Below are some examples of eco-data that might be incorporated into an eco-data gamemaking or media-making project. Can you think of some ways these data might be incorporated into games?
NASA Earth Observing datasets
- neo.gsfc.nasa.gov
- More eco-data than you can shake a stick at. From atmospheric aerosol optical thickness to net radiation to average sea surface temperature.
National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
- nsidc.org/home
- Global snow and ice melt data, part of CIRES at CU Boulder.
The NASA Earth Data Cookbook
- nasa-openscapes.github.io/earthdata-cloud-cookbook
- Cloud-accessible data from NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). Set up to be easy to incorporate into software projects.
ICCA Registry
- iccaregistry.org/en/data-summary
- Leading database on conservation by Indigenous Peoples and local communities
- For some analysis of this type of data, which highlights the active disproportionate role Indigenous people play in conserving ecosystems, check out:
- "A spatial overview of the global importance of Indigenous lands for conservation" in Nature Sustainability 1:7 by Stephen T. Garnett,, Neil D. Burgess, Julia E. Fa, Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares, Zsolt Molnár, Cathy J. Robinson, James EM Watson and others, (2018): 369-374.
Sea Turtle Tracking Data
- conserveturtles.org/project/sea-turtle-tracking
- Sensors attached to sea turtles. Fun fact: This website singlehandedly is responsible for TurtleTok.
Orca Whale Data / Citizen science project
- orcasound.net
- Help researchers track and monitor orca whales in the Puget Sound by listening for whale songs on your speakers in your spare time.
Bat Language Data
- You can listen to recordings of bats using “words” to communicate with each other in the data section of the following article:
- Amit, Yoni, and Yossi Yovel. "Bat vocal sequences enhance contextual information independently of syllable order." Iscience 26, no. 4 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106466
- Probably best to also read the paper to help you make sense of the data.
- The article also references researchers looking at other animal languages...
Ant Social Behavior Data
- Researchers used video surveillance in ant colonies to track how ant behavior tended to change as an any colony grew in size. The explainer here links to the article with the data:
Trends in Atmospheric CO2 and other Greenhouse Gases
- gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
- NOAA has been tracking these rather consistently for the last couple of decades.
Soil degradation
- Presently, there is no global index for measuring soil health. UNESCO has called for the creation of a "world soil health index." UNESCO has also stated in 2024 that 75% of the world's soil is estimated to be degraded, and that 90% of soil is estimated to be degraded by 2050.
The Living Planet Index
- livingplanetindex.org/latest_results
- Tracks changes in biodiversity, created by the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London
Ocean Biodiversity Information System
- obis.org
- Tracks ocean biodiversity
Are there datasets that you think should be on this list? Email shsteele@ucdavis.edu.