Data Sources & Licensing Provenance
We maintain full transparency regarding all external and embedded geographic datasets. Below is our verified data provenance manifest.
OpenStreetMap (OSM)
Official SourceUsage: Interactive vector basemaps, street geometry, and geographic POIs.
Natural Earth Cartography
Official SourceUsage: World, continent, and country boundary outlines in the Printable Blank Map library.
US Census Bureau TIGER/Line & ACS
Official SourceUsage: US State and County boundaries, population benchmarks, FIPS codes, and land areas.
Open-Meteo Digital Elevation Models
Official SourceUsage: Worldwide point ground elevation lookups and topographic transect profiles.
Astronomy Engine Ephemeris
Official SourceUsage: Solar angles, sunrise/sunset, day/night terminator curves, and moon phases.
People Also Ask About Our Geographic Data
Key answers regarding cartographic licenses, data sources, update cadences, and open standards.
QWhere does GeoMap Suite source its geographic and boundary data?
Our interactive basemaps and road layers originate from OpenStreetMap (OSM); continental and printable country boundaries are provided by Natural Earth; United States state and county administrative boundaries come directly from US Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024/2025 ACS files; and elevation data is sampled from Copernicus 30m and USGS SRTM models.
QIs OpenStreetMap data free and open-source for commercial use?
Yes. OpenStreetMap is licensed under the Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0, which allows free commercial and educational use provided appropriate attribution is credited to OpenStreetMap and its global contributors.
QHow frequently are US Census demographic populations and county boundaries updated?
We synchronize demographic populations and economic indicators annually following the official release of the US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, with county boundary geometry audited against annual TIGER shapefiles.
QWhat digital elevation models (DEM) power the elevation lookup tools?
Elevation queries utilize high-resolution digital elevation models from the Copernicus GLO-30 dataset (30-meter global resolution) supplemented by the NASA/USGS Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM 90m) via Open-Meteo geodetic APIs.
QHow does GeoMap Suite ensure accuracy in solar and astronomical calculations?
Solar position, sunrise/sunset times, dawn/dusk twilight bounds, and moon phases are calculated using Don Cross's open-source Astronomy Engine (MIT license), which implements rigorous VSOP87 planetary ephemerides accurate to within seconds of solar culmination.
QCan I export or download vector datasets from GeoMap Suite tools?
Yes. Every tool across our platform allows you to export processed vector geometries into open formats including RFC 7946 GeoJSON, OGC KML (for Google Earth), CSV spreadsheets, and high-resolution SVG graphics.