation contours Line 5,455 USGS GTOPO30 30-arc-second digital 

 elevation model

Pipelines Line 3 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Political boundaries Line 161 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Powerlines Line 454 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Railroads Line 1,223 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Roads Line 6,625 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Streams and watercourses Line 5,488 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Transportation structures Line 13 NIMA VMAP level 0 vector base map

Source: Go Spatial Ltd., 2004.

Note: NIMA = National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

VMAP = Vector Smart Map.

USGS = U.S. Geological Survey.
54

GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT IITF-GTR-33

Appendix 2: The Nature Conservancy GIS Data 

Disclaimer Acknowledgment and Release Form

GIS Data Disclaimer Acknowledgment and Release:

Acceptance of Stipulations Concerning Preliminary Mapping and Database

Products from The Nature Conservancy’s Mesoamerica & Caribbean Region

Data or information viewed and/or downloaded from this site is regarded as planning 

and resource level information, having been generated specifically for use within 

The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Mesoamerica & Caribbean Region.

The user hereby acknowledges that the Geographic Information System (GIS) 

data delivered are subject to constant change and that its accuracy cannot be 

guaranteed. All data are provided as is, with all faults, and without warranty of any 

kind, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of 

merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. TNC makes no representation 

or warranty as to its accuracy, and in particular, its accuracy as to labeling, dimensions, boundaries, or placement or location of any map features thereon. TNC 

does not warrant that the information contained in this GIS data will meet the user’s 

requirements or that the operation of the GIS data will be uninterrupted or error free, 

or that data defects will be corrected. The entire risk as to the quality, performance 

and usefulness of the GIS data rests with the user.

The user, in using this data, hereby releases TNC, their agents, consultants, 

contractors or employees from any and all claims, actions, or causes of action for 

damages including, but not limited to, any costs of recovering, reprogramming or 

reproducing any programs or data stored in or used with the GIS data, damage to 

property, damages for personal injury or for any lost profits, lost savings, or other 

special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability 

to use the GIS data, even if such parties have been advised of the possibility of 

such damage. User agrees to indemnify and hold harmless TNC, their agents, 

consultants, contractors and employees from any and all liability claims or damages 

to any person or property arising from or connected with the use of the GIS data.

Data Restrictions

Please acknowledge The Nature Conservancy as the data source and compiler 

when GIS data from this FTP site is used in the preparation of reports, papers, 

publications, maps and other products. Any use, display or incorporation of GIS 

data shall include the date on which such information was provided. To ensure that 

appropriate documentation and data limitations are provided, downloaded data 

should not be redistributed to third-party users unless permission is granted by the 

Mesoamerica & Caribbean GIS data manager (marco_castro@TNC.ORG).

When such information is used the following disclaimer and waiver of liability shall 

be included and displayed prominently so as to alert any person viewing or utilizing 

this information: 

NOTICE: It is understood that, while The Nature Conservancy and its partners of 

information have no indication or reason to believe that there are inaccuracies or 

defects in information incorporated in the base map, The Nature Conservancy and 

its data partners make NO REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT 

NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A 

PARTICULAR USE, NOR ARE ANY SUCH WARRANTIES TO BE IMPLIED, WITH 

RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION OR DATA, FURNISHED HEREIN.

Acceptance:

__________________________ ___________________________

 Signature Date 
55

Geospatial Data Availability for Haiti: An Aid in the Development of GIS-Based Natural Resource Assessments for Conservation Planning

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS DATA USER INFORMATION FORM

MESOAMERICA & CARIBBEAN REGION

The Nature Conservancy is compiling information about the users of our 

digital data so we can better serve you in the future. Please complete 

the user information form below and return it to Steven R. Schill, Ph.D. 

(Mesoamerica & Caribbean Senior Geospatial Scientist) 

Email: sschill@tnc.org

First Name :___________________________________________ 

Last Name : __________________________________________

Company/Organization : __________________________________

Street Address : ________________________________________

Street Address : ________________________________________

City : _______________________________________________

State : ______________________________________________

Country : ____________________________________________ 

Zip Code/Country Code: _________________________________

Telephone: ___________________________________________

E-mail Address: ________________________________________

Please enter the primary business activity of your organization:

Please provide a brief explanation of what your reasons for using the data:

Comments or suggestions for our data:

I would like to be notified of future data availability or changes.

Pacific Northwest Research Station

Web site http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/

Telephone (503) 808-2592

Publication requests (503) 808-2138

FAX (503) 808-2130

E-mail pnw_pnwpubs@fs.fed.us

Mailing address Publications Distribution

Pacific Northwest Research Station

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Pacific Northwest Research Station

333 SW First Avenue

P.O. Box 3890

Portland, OR 97208-3890

Official Business

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