Global Roads Open Access Data Set (gROADS), v1 (1980 – 2010)

The Global Roads Open Access Data Set, Version 1 (gROADSv1) was developed under the auspices of the CODATA Global Roads Data Development Task Group. The data set combines the best available roads data by country into a global roads coverage, using the UN Spatial Data Infrastructure Transport (UNSDI-T) version 2 as a common data model. All country road networks have been joined topologically at the borders, and many countries have been edited for internal topology. Source data for each country are provided in the documentation, and users are encouraged to refer to the readme file for use constraints that apply to a small number of countries. Because the data are compiled from multiple sources, the date range for road network representations ranges from the 1980s to 2010 depending on the country (most countries have no confirmed date), and spatial accuracy varies. The baseline global data set was compiled by the Information Technology Outreach Services (ITOS) of the University of Georgia. Updated data for 27 countries and 6 smaller geographic entities were assembled by Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), with a focus largely on developing countries with the poorest data coverage.

Downloads

Center for International Earth Science Information Network – CIESIN – Columbia University, and Information Technology Outreach Services – ITOS – University of Georgia. 2013. Global Roads Open Access Data Set, Version 1 (gROADSv1). Palisades, New York: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). https://doi.org/10.7927/H4VD6WCT.

 ENW (EndNote & RefWorks)†
 RIS (Others)

* When authors make use of data they should cite both the data set and the scientific publication, if available. Such a practice gives credit to data set producers and advances principles of transparency and reproducibility. Please visit the data citations page for details. Users who would like to choose to format the citation(s) for this dataset using a myriad of alternate styles can copy the DOI number and paste it into Crosscite’s website.

† For EndNote users, please check the Research Note field for issues with importing authors that are organizations when using the ENW file format.

The global and regional data are available as zip files in Esri Geodatabases (.gdb) format. The shapefiles (.shp) are for the regional data only. Downloaded files need to be uncompressed in a single folder using either WinZip (Windows file compression utility) or similar application before they can be accessed by your GIS software package. Users should expect an increase in the size of downloaded data after decompression.

The data are stored in geographic coordinates of decimal degrees based on the World Geodetic System spheroid of 1984 (WGS84).  Users should consult the gROADSv1 documentation for complete information on the data set.

Extents of Regional Data Downloads: