Geospatial Data

Iowa Geographic Image Map Server

The Iowa Geographic Image Map Server (OrthoServer) provides a wide variety of image products via download or through web map services (WMS). Data coverage includes the entire state of Iowa. Products include:

OrthoServer Home Image

       2004 - 2011, 2013 - 2021 natural color and infrared photos
       1930s - 1980s decadal gray scale photos
       Hillshade from LiDAR data, 2007-2010 and 2019-2021
       Early 1990s gray scale photos
       1:24000 and 1:100000 topographic maps (USGS DRGs)
       1992 and 2002 land cover/ land use maps

 

Click here for directions on how to connect to the Iowa Geographic Map Server within ArcGIS Pro

Click here for directions on how to connect to the Iowa Geographic Map Server within ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap)

Public Data via the Web

The GIS Facility provides data produced by the DNR and data developed by research on campus. To obtain this data, visit here. The data is zipped so you will need to download the data onto your machine and unzip. The data that is provided by the DNR can also be found at Iowa Geodata, the State's geospatial data clearinghouse. The most complete and up-to-date data can be found there as we do not provide an exact copy of the current data.

The DNR's NRGIS Library has been retired.

Frequently Used Data

The GIS Facility provides some of the most frequently used datasets in an unzipped format. ISU users have the ability to download the entire folder that you can copy and use on your own computer. This folder can be found within the Public Data folder.

Restricted Data Access - ESRI Supplied Data

The GIS Facility provides data produced by ESRI that is included with our site license. Only those people with an ISU username will be able to access the data. The GIS Facility allows a user to download the data from CyBox or to connect to the data directly from a server. Click here to download.

Esri Data for Education Programs contains demographic, lifestyle segmentation, and consumer spending data for a variety of geographic levels in the United States. They are in File Geodatabase Format for use with Esri ArcGIS software. For more information on the methodology used to derive these products, visit Esri Demographics.