Geography Matters : Government

Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai

GeographyMatters — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:42:00 GMT

Watch PBS series Independent Lens on Tuesday April 14 and see how the simple act of planting trees lead to political change and a Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai was the keynote speaker at the ESRI International User Conference in 2007.

Check for local broadcasting times.

GIS Used to Manage and Access the Largest Earthquake Drill in U.S. History

GeographyMatters — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:17:00 GMT

At 10:00 a.m. on November 13, 2008, millions of people throughout Southern California participated in The Great Southern California ShakeOut Drill, the largest earthquake preparedness exercise in U.S. history. The ShakeOut was organized by the Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA), a partnership of earthquake professionals, emergency responders, business leaders, and community activists. The drill simulated a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault in Southern California.

GIS technology was used to help build an accurate, continuously updated emergency information repository; aided decision support and resource management; and enhanced multijurisdictional communication.

GIS software developer ESRI supported participating agencies with software, staffing, and resources used during the exercise, which modeled assessment, rescue, relief, and recovery efforts.

"We worked diligently to create a realistic exercise that helps us see where we are with our response capability in the event of a major earthquake," says John Ellison, agency technology officer and geographic information officer (GIO)/California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES) director, California Resources Agency.

The ShakeOut kick-started a weeklong collection of exercises called the Golden Guardian 2008, held November 13-18 and involving 5,000 participants from public agencies around the state.

The goal of the drill was to test and evaluate processes, equipment, technologies, and shared workflows. Results helped determine best practices, opportunities for improvement, and potential new capabilities. "The GIS platform developed for the Golden Guardian 2008 exercise proved to be an invaluable tool," says Paul Hardwick, GIS project manager, San Diego Homeland Security Regional Technology Center. "We were able to post pertinent information to provide situational awareness to the state emergency command center and affected communities as well as areas adjacent to the disaster. The ability to transfer information between systems and to implement server-based tasks for analysis helped make the event a success."

Web-enabled laptops. Mobile GIS helped field crews collect remotely sensed data that was automatically sent back to the comprehensive spatial database.

Related blog posts:

The Great California ShakeOut

The shakedown on the ShakeOut

GIS Technology Powers NOAA’s Hurricane Tracking Charts

GeographyMatters — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:56:00 GMT

While residents continue their clean-up efforts in the coastal region of Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintains it seaward vigil in grim anticipation of the next storm in what has become a very active hurricane season.

Visitors to NOAA’s National Hurricane Center Web site, developed in part with GIS technology, can find a wealth of information about past and present storms. In addition, they can track the progress of new storms as they build in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

NOAA makes some of its data available for free download. For example, when combining its storm trajectory data with census density data from the Geography Network, the potential impact of an approaching storm on population centers can be easily visualized, as indicated in the following map.

Georgia's Water Shortage and a Surveyor's Miscalculations: The Story of the Camak Stone

GeographyMatters — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:08:00 GMT

A recent article in The American Surveyor highlighted the importance of geography and accurate field measurements-in this case, for the drought-stricken residents of Georgia.

In 1818, a noted mathematician at the University of Georgia, James Camak was asked to identify the boundaries of Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee--notably the corner where the three states meet.

Unfortunately, Camak lacked then state-of-the-art surveying equipment and was forced to use a sextant and astronomical tables. Of those tables he said they "were not such as I could have wished them to be." Twice Camak marked the boundaries with a stone monument and twice he was incorrect.

"Present day, using modern mapping and measuring techniques, we now know that Mr. Camak placed the now recognized, established and accepted corner approximately 5600 feet (about 1.1 miles) south of where the Congressional Acts and the record description say it should have been placed. The original record location actually falls within the old bed of the Tennessee River, prior to the formation of the Nickajack Reservoir and its subsequent flooding. The Tennessee River actually cut into a corner of Georgia, much as I-24 [Interstate highway] cuts into the state at Wildwood today."

Had Camak placed the corner in the correct location, Georgia may have had a claim to the plentiful water supply from the Tennessee River, perhaps reducing its current drought conditions.

Read the entire article Surveyors Report: Georgia's Water Shortage and a Surveyor's Miscalculations by C. Barton Crattie, LS.

Learn more about the story in Professional Surveyor: History Corner: The Mystery of the Camak Stone, by Gregory Spies, PLS.

See how Surveyors are using modern mapping and GIS.

ESRI President Jack Dangermond Talks about the Future of GIS

GeographyMatters — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:18:00 GMT

Recently, Jack Dangermond, ESRI president, talked with Government Technology on what lies ahead for GIS and how the Web plays a crucial role.

"My forecast is that as society becomes familiar with looking at things through geospatial visualization, they will be increasingly interested in services that go beyond simple maps and images. GIS servers managed by public and private GIS organizations will be used to provide these kinds of complementing services.

"The Web and Web services pattern simply represent a new and powerful way to share information and collaborate in its use."

Read the entire article ESRI Founder Jack Dangermond Predicts the Future of GIS

GIS Helps to “Keep the Promise” in the Fight against HIV/AIDS

GeographyMatters — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:04:00 GMT

December 1^st was designated World AIDS Day in 1988 to bring awareness and create partnerships to combat the spread of a disease that, as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon states, "...is a disease unlike any other. It is a social issue, a human rights issue, an economic issue. It targets young adults just as they should be contributing to economic development, intellectual growth, and bringing up young children."*

For World AIDS Day 2007, the theme is leadership, part of a five-year slogan "Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise." GIS provides leaders and public health professionals with a variety of tools and methods to track the spread of AIDS, determine populations at risk, develop programs, and monitor the success of targeted initiatives.

Recognizing the capabilities of GIS, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Public Health Mapping and GIS Programme in 1993 with the goal of providing better access to GIS, mapping, and data for public health administrators of all levels. Though originally created to boost efforts to eradicate guinea worm disease, the programme has expanded to make data and mapping available for all communicable diseases. The programme is part of a global partnership in promoting and implementing GIS that gives leaders support in decision-making for a wide range of infectious diseases.

One of the many challenges public health officials face in dealing with HIV/AIDS is interpreting vast amounts of data that span time, place, and social and economic levels. GIS brings together data including demographics, number of cases over time, age or gender groups affected, and allows for analysis and modeling revealing trends and patterns. The results can be visualized on a map so that it can be readily understood by non-medical personnel, such as policy makers in local government or public health organizations.

For example, in Tracing HIV Spread, Geospatial Today, M. Bhattacharya, Dept. of CHA, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, describes how GIS is being used to understand the pattern of HIV spread and develop appropriate intervention and education programs. Through tracking and surveillance, they have been able to identify groups at risk and possible transmitter groups. This has allowed them to focus efforts where they are needed most.

The analysis has also revealed that death from AIDS has created a significant number of orphans--who, in some areas, outnumber infected persons-highlighting the need for specialized education, health care, and other programs.

In addition to helping identify the need for intervention and education programs, GIS can also play a vital role in monitoring the effectiveness of those programs. In Evaluating HIV/AIDS Programs, ArcUser, Dr. Xiaomei Tan, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant, writes that mapping offers two main benefits. First, it can compare before and after conditions in relation to fund allocations, showing how a program has impacted a region or group.

Second, mapping can help anticipate needs based on those changes and any changes in epidemiological information. Policy makers can use the results for evaluating redistribution of funds and/or programs.

Learn More

GIS for Public Health-information on how GIS is used for public health and health and human services

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)-a collaboration of the efforts and resources of ten UN system organizations to the global AIDS response.

UNAIDS/WHO Global HIV/AID Online Database-data query, interactive mapping, and maps and resources

*Excerpt from the Secretary-General's message on World AIDS Day 2007.

GIS Helps Resource Managers Swim through a Sea of Legislation

GeographyMatters — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:21:00 GMT

Ocean and coastal management is a complex and multi-layered system of laws, organizations, and strategies. Authorities are fragmented among a variety of federal, state, and local agencies which can result in redundant efforts, inefficiency, and confusion. Because of this, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coastal Services Center created a GIS-based Web site christened Digital Coast: Legislative Atlas. The innovative Web site helps users to better understand the complex legal jurisdictions and regulations of the nation's oceans and coasts by visualizing information in a dynamic online mapping application.

Legislative Atlas gives users the ability to view the geography associated with ocean and coastal laws and the potential relationships that exist between these laws. The atlas is aimed at resource managers involved in regional ocean management and related initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels. The atlas serves resource managers of all GIS ability levels from those just beginning to get their feet wet with desktop GIS, to those already aboard an enterprise GIS.

When using the atlas, resource managers can query and view the spatial relationships between legislation and other pertinent marine boundaries to analyze gaps and overlaps in a region's ocean and coastal laws and regulatory framework. The atlas also contains the regions, districts, and planning areas of federal management agencies with respect to ocean and coastal activities. The ability to visualize and download these planning areas helps resource managers in identifying contacts within federal agencies for a particular area of interest.

In addition to its mapping application, Legislative Atlas features a database of relevant coastal and ocean laws that are geographically searchable. Resource managers can search federal and state laws and read summaries of each law via links to the supporting U.S. Codes or state statutes. The search can be refined by state, region, management issue, or federal agency of interest.

Currently, the atlas gives users access to a myriad of laws, but the legislative index is still at low tide. Prioritizing the relevant legislation that gets mapped is a lengthy process for each region. The ongoing development of Legislative Atlas relies on a collaborative effort of meetings and targeted outreach on the part of regional councils, resource managers, and the NOAA. Due to the project's vastness, new data will be added in waves.

Federal laws are available for most of the continental U.S., and state laws are available for the Gulf of Mexico region. The next launch, scheduled for fall 2008, will include federal laws for the entire U.S. including Hawaii, Alaska, the Great Lakes, and Pacific and Caribbean Islands, and state laws for California, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. State laws for other regions, including Oregon and Washington, are scheduled to set sail in 2009.

For more information on Digital Coast: Legislative Atlas, visit http://www.csc.noaa.gov/legislativeatlas or contact Adam Bode at adam.bode@noaa.gov.

World Development Report Recognizes GIS as a Tool to Aid Agriculture and Economic Development

GeographyMatters — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:50:00 GMT

How has agriculture changed in the past two decades?

What are the important new challenges and opportunities for agriculture?

How can agriculture be made more effective for poverty reduction?

According to the 2008 World Development Report (WDR), these crucial questions and several more can be answered with the help of GIS.

Published annually by the World Bank, the WDR focuses on topics such as the role of government, labor, health, and the environment to provide an in depth analysis on a specific aspect of development. In 2008, the report focuses on Agriculture for Development, and for good reason. As the natural resources that sustain agriculture become increasingly sparse, the World Bank expects that the global demand for food will double within the next 50 years.

This expectation and demand is a world-wide burden, but one that the WDR believes can be lifted partially by GIS. Throughout the WDR's 11 chapters, GIS is referenced in six of them, and is promoted as an innovative technology required for developing many strategies, including

Determining the spatial distribution of rural poverty in relation to agriculture
Creating new collaboration between scientists, policy makers, and farmers
Improving the practice of precision farming
Identifying areas that can absorb higher livestock densities
Filling the institutional vacuum in pasture management
Monitoring carbon emissions

With the last WDR focusing on agriculture published 25 years ago, the World Bank is using GIS to restrategize agriculture's role in sustainable development and poverty reduction. For more information on the 2008 WDR and how it suggests that GIS can provide new resources for resolving the complex problems of sustaining and developing agriculture, visit www.worldbank.org/wdr2008

In the Middle of a Firestorm – Literally ... The Southern California Fires, and Support from ESRI

GeographyMatters — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:26:00 GMT

Joe Francica, Editor-in-Chief and Vice Publisher, Directions Magazine, writes about the role ESRI's GIS technology played in supporting firefighting efforts.

Russ Johnson, the public safety industry manager for ESRI and a former 30-year member of the San Bernardino fire force, described the assistance ESRI provided coordinating support for incident managers..."By the third day, when there was more command and control structure built around the incidents, that’s when we were effective in providing data, data storage and building maps that provided the answers to strategic operations," he said.

GIS data and analysis were used for a variety of mission-critical tasks such as where to build firelines, informing citizens of the fire's status, routing emergency vehicles, determining shelter locations, and deploying resources.

Read the article in Directions Magazine

GIS Researchers See Pollution Come to Light

GeographyMatters — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:37:00 GMT

Artificial light is not conventionally thought of as a source of contamination, but its disruption of habitats and behaviors of plants and wildlife have brought it into the spotlight as a threat to the environment. Excess light can affect nocturnal predators that need the dark to hunt, wildlife that require darkness for protection and reproduction, and the navigation of birds and other avian wildlife. Unfortunately, due to population growth and unawareness of correct lighting fixtures and practices, dark skies are becoming extinct.

Mount Desert Island, an island off the coast of Maine, is home to Acadia National Park. The park, rich with a variety of wildlife and a diverse landscape, is made up of mountains, beaches, wetlands, forests, and tidal areas. Neighboring the park is Bar Harbor, a town full of lobster boats, restaurants, and hotels.

Last winter, students from nearby College of the Atlantic (COA) conducted one of the first endeavors to map light pollution locally using geographic information system (GIS) software. The main objective in mapping levels of brightness on Mount Desert Island was to create a visual depiction of the sources of extraneous light, quantify that light, and design a method for mapping light pollution locally. Local maps of light pollution would enable decision makers to develop rules to restrict light use, change lighting fixtures in polluted areas, and target ways their own light use can be reduced.

Gathering their data at night, students drove around the island multiple times, measuring the brightness of the sky using a sky quality meter. Averaging three data readings from each of their 140 data points around the island, they used the ModelBuilder application in ESRI's ArcInfo software to create a map that demonstrates the amount of light pollution on the island. In the Bar Harbor area their map shows some of the color red; a concern for Acadia Park officials because red represents a densely populated area such as New York City.

The methodology that the students designed will provide online resources about light pollution in the Mount Desert Island area as well as give Acadia National Park staff the information needed to implement change in lighting fixtures. In addition to providing this information locally, the students hope to make data like this available online. Maps created using their procedure and GIS technology can increase awareness of light pollution in communities and across the globe. Awareness is the first step in providing alternate lighting options that will preserve the earth's wildlife and conserve its energy resources.

Acknowledgement: Research conducted by COA students Nicholas Bacon and Apoorv Gehlot under the supervision of COA GIS instructor Gordon Longsworth.

GIS Puts Philadelphia History on the Map

GeographyMatters — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:40:00 GMT

Events such as the drafting of the U.S. Constitution and attractions such as the Liberty Bell have put Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the map, but the geographic fabric of the city is more than a maze of national historic sites. Philadelphia, like many metropolises, is a spider web of districts, neighborhoods, streets, buildings and houses. Since the invention of the photograph, Philadelphians in particular have documented the evolution of their city well with visual memories. Philadelphia's history and geographical changes can now be visualized via a Web site that combines the city's impressive and ever changing urban landscape with its colorful past, revealing where life happened and what it was like.

Until recently an estimated two million photos, dating back to the mid 1800s, have been stored in thousands of boxes at the Philadelphia City Archives, managed by the City of Philadelphia's Department of Records (DoR). Except for a handful of images published in books, the photographs were not easily accessible to the public. Moreover, while most of them had been processed and catalogued by year and by the city department that had taken them (i.e., Streets Department, Water Department, Department of City Transit, etc.), they were not easily searchable either. Many were also deteriorating quickly. The solution to the archiving and preservation dilemma was right around the corner, literally. Philadelphia-based Avencia, Inc., a geospatial analysis firm already involved in numerous city neighborhood revitalization projects, had a picture-perfect plan.

Using a Web server-based GIS application, Avencia worked with the City to create a Web-based digital asset management system that enables employees of the DoR and Public History interns working at the archives to upload images, enter metadata, and assign map coordinates to each via a flexible geocoding function. The system is also used to manage, update, and record metadata pertaining to each image. The result is PhillyHistory.org, a geographically searchable Web site that enables the public to search for photos by address, intersection, location, keywords, category, or historic date with search results displaying thumbnail images, descriptive information, and map location. The popular Philadelphia Historic Street Name Index component of the site is a tool that matches former street names to their current names, making it easier for historians and researchers to find current addresses of historic buildings or residences they might come across in their research.

Since June, 2005, when PhillyHistory.org went live, the interns and employees of the DoR have uploaded more than 41,800 images at a rate of approximately 2,000 per month. The Web site attracts thousands of unique visitors each month and an e-commerce module supports funding of the project through the sale of prints and digital photos. The Web site has evolved since its initial launch with the additions of The PhillyHistory Blog written by historians and the interns working at the archives and a bi-monthly newsletter.

PhillyHistory has also just launched a mobile version of the Web site and is now accessible from most cell phones, handheld computers and other mobile devices at PhillyHistory Mobile. This innovative mobile Web site has a simple search screen in which one can enter an address or intersection of nearby historic or cultural sites. The resulting display returns a list of sites, photos and maps. PhillyHistory Mobile can serve any pedestrian curious to see what their surroundings used to look like; the tourism industry eager to organize historic tours of the city; and teachers who are interested in making their history curricula more interactive.

PhillyHistory.org is so well-received by the "City of Brotherly Love," that it was awarded a "Best of Philly 2007" award for "Best Local Website" by Philadelphia Magazine. It also received a 2007 "Exemplary Systems in Government Distinguished System" award from URISA (Urban and Regional Information Systems Association). In August the Art Institute of Philadelphia opened "Philadelphia Stories: The Building of a Great American City," an exhibit of more than 80 images borrowed from what was once an archiving nightmare stored away in boxes.

Thanks to GIS, that problem is history.

GIS Maps Your Environment

GeographyMatters — Fri, 25 May 2007 18:19:00 GMT

With increased awareness about Global Warming and the risks and costs associated with fossil fuels, we are becoming more concerned about understanding and protecting our environment.

GIS is powerful tool in aiding how we view and manage our natural resources. GIS gives us the ability to combine layers of information about place so that we can see relationships, possible outcomes, trends, and use that information to make more informed decisions.

One example of this is the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) EnviroMapper®.

EnviroMapper is a Web-based interactive mapping tool for viewing and querying environmental information. You can zoom in to an area, or enter a state, county, city, ZIP code, or watershed to view environmental data from EPA's Envirofacts Warehouse.

"With EnviroMapper, you have access to a wealth of environmental information on your desktop. EnviroMapper is a powerful tool used to map various types of environmental information, including air releases, drinking water, toxic releases, hazardous wastes, water discharge permits, and Superfund sites. Select a geographic area within EnviroMapper and view the different facilities that are present within that area. Create maps at the national, state, and county levels, and link them to environmental text reports. You can even insert dynamically created maps in your own Web pages. If you have a Web browser, you can use EnviroMapper."—EPA on "What is Enviromapper"

Whether you are looking to buy a home and want to know "what's nearby" or you are planning new roads in your community, you can find a wealth of environmental information, such as

Superfund sites
Drinking water
Toxic releases
Hazardous waste
Water discharge permits

You can also view this information in context by adding map features to your map, including major roads, railroads, churches, hospitals, schools, populated places, counties, states, streams, streets, water bodies, watersheds, rivers, and federal lands.

To learn more, check out their FAQs.

Learn about ArcIMS, the software behind the application.

GIS is a Good "DEAL" as a Geology Data Resource

GeographyMatters — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:52:00 GMT

Undersea geological data is now available online. The British Geological Survey (BGS) is using GIS to maintain a national archive of geological data to provide access to the public as well as government, industry, and academic users. One of these applications, developed for Common Data Access Limited, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association, is the Digital Energy Atlas Library (DEAL) Web site.

Since DEAL was launched in 2000, BGS has achieved its objective of meeting the demand for quick and simple access to a single, complete, and reliable reference set of basic spatial and attribute data about United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS).

DEAL has more than 5,000 registered users who generate more than one million hits on the Web site each month. DEAL is now established as the definitive site for well and seismic metadata for UKCS.

Read Surf for Sea Data by Amelia Pickering of the British Geological Survey (BGS) for more information about BGS and DEAL.
Visit the DEAL Web site.

Mapping the Slopes for Avalanche Safety

GeographyMatters — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 20:21:00 GMT

According to the calendars, we are a week into spring. But for avid skiers who enjoy tackling ungroomed, out-of-the way slopes, the "backcountry" skiing season is not yet over. Avalanche season is also not finished. In fact, the risk for wet snow avalanches increases this time of year as snow begins to melt.

Each year, about 200 people in the United States are overrun by avalanches they most likely triggered themselves. Worldwide, avalanches claimed 126 people in the 2003/2004 season.

Perhaps the Best Avalanche Advice Is: DO NOT GET IN ONE!
The line is a direct quote from Avalanche Mapping.org, an organization created by Douglas Scott, a Colorado resident who spends his weekends skiing the backcountry and mapping avalanche danger zones.

Using GPS and GIS mobile technology, Scott collects data to generate maps and a database of information to alert skiers to high risk areas. He shares his data with avalanche rescue groups and ski resorts. With this information, they can put out avalanche bulletins to warn skiers so they won’t get caught in an avalanche.

When Scott—who had used GIS to create bus routes at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics—began Avalanche Mapping.org in 2001, no one else in the United States was using GIS technology for assessing avalanche risk, although countries like Italy, Switzerland, and Canada were already using GIS for avalanche science.

Besides maps and data, Scott also offers database design and GIS instruction for those who want to use this technology to advance avalanche science and reduce accidents for backcountry skiers and others who are attracted by the beauty of snow-covered mountains.

Read more about Scott in Mapping Backcountry’s Dangerous Slopes and be sure to visit Avalanche Mapping.org.

All images courtesy of Avalanche Mapping.org.

GIS Is Providing a New Medium for Understanding

GeographyMatters — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:47:00 GMT

In a recent issue of ArcNews, ESRI President Jack Dangermond explains the new and expanding role of GIS professionals and outlines some of the underlying technologies that will support this vision. He also talks about the future of GIS on the Web and how that is making geographic knowledge easier to access and more available.

Geographically Enabling the Web

GIS technology is evolving on the Web, making geographic knowledge easier to access and more available. As the natural and cultural processes of the planet become more wired or "connected," we will increasingly see new geographic information services and communities of users who incorporate these services into their daily decision making. Some have called this new environment the GeoWeb—a geospatial dimension of the cyberinfrastructure.

What the GeoWeb Means

GIS on the Web will provide many new possibilities for sharing, integrating, and leveraging geographic knowledge. GIS professionals will increasingly make available (publish) their data, maps, spatial analysis models, and 3D visualizations as services for others to access and use. This will create a whole new way of thinking about GIS. Our combined services will provide a new distributed GIS that is open, interoperable, and dynamic. Individual systems and communities will use each other's services, breaking down the earth into components and allowing the dynamic integration of knowledge. The management of this knowledge will be distributed. Services will be interconnected to create new services, and as a result, various parts of organizations will become increasingly collaborative and interdependent. Eventually, these services will provide a global network of geographic knowledge for the planet that is widely accessible and reflects the dynamic changes occurring.

Read the complete article.