Brazilian Amazon Hypsography and Infrastructure Vector Data from 1970s Aerial Maps

Four related spatial products covering roads, rivers, hypsography, and derived 25-meter resolution Digital Elevation Models for four study areas in the Brazilian Amazon. The data comprises 15 files, including 12 shapefile archives and 3 GeoTIFFs, created by hand-digitizing paper maps produced by the Brazilian government from aerial coverages. Data providers explicitly note the data have not been validated or quality-assured for general use.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical road and river network patterns using the vector shapefiles.
• Modeling terrain and elevation with the 25m resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) GeoTIFFs.
• Studying hypsography (contour lines) for topographic analysis in the Manaus, Tapajos, and Rondonia regions.
• Investigating land cover change by comparing this historical baseline vector data with modern satellite imagery.

Strengths

• Covers four distinct study areas (Manaus, Tapajos, Rio Branco, Rondonia) for regional comparison.
• Provides multiple related data types (vectors for roads/rivers/contours and raster DEMs) for the same locations.
• DEMs have a specified 25m x 25m pixel resolution.
• Data was manually checked for duplicate or extra vectors during creation.

Limitations

• Explicit quality statement warns of missing/incomplete data and metadata that diminishes usability.
• Data providers state the data have not been validated or quality-assured for general use.
• DEM files for the Rio Branco area are noted as unusable due to a documentation error.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-03-13 vs 1978-01-01) create uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

Paper maps produced by the Brazilian government, hand-digitized by The Images Company in Brazil.

Collection Method

Vectors hand-digitized from paper maps derived from aerial coverages.

Time Range

1974 to 1978

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:15:28.983603

Geography

Four areas across the Brazilian Amazon: Manaus (Amazonas), Tapajos National Forest (Para Western), Rio Branco (Acre), and Rondonia (Rondonia).