Downloadable map data (especially LiDAR data) is large and requires conversion from point data to more usable 3d models or composite maps. The digital studio has a suitable high-spec PC for this.
Contact John Barbrook for assistance with this and access to the Digital Studio.
What is Digimap?
Digimap is a collection of EDINA services that deliver maps and geospatial data from a number of national data providers, including Ordnance Survey and the British Geological Survey. Data is available either to download to use with appropriate application software such as GIS or CAD, or as maps generated by Digimap online.
A wide range of data is available for England, Wales and Scotland with a smaller range available for the Isle of Man. Geological data is also available for Northern Ireland.
Each Digimap collection has a different licence; you can see details and FAQs in their licences and terms of use .
​Software
Lancaster University provides a wide range of software to help you use and present Digimap data, including ArcGIS.
Printing
Colour printers and printers which can handle large formats are available on campus at the https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/creative-studio/
More information about the Digimap is available here.
Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection is our original collection, providing a full range of topographic Ordnance Survey data for the UK.
Digimap Ordnance Survey provides licensed and open mapping data at scales ranging from 1:1,250 up to 1:750,000. Digital versions of Ordnance Survey's paper maps are available as well as vector maps in a range of cartographic styles. Several layers of OS MasterMap™, the most detailed available large-scale mapping of the UK, are available to browse and download.
The service includes many other products from Ordnance Survey including postcodes, administrative boundaries, a gazetteer of place names, OS identifiers, contours and digital terrain models. Check the help pages for a full product listing.
Open data from Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland (OSNI) Open Data is also available in this collection, as well as a wide range of local government data.
New! Multimodal Routing Network (MRN) data, ideal for users needing detailed transport and routing information.
Historic Digimap offers the following map images, the originals of which were published between 1846 and 1996:
Geology Digimap is part of the Digimap Collection of on-line mapping and data delivery facilities. Users can view maps through their web browser, save maps for printing and download the geological map data for use in geographical information systems.
What geological maps and data are available?
The following data are available as both maps generated online and as data to download:
Geology Digimap provides:
Marine Digimap provides two key marine mapping data products from OceanWise.
Raster nautical charts are derived from UK Hydrographic Office paper charts and chart panels. This chart dataset comes in two versions: Raster Charts and Raster Charts XL, which excludes land-based features.
Marine Themes Vector data covers all UK waters. It is a feature-rich dataset derived from authoritative material from the UK Hydrographic Office, as well as comprehensive source data where available. Marine Themes Vector has several layers: Elevation, Shipwrecks and Obstructions, Industrial Facilities, Transport, Administrative and Management Units, and Geographical Regions.
Check the help page for a full list of the products available.
Marine Digimap also provides the following:
Environment Digimap provides mapping data from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
UKCEH’s Land Cover Map can be viewed or downloaded for different years. The first published Land Cover Map was in 1990. The most recently available in Digimap was published in 2020.
The UKCEH Land Cover Maps map UK Land Cover. They do this by describing the physical material on the surface of the United Kingdom providing an uninterrupted national dataset of land cover classes from grassland, woodland and fresh water to urban and suburban built-up areas.
The Land Cover Map data can be used to plan, manage or monitor agriculture, ecology, conservation, forestry, environmental assessment, water supplies, urban spread, transport, telecommunications, recreation and mineral extraction. It is particularly useful when combined with other datasets. Use the land cover data to examine the coincidence of a given species with particular land cover types, make assessments of habitats at risk from a specific development, or look at national distributions of land cover types and how it is affected by other environmental and human factors.
Aerial Digimap provides access to some of the highest quality aerial photography available for Great Britain, created and licensed by Getmapping plc. Access is convenient and on-demand to a range of interactive tools, allowing interrogation and analysis of the data online and offline. Data is available to view, query and print in Aerial Roam and available to search and retrieve in Aerial Download.
Aerial photography has a multitude of uses including backdrop mapping and context for a wide range of studies. Ideal for looking at the reality of a location in great detail, the aerial photography available is 25cm vertical ortho-photography and is available for the whole of Great Britain. You can view a large-scale campus map produced by Aerial Digimap in the Library Maps Area.
Lidar Digimap offers detailed Lidar data from the Environment Agency through a convenient, on-demand web interface. It also offers vertical aerial photography.
Lidar data is a very accurate model of the earth’s surface. The data is captured by firing very rapid laser pulses (thousands of times per second) at the ground surface. By examining the laser energy reflected back from the ground the surface is captured as a dense cloud of 3D points. These points are then converted in to highly detailed terrain models of the surface of the earth and by examining the reflections from both the ground surface and the vegetation canopy it is possible to derive both Digital Terrain Models of the bare earth surface (DTM) and also Digital Surface Models (DSM) that show the vegetation canopy.
Uses of Lidar data are highly varied, from use in the creation of visual effects for virtual reality and film projects to archaeology, forestry management, flood and pollution modelling. Because it is so much more detailed than “traditional” digital terrain models, in some datasets down to 25cm resolution, there is a wealth of additional uses for the data. Looking at lines of sight for rural developments, mobile phone and wireless broadband signals amongst other things is easier and more accurate using Lidar data because of the inclusion of vegetation in the model.
All the Lidar data included in Lidar Digimap is available under the Open Government Licence.
Global Digimap provides access to global datasets in cartographic styles and downloadable formats that are useful to you. The service provides the following:
Explore a range of demographic data with this exciting Digimap collection. Society Digimap provides a wealth of census and socio-economic data for Great Britain. The processing required to visualise Census and other demographic datasets can be a barrier to use for many interested in the value of the datasets. By providing these datasets as layers to visualise along with high quality Ordnance Survey data, users can access the rich information to gain valuable insights for their areas of interest without the need to learn how to use a GIS.
This now includes the most recent Census Data: Scotland (2022) and England & Wales (2021). This provides richer demographic and societal information for your projects and research.
Verisk Digimap provides access to:
UKMap
A modern, highly detailed, feature-rich mapping database of Greater London. Its unique, innovative design offers users a flexible choice of integrated map features within a single geographic information source. Based on 1:1,000 scale topographic mapping, UKMap accurately locates buildings, garages, property boundaries, roads, trees and a multitude of other features. UKMap is being utilised by a number of key commercial and public organisations such as Metropolitan Police, Thames Water, Arup, London Fire, TfL and many more.
UKBuildings
A unique database created and regularly updated to help you understand the age, structure, characteristics and use, of commercial, public and residential buildings across GB.
UKBuildings is available for the whole of Great Britain and the Belfast urban area in Northern Ireland. Ther data includes detailed information on building locations and 3D footprints, height, building use, and residential type classifications. The most detailed information is available in more than 500 urban areas.
UKLand
A national land information database providing a detailed consistent breakdown of the use of land across the UK. The data includes a basic, high-level land data classification (man-made, natural, agricultural or water) and a more detailed set of 27 classes. These are made up of the following:
Natural areas (sand dunes, rockscapes, heath and moorland…)
A range of agricultural types (mainly crops, mixed-use, vineyards, glasshouses…)
Woodlands (Deciduous, Coniferous, Mixed…)
Built environments (A range of urban densities, Business Parks, Industrial, Retail Parks…)
Read more about the available data at https://www.verisk.com/en-gb/solutions/land-buildings-data/
agCensus Digimap offers access to a time-series database of grid square based data derived from the regular Agricultural Censuses of England, Scotland and Wales.
The Agricultural Census is conducted in June each year by the government departments dealing with Agriculture and Rural Affairs for Scotland, England, and Wales. Farmers are surveyed in each year via a postal questionnaire, with the farmer declaring the agricultural activity on their land. In Scotland the census covers all major agricultural holdings, but in England and Wales a stratified sample of holdings are surveyed. Data for non-surveyed farms is extrapolated from previous years and trends on comparable farms. The respective government departments publish information relating to farm holdings for recognised geographies for c.150 items of data. Algorithms developed by EDINA convert small area data provided by the government agencies into grid squares of 2, 5 or 10 km.
Digimap’s Pilot Collection provides access to data is under evaluation. As such, the data included in Pilot Digimap is subject to revision and update.
Pilot Digimap primarily comprises two applications, one for creating maps online, the other for downloading data, which enables further analysis and investigation in other packages:
Ordnance Survey maps and data within Digimap are protected by Crown Copyright. They may be used by authorised users for educational purposes and limited administrative/external use, including teaching resources, assignments, theses, conference papers, academic and journal articles and location maps or directions for an educational establishment. The following acknowledgement should be used: © Crown Copyright and Database Right [insert current year]. Ordnance Survey (Digimap Licence)
British Geological Survey maps and data within Digimap are protected by copyright owned by the Natural Environment Research Council. They may be used for education purposes, including teaching resources, assignments, theses, conference papers, and academic and journal articles. The following acknowledgement should be used: Geological Map Data BGS © NERC [insert current year].
