As part of the Program of Permanent Updating of the Cartographic Base (BCIM), IBGE released today, December 9, 2014, an updated version of the Continuous Cartographic Base of Brazil to the Millionth Scale (where 1cm = 10km) on its web portal. This program aims at providing the society with an updated, continuous, integrated, structured, vectorial, digital cartographic base of the Brazilian territory as a whole. It allows the compilation of information relative to positioning, geographic naming and classification of the elements represented in the base. The vectorial data allow the users to edit the data to meet their needs. The access link is:ftp://geoftp.ibge.gov.br/mapeamento_sistematico/base_continua_ao_milionesimo/
The base is available in free format (shape file and dump of the PostGIS database), which can be used by Geographic Information Systems and is compatible with any software that reads such type of data. Its modeling is implemented in compliance with the Technical Specifications of the Vector Geospatial Data Structure version 2.1.3 (ET-EDGV v2.1.3), comprising 9 out of the 13 proposed information categories: hydrography, relief, localities, transportation system, economic structure, energy and communications, public administration and vegetation. The base follows the rule in force in the cartographic and geodetic spatial references, through the use of the SIRGAS 2000 reference system with geographic coordinates.
The following updated categories were prioritized in this version of BCIM: localities (city and village), hydrography (body of water), limits (municipality border and control and development areas), transportation system (roads, bridges and passages) and relief (natural physiographic elements). The other categories had their toponymic and topologic structures revised by the Reference Center on Geographic Names (CRNG) of IBGE.
The cartographic information came from mappings in larger scales, remote sensing inputs, sectoral partners and local expertise, through the Geodesy and Cartography Divisions of IBGE (GGC).
The main applications and products of BCIM are: planning and management of government programs focused on the territory; analyses demanding an overall view (country, regions and states); creation of maps in smaller scales (maps of Brazil, regional and state series and Atlas); representation of thematic aspects of the territory (statistics, natural resources and environmental surveys). BCIM data comprise the Global Map (GM) and Global Map of Americas (GMA) projects of international cooperation.
Source: IBGE