The Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is a center within the Earth Institute at Columbia University. CIESIN works at the intersection of the social, natural, and information sciences, and specializes in on-line data and information management, spatial data integration and training, and interdisciplinary research related to human interactions in the environment.

Updated Sea Level Rise Data Released

The NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) recently released version two of the Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates as part of the SEDAC Low-Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) collection, providing aggregate estimates of land area and urban, rural, and total population for 202 statistical areas (countries and other UN-recognized territories). Population and land area estimates are subdivided by elevation zones derived from the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) elevation data. The analysis was conducted using two different spatial resolutions, approximately 90 meters and approximately 1 kilometer, providing a range of estimates. Pivot tables enable grouping and filtering of data by country, region, continent, income level, elevation zone, and other attributes.

Version one of this data set only provided estimates for the 10-meter elevation zone, whereas version two includes selected elevation levels between 1 and 20 meters. Version two also incorporates improvements in the coastline boundaries and provides population estimates for the years 1990, 2000, and 2010 along with a long-term projection to the year 2100.