2017.03.22 edition
Real-time air quality. The team at Berkeley Earth has released the data files behind their real-time global air quality map. The map and data track measurements of pollution particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter. “Under typical conditions,” the Berkeley Earth team writes, this particulate matter “is the most damaging form of air pollution likely to be present, contributing to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, respiratory infections, and other diseases.” Previously: The World Health Organization’s Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database (June 15, 2016).
Previous federal budget proposals. To accompany its 2016 and 2017 budget proposals, the Obama administration published machine-readable copies on GitHub. Each proposal’s data are divided into three CSV files: for budget authority, outlays, and receipts. The accompanying user guide explains the data sources and structure. Sample tidbit: The White House expected the Department of Homeland Security to pull in $712 million in excise taxes from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund in 2017. [h/t Dan Nguyen]
Indian state elections. Five states in India, representing nearly 250 million residents — Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur — have already held legislative assembly elections this year. India’s Election Commission publishes these results, but only as webpages. A couple of Hyderabad-based developers have scraped the website, and published CSVs of the data on GitHub. Previously: Data Is Plural’s election edition (Sept. 28, 2016).
Construction spending. The Census’ Value of Construction Put in Place Survey “provides monthly estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done in the U.S.” For instance, construction spending in 2016 totaled approximately $1.1 trillion, $89 billion of which went to education-related construction. The survey has been collected monthly since 1964; historical data files are available going back to 1993. [h/t Kevin Gilmore]
Gone fishing. NOAA Fisheries’ Greater Atlantic Region publishes spreadsheets of the federal permits it awards to fishing vessels, operators, and dealers. For each vessel, the data includes the boat’s name, owner, principal port city, length, horsepower, and categories of fish permitted. The agency’s Southeast Regional Office also publishes lists of its permits — for shark dealers, domestic swordfish dealers, spiny lobster tailing, and more — but as HTML tables with no CSV-export option. [h/t J. Albert Bowden II]