Free GIS Sofware for Mapping Climate Change

Maps are a way to visualize changes in the earth and its climate in times to come. At ClimateShift, we have some GIS shapefile maps available. More shapefiles, free software plus free GIS tutorials are available at MapCruzin.com. There are many free GIS applications and more coming all the time, but none so far seem to be as complete and full featured as MapWindow. You can use MapWindow:

• As your main desktop GIS
  
• As an alternative desktop GIS
  
• To distribute data to others
  
• To develop and distribute custom spatial data analyses
  

MapWinGIS ActiveX Control

At the core of the MapWindow application is the MapWinGIS ActiveX control. Using this control, you can program custom mapping functionality directly into your own software.

• Open source component (free distribution)
  
• Complete GIS API for shapefile and grid data
  
• Many built in GIS functions
  

What makes this GIS tool different than the others?

MapWindow is Open Source so you develop your own plug-ins if desired. MapWindow is free to use and redistribute to your clients and other end users.

Unlike other free tools, MapWindow is more than just a data viewer, it is an extensible geographic information system. This means that you can write plug-ins to add additional functionality (models, special viewers, hot-link handlers, data editors, etc.) and pass these along to any number of your clients and end users.

MapWindow includes standard GIS data visualization features as well as DBF attribute table editing, shapefile editing, and grid importing and conversion.

MapWinGIS ActiveX includes a GIS API for shapefile and grid data with many built in GIS functions.

MapWinGIS ActiveX can be redistributed royalty-free. No fee is required, although we happily accept donations to help support this effort.

Download MapWindow Free GIS.

If you are new to GIS, Check out the free Learn2Map GIS Tutorial and Shapefile Atlas.