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   Internet Mapping Service
   Data Download
   Static Map Library
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Project Description

In 2006 the project will begin to encompass the entire U.S.-Mexico border region, an area over 157,000 mi2 and home to more than 12 million people. Efforts will establish a borderwide base map on the Internet Map Service (IMS) using a medium- resolution basic geospatial framework including satellite imagery, land use and land cover, major transportation networks and digital elevation models with the locations of the major population centers over all 8 study subareas. This will provide the platform upon which to subsequently overlay more comprehensive datasets and facilitate scientific analysis of environmental issues that affect the regional population.

The Lower Rio Grande Valley, subarea 8, was the pilot project area for the initial effort, consequently it contains the most comprehensive datasets. For the remaining subareas in Texas and the adjoining Mexican States of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León (subareas 5, 6, and 7), we will add specific, local-level datasets such as high resolution aerial photos, hydrography, demographics, geology, transportation, potential sources of contaminants, and contaminants in biota. This work builds on the seamless methodology developed to integrate datasets compiled in FY 2005 for subarea 8 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. This Web site and the IMS will be updated frequently as new data become available. The project will continue to seek opportunities for integration with existing and future programs both within and outside the USGS.

In 2005, the Border Environmental Health Initiative team developed an OGC-compliant binational Internet Map Service (IMS) with satellite imagery, orthoimagery and integrated geology, hydrology, transportation, geographical names, potential sources of contaminants, demographic data for population density, Nexrad daily weather, and boundary datasets for subarea 8, the pilot study area. Fact sheets addressing the utility, analysis capabilities, and dataset availability associated with the IMS were published in Spanish and English.

This project Web site: (http://borderhealth.cr.usgs.gov) was created to provide background project information, white papers describing methodology for binational dataset integration, links to publications and references, and spreadsheets with health and Colonias statistics. Additionally, through the website, an online static map and data table library was established to provide an alternate method of accessing information served on the IMS. Project development efforts and outreach activities focused on U.S. and Mexican federal agencies, such as EPA, SEMARNAT, PEMEX, Department of Homeland Security, INSP, INEGI, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.