GSHHS

GSHHS ("Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Shoreline Database") is a high-resolution shoreline data set amalgamated from two data bases in the public domain. The data have undergone extensive processing and are free of internal inconsistencies such as erratic points and crossing segments. The shorelines are constructed entirely from hierarchically arranged closed polygons.

The data can be used to simplify data searches and data selections, or to study the statistical characteristics of shorelines and land-masses. It comes with access software and routines to facilitate decimation based on a standard line-reduction algorithm.

GSHHS is developed and maintained by Dr. Paul Wessel at the University of Hawai'i, and Dr. Walter H. F. Smith at the NOAA Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry.