Data sources
Data catalogue generated 2026-07-31 · application build 30cbb75f
Every layer on this map comes from someone else's work. This page lists all of it, generated from the same file the map itself reads — so it cannot drift out of step with what you see.
Nothing here is our own measurement. Where a layer is modelled or estimated rather than observed, the table says so. Read those rows with care: a tile can look precise and still rest on a coarse or indirect source.
Layers
Resolution is the source data's own, before it was folded into hexagonal tiles. A tile may be finer or coarser than the data behind it.
| Layer | Source | Period | Native resolution | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base map | Natural Earth | — | 10 m | measured |
| Elevation | ETOPO1 | 2009 | 1′ (~1.8 km) | measured |
| Climate | Beck et al. 2023 Köppen–Geiger V2 | 1901–2099 | 1 km | modelled |
| Monthly temperature | NCEP/NCAR + NOAA OISST | 1981–2010 | 2.5° / 0.25° | modelled |
| Monthly precipitation | GPCP v2.3 | 1981–2010 | 2.5° | modelled |
| Land cover | MODIS IGBP (NEO) | 2001–2024 | 0.1° | measured |
| Population | GHS-POP R2023 | 1975–2030 | ~1 km | estimated |
| Total GDP | Kummu et al. 2025 × GHS-POP | — | country / ADM1 | estimated |
| GDP per capita | Kummu et al. 2025 | — | ADM1 / ADM2 | estimated |
| Built-up area | GHS-BUILT-S R2023 | 1975–2030 | ~1 km | modelled |
| Non-residential built-up | GHS-BUILT-S (non-res) | 1975–2030 | ~1 km | modelled |
| Road density | GRIP4 | 2018 | vector | measured |
| Land quality | USDA-NRCS | 1998 | ~10 km | modelled |
| Crops | MapSPAM | 2020 | ~10 km | estimated |
| Single crop | MapSPAM | 2020 | ~10 km | estimated |
| Livestock | FAO GLW 3 | 2015 | ~10 km | estimated |
| Fisheries | IMAS V4.0 (Watson) | 2015 | FAO×EEZ 1,102 | estimated |
| Urban / rural | GHS-SMOD R2023A (JRC) | 1975–2030 | 1 km | modelled |
Everything else
The table above lists data folded into the tiles. Below is what is drawn on top as lines and points — borders, rivers, railways, sea areas, power plants, dams, mines, airports, ports, plate boundaries and so on.
Terrain, climate, base map
Elevation and bathymetry NOAA ETOPO1 · Land cover NASA MODIS MCD12Q1 · Climate Köppen-Geiger, Beck et al. (2023) gloh2o.org/koppen (CC BY 4.0) · Coastlines, borders, administrative areas, lakes, rivers, roads, railways, ports Natural Earth (public domain) · Cities GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) · Road density Meijer, J.R. et al. (2018) Global Roads Inventory Project (GRIP4), Environmental Research Letters 13:064006 (CC0)
Weather
Temperature, pressure and wind NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis, NOAA · Precipitation GPCP, NASA/NOAA · Wind NOAA/NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis 1, monthly long-term means at 850 hPa (US Government work)
Population, built-up area and industry
Population, built-up area and industry Copernicus GHS-POP / GHS-BUILT-S, European Commission JRC (CC BY 4.0), Pesaresi, M. et al. (2024) International Journal of Digital Earth 17(1) · GDP per capita Kummu et al. (2025) Scientific Data 12:178 (CC BY 4.0) · Net migration Niva et al. (2023) Nature Human Behaviour 7:2023–2037 (CC BY 4.0) · Migration Abel & Cohen (2019) Scientific Data 6:82, da_pb_closed (CC BY 4.0)
Agriculture, land
Crops MapSPAM 2020, IFPRI (CC BY 4.0) · Livestock FAO Gridded Livestock of the World 3 (2015) (CC BY 4.0) · Land quality USDA-NRCS, Soil Survey Division, World Soil Resources, Inherent Land Quality Assessment, Washington DC (1998) (US Government work)
Facilities
Power plants WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0) · Dams Global Dam Watch v1.0, Lehner et al. (2024) (CC BY 4.0) · Mines Jasansky et al. (2023) (CC BY 4.0), Global Energy Monitor (CC BY 4.0) · Pipelines Global Energy Monitor, Global Oil Infrastructure Tracker (CC BY 4.0) · Universities ROR v2.10 (CC0), OpenAlex (CC0), Wikidata (CC0) · Airports and air routes OpenFlights (ODbL 1.0, individual records DbCL 1.0) · Cloud regions · internet exchanges · cable landing points · exchanges · satellites · port throughput · airport passengers compiled by us from public information · Stadiums · arenas · theme parks compiled by us from public information · Research institutes ROR v2.10 (CC0), OpenAlex (CC0) · Factory (Cement · Steel · Chemical) Global Energy Monitor (CC BY 4.0) · Factory (Refinery · Aluminium) Climate TRACE (CC BY 4.0) · Factory (Automotive · Semicond. · Shipbuilding · Rolling stock · Aircraft mfg) compiled by us from public information · Time zones Natural Earth (public domain) · Flags Wikimedia Commons · Region Population compiled by us from public information
The sea
Sea area boundaries Marine Regions IHO Sea Areas v3 (IHO S-23) · Sea temperature NOAA Global Drifter Program monthly climatology, Laurindo, Mariano and Lumpkin (2017) Deep-Sea Res. I 124:73–92 (US Government work) · Shipping lanes drawn by us (hand approximation) · Submarine cable routes computed by us (least-cost path over NOAA ETOPO1 depths — not the route actually laid). Landing points and their connections compiled by us from public information · Ocean current streamlines NOAA/AOML Global Drifter Program, drifter-derived climatology v3.11 (Laurindo et al. 2017, same data as above · public domain)
compiled by us
Spaceports, canals, straits, plate boundaries and research stations compiled by us
Full licence texts
Full licence texts: CC BY 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 · CC0 creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 · ODbL 1.0 opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0