The geological knowledge held by the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) shall be easily accessible and free of charge for use in business development, transportation development, public safety, environmental issues, land-use and natural resource management.
We aim to encourage the widest possible use of our data, services and products to increase value-creation in society. Therefore, data, services and products provided by NGU are freely available for use, dissemination, and further processing.
We increasingly follow the FAIR principles to ensure that our data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. We adhere to the government’s guidelines for making public data available and to the Research Council of Norway’s policy on open access to research data.
We process data in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and strive to make our data available as soon as they are quality-assured, and no later than by the end of each project. In exceptional cases, the release of certain data may be postponed for a period in consideration of e.g. project collaboration or ongoing research.
Together with our users, we continuously work on further developing good metadata and creating additional services to provide open data.
Data produced at NGU is free to use. Consequently, all our data, services, and products can be used at no cost, but in accordance with the applicable license terms. You must review and comply with these terms (see box) when using our data and services
Open Data on Multiple Platforms
We encourage the use of our digital geological services. NGU facilitates usage through map services, download services, APIs, file geodatabases, and more. Open data not yet provided through our digital services can be provided upon request.
An increasing number of NGU’s datasets are documented and made available via Geonorge, the national website for map data and other location-based information in Norway.
NGU’s website also provides access to various maps and databases.
Data from Others
NGU receives, manages, and disseminates data produced by others as well, for instance through our national databases for groundwater and ground investigations.
Data mandatory submitted to NGU under laws and regulations follow the same open data policy as NGU’s own data. For other data submitted to NGU, we also strive to follow an open data policy, but it remains the responsibility of the data owner to determine licensing.
Data from others not licensed under the Norwegian Licence for Open Government Data (NLOD) or a compatible international license such as Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0) cannot be disclosed without an agreement with the data owner.
Licensing and Credit
NGU’s data and products are licensed under NLOD. Exceptions may occur but will be specified in the metadata of the product.
You are granted to:
- Copy and make the data available
- Modify and/or combine it with other datasets
- Copy and make available a modified or combined version
- Use the dataset commercially
Under the following conditions:
- You must credit the licensor in the manner requested by the licensor, but not in a way that suggests endorsement or recommendation by the licensor
- You must not use the data in a way that is misleading, or that distorts or misrepresents the data
With the understanding that:
- Data containing personal information and subject to confidentiality is not covered by this license and cannot be reused
- The licensor disclaims any liability for the quality of the information and for how it is used
The Norwegian Licence for Open Government Data (NLOD) is available in both Norwegian and English.
Contact
You will find more information about our digital geological maps, datasets, and API/WMS service addresses on our website.
