Finding & Fetching Data
Get the data before you analyse it — from OSM, web services and satellite catalogues.
Almost every tutorial starts with a file that already exists on disk. Real work starts earlier, with a question nobody has published the answer to: where does this layer come from, is it allowed to be used, and how do I get a current copy without clicking through a portal every month? These guides cover the four sources that answer most of it — OpenStreetMap, OGC web services, geocoders and STAC imagery catalogues — how each one paginates, throttles and silently truncates, and how to cache what you fetch so a rerun costs nothing.
Start here
The cornerstone guide — the whole workflow end to end. Everything after it goes deeper into one part of it.
Step 1 GIS Data Sources Explained: Where Spatial Data Comes From gis data sources Begin the path →The full path, in order
14 guides: the concepts underneath the work, then each task, then the errors that task produces. Work down, or jump to the step you need.
- The OpenStreetMap Data Model Explained for Python Users openstreetmap data model 🧭 Concept
- How to Download OpenStreetMap Data in Python with OSMnx download openstreetmap python ⚙️ How-To
- How to Query the Overpass API from Python overpass api python ⚙️ How-To
- OSMnx Download Fails, Hangs or Times Out osmnx timeout error 🔧 Fix
- Spatial Web Services Explained: WFS, WMS and OGC API Features wfs wms explained 🧭 Concept
- How to Download Data from a WFS Service in Python download wfs python ⚙️ How-To
- How to Download Administrative Boundaries in Python download administrative boundaries python ⚙️ How-To
- GeoJSON Downloaded from an API Is Empty or Truncated api geojson truncated 🔧 Fix
- How to Geocode Addresses in Python geocode addresses python ⚙️ How-To
- Geocoding Returns Wrong or Missing Coordinates geocoding wrong coordinates 🔧 Fix
- STAC Explained: How Satellite Imagery Catalogues Work stac explained 🧭 Concept
- How to Search and Download Satellite Imagery with STAC in Python download satellite imagery python ⚙️ How-To
- How to Cache Downloaded GIS Data So You Fetch It Once cache downloaded gis data ⚙️ How-To
Topics this path covers
A path is a route; a topic is everything the site has on a subject. Open a topic to see the guides this path skips.