A joint venture involving the National Atlas programs in Canada (Natural Resources Canada), Mexico (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía), and the United States (U.S. Geological Survey), as well as the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, has led to the release (June 2004) of several new products: an updated paper map of North America, and its associated geospatial data sets and their metadata. These data sets are available online from each of the partner countries for download. The North American Atlas data are standardized geospatial data sets at 1:10,000,000 scale. A variety of basic data layers (e.g. roads, railroads, populated places, political boundaries, hydrography, bathymetry, sea ice and glaciers) have been integrated so that their relative positions are correct. This collection of data sets forms a base with which other North American thematic data may be integrated. Any data outside of Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America included in the North American Atlas data sets is strictly to complete the context of the data.
The North American Atlas – Sea Ice data set shows the approximate extent of marine areas in the Arctic covered by permanent polar ice. The data originated from the Canadian Ice Service and was used in the 1:6,000,000 National Atlas of Canada Reference Map Series. It is represented by polygons showing the average minimum ice limit over a 30 year period, 1969-1999. The North American Atlas - Glaciers data set shows areas of permanent ice found on the North America landmass including Greenland, and also shows areas of land found within glaciers. No distinction is made between major glaciers, ice fields, and the Greenland ice cap. The only permanent ice shown on land areas outside of North America and Greenland is on Iceland.