Estás estudiando fuera del país?, or are you interested in establishing some project in Bolivia and you can not find any geo-environmental data? I had the same issue, and even though I could not find the amount of data available for countries such as the USA, I found some interesting links with useful information for environmental applications (please let us know if you find more info). The links are shown below the figure.
The principal sources will be:
- The Vegetation Map of Bolivia, scale 1:250 000 (Navarro & Ferreira, 2007), by the ConserveOnline: Perhaps the most concise and detailed map of vegetation of the country available. Besides the maps of Zonisig, it is a very good source of information.
- The Natural Resources Digital Center, by the ATM College of Agriculture of Life and Sciences (USA): Another good source of information, where you will find the maps of the Zonisig, which is a very good source of information for La Paz, Potosí, Chuquisaca, Tarija. Thank you ATM!!!!
- The National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology SENAMHI Bolivia. This, together with the page of the National Institute of Statistics, is (as of my knowledge) one of the only pages of the Bolivian Government that is working efficiently. There you will find forecasts and historical data of meteorological variables at daily and monthly scale, for all stations in Bolivia!!!!. When using these data for official purposes, please notice that you may need an official certification from SENAMHI; otherwise, I think that using the data for academic and research purposes is fine. Either way, the data should not be used without a carefull correction of errors, since the data at several stations is read and registered by non-technical local volunteers.
- The National Institute of Statistics INE Bolivia. Good source of information on statistics (go to "Banco de Datos"). The data can be as well purchased from a local INE office at a very reasonable price.
- Ministry of Health and Sports. Some statistics on the topic.
- Ecology data from the Nature Serve´s Andes and Amazon Project , where you will find some data on mammals, plants, birds, endemic species, etc.
Besides those four sources, specific information on glaciology will be found at:
- IRD´s GLACIOCLIM: The ONLY source of information in the topic on the tropical Andes (at least the only one until GRANDE will begin posting their own data).
- Mathias Vuille´s climatology and glaciology data. (not available online anymore; you may want to contact him for details).
Looking for more? Unfortunately you may not find more unless you get lucky when walking on the streets of La Paz and finding those DVDs with cartographic information of the whole country in 15 Bs or 2 USD. Be aware, because the data on those DVDs may not come from an official source!!!!. The corresponding official data can be purchased at the local IGM office (the National Geographic Institute) at a price of 100 Bs each (13 USD), scale 1:50 000. Coarser scales and gray-tones hard copies are cheaper. Anyway, since the SRTM DEM (90-m horizontal resolution) became available on the web, those maps may not be as necessary as they were few years ago.
To select which sheet you need to buy, the coverage of each IGM sheet is: coverage 1:250 000 sheets, coverage 1:50 000 and 1:250 000.
In reference to geological maps, they can be purchased at SERGEOTECMIN (the Bolivian Geological Service). The price is 100 Bs (13 USD) per sheet, scales 1: 100 000 and 1: 1 000 000, either in digital format (perhaps jpg), or on a printed paper. As of my knowledge, that kind of maps can not be found on the streets, sorry.
In addition, several projects and thesis have generated and still generate a lot of information, which will remain as a secret or inside some CD that will eventually get lost, since there is no government regulation who forces them to share their data after the corresponding reports are published. In any case, if you are interested in investing in my country, and you can convince me :), I may be able to help you. Good luck in you journey!!!!
- The Vegetation Map of Bolivia, scale 1:250 000 (Navarro & Ferreira, 2007), by the ConserveOnline: Perhaps the most concise and detailed map of vegetation of the country available. Besides the maps of Zonisig, it is a very good source of information.
- The Natural Resources Digital Center, by the ATM College of Agriculture of Life and Sciences (USA): Another good source of information, where you will find the maps of the Zonisig, which is a very good source of information for La Paz, Potosí, Chuquisaca, Tarija. Thank you ATM!!!!
- The National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology SENAMHI Bolivia. This, together with the page of the National Institute of Statistics, is (as of my knowledge) one of the only pages of the Bolivian Government that is working efficiently. There you will find forecasts and historical data of meteorological variables at daily and monthly scale, for all stations in Bolivia!!!!. When using these data for official purposes, please notice that you may need an official certification from SENAMHI; otherwise, I think that using the data for academic and research purposes is fine. Either way, the data should not be used without a carefull correction of errors, since the data at several stations is read and registered by non-technical local volunteers.
- The National Institute of Statistics INE Bolivia. Good source of information on statistics (go to "Banco de Datos"). The data can be as well purchased from a local INE office at a very reasonable price.
- Ministry of Health and Sports. Some statistics on the topic.
- Ecology data from the Nature Serve´s Andes and Amazon Project , where you will find some data on mammals, plants, birds, endemic species, etc.
Besides those four sources, specific information on glaciology will be found at:
- IRD´s GLACIOCLIM: The ONLY source of information in the topic on the tropical Andes (at least the only one until GRANDE will begin posting their own data).
- Mathias Vuille´s climatology and glaciology data. (not available online anymore; you may want to contact him for details).
Looking for more? Unfortunately you may not find more unless you get lucky when walking on the streets of La Paz and finding those DVDs with cartographic information of the whole country in 15 Bs or 2 USD. Be aware, because the data on those DVDs may not come from an official source!!!!. The corresponding official data can be purchased at the local IGM office (the National Geographic Institute) at a price of 100 Bs each (13 USD), scale 1:50 000. Coarser scales and gray-tones hard copies are cheaper. Anyway, since the SRTM DEM (90-m horizontal resolution) became available on the web, those maps may not be as necessary as they were few years ago.
To select which sheet you need to buy, the coverage of each IGM sheet is: coverage 1:250 000 sheets, coverage 1:50 000 and 1:250 000.
In reference to geological maps, they can be purchased at SERGEOTECMIN (the Bolivian Geological Service). The price is 100 Bs (13 USD) per sheet, scales 1: 100 000 and 1: 1 000 000, either in digital format (perhaps jpg), or on a printed paper. As of my knowledge, that kind of maps can not be found on the streets, sorry.
In addition, several projects and thesis have generated and still generate a lot of information, which will remain as a secret or inside some CD that will eventually get lost, since there is no government regulation who forces them to share their data after the corresponding reports are published. In any case, if you are interested in investing in my country, and you can convince me :), I may be able to help you. Good luck in you journey!!!!
As suggested in our Facebook page, the page of the FAO may also have some information.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Water-LED/178152572237911
Unfortunately, the online-data base of SENAMHI-Bolivia does not provide river discharge data.
ReplyDeleteAlso FAO has a worldwide meteorological database (CROPWAT) which includes many bolivian stations
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fao.org/nr/water/docs/CROPWAT8.0Example.pdf
Thank you for the information Vlady.
ReplyDeleteinteresting link
ReplyDeletehttp://www.relevobr.cnpm.embrapa.br/index.htm
Great info Vlady!!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete