GSHHS - A Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Shoreline Database

GSHHS is a high-resolution shoreline data set amalgamated from two databases in the public domain. The data have undergone extensive processing and are free of internal inconsistencies such as erratic points and crossing segments. The shorelines are constructed entirely from hierarchically arranged closed polygons. The data can be used to simplify data searches and data selections, or to study the statistical characteristics of shorelines and land-masses. It comes with access software and routines to facilitate decimation based on a standard line-reduction algorithm.

Availability of the GSHHS data

• Download GSHHS data version 2.2.0 (July 15, 2011)
  
  The link above is to the NGDC server, GSHHS data are also available for direct download from the SOEST server. Please see the readme.txt file for documentation.
  
  

Desktop software to subset GSHHS

• Download coastline extraction software
  
  The link above is to download GEODAS desktop software that includes the ability to select and extract subsets of the GSHHS coastline.
  
  

More information about GSHHS

• GSHHS is developed and maintained by
  
  Dr. Paul Wessel, SOEST, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu, HI. wessel@soest.hawaii.edu, and
  
  Dr. Walter H. F. Smith, NOAA Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry, National Oceanographic Data Center, Silver Spring, MD. Walter.HF.Smith@noaa.gov.
  
  
• Processing and assembly of the GSHHS data is described in:
  
  Wessel, P., and W. H. F. Smith, A Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Shoreline Database, J. Geophys. Res., 101, #B4, pp. 8741-8743, 1996.
  
  
• Please notify Dr. Paul Wessel and Dr. Walter H.F. Smith if any changes are made to the GSHHS shoreline data set for commercial use.