In both the Laji.fi and authority portals, the results of observation searches can be downloaded as spatial data in either ESRI Shapefile or OGC GeoPackage file formats. The maximum limit for downloading spatial data is 500,000 species observations. If the data you want is larger than this, split the downloads or data requests into smaller parts, download the data in the traditional table or text file format, or use APIs.
Instructions for Downloading Observation Data as Spatial Data
In a basic table download, the spatial download options (.shp and .gpkg) will appear in the download menu. In the data request system and in citable file downloads, spatial downloads can be made by opening the download page sent to your email and selecting GIS as the file format under the File Type section. In the authority portal, the equivalent option can be selected on the Data Usage – My Observation Data Downloads page by opening the details of a download request made in the authority observation search portal.
Choosing File Format, Geometry Type, and Coordinate System
You can choose the file format, geometry type, and coordinate system from the dropdown-menus.
Tiedostomuoto
shp. = ESRI Shapefile
gpkg. = OGC GeoPackage
Note that although Shapefile is a more familiar option for users of ESRI applications, the GeoPackage file can also be used in ArcGIS geographic information systems, as well as in many other geographic information systems. The GeoPackage file format has certain advantages over the Shapefile format:
- In a GeoPackage file, field names are full-length; Shapefile limits them to 10 characters, so the data column names are abbreviated.
- For Shapefile files, the maximum length of a text field is 254 characters, while in GeoPackage it is 65,535 characters. Thus, if you are interested in the long additional information fields stored in the data, it is advisable to choose the GeoPackage data download.
- A Shapefile can contain only one geometry type at a time (point, line, polygon), whereas in GeoPackage, all geometry types are included as separate layers within the same file.
- The maximum size of a GeoPackage file is larger, and its performance is better than that of a Shapefile in most geographic information software – this difference becomes apparent when handling large datasets.
If you want data directly in GeoJSON format, it is recommended to explore our APIs.
Geometry
point: centroids of observation locations (point data)
footprint: geometries of observations in their original form; may include point, line, and area geometries
bbox: “Bounding Box” area boundaries of observations (polygon data)
CRS (Coordinate Reference System):
euref (ETRS-TM35FIN, epsg 3067)
wgs84 (epsg 4326)
More information on coordinate systems (in Finnish)
Once you have selected the desired file format, geometry, and coordinate system, press Download. If the dataset to be downloaded is large, it may take some time (approximately 1-3 minutes per 100,000 observations) to convert the data into a spatial format. Once the data is downloaded to your computer, extract the compressed file and process the data in your chosen geographic information software in any way you wish.