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SpatialNews - "GIS On The Street" #2
March 20, 2000
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On The Street!
We want to share with you some things that other SpatialNews readers are doing in their day to day GIS activities.
"On The Street" is a column we've started to give you a chance to share your experience with
thousands of other GIS/Mapping professionals just like you. We want to showcase "real life"
stories from SpatialNews readers. These are highlights of GIS or mapping projects that people are working
on right now. Here we will bring you the opinions of the people who are working "hands-on" with the projects. This will be a great opportunity to get an idea how people around the world, from various disciplines,
are working with GIS technologies.
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Tell Us How You Do Things!
Would you like to be featured in our "On The Street" Column? If so, drop us a line explaining who you are and what you do.
If applicable, please explain an interesting GIS/Mapping project that your currently involved with.
Email us requesting: Put me on the street!
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WUTC Solid Waste Regulation GIS Project
Deborah Reynolds, GIS Intern at The Washington Utilities and Transportation commission tells
us about a recently completed project designed to introduce GIS technology to the agency and solve specific business
problems in the regulation of solid waste certificate areas. She's provided us with
a PDF document detailing the project... Details Here
Plymouth University Hydrographer
Nicholas Hewlett is currently a masters student at Plymouth University studying
Hydrography. For his Thesis he's creating a GIS for a port engineer
to aid in his/her decision making. This will involve all land and marine data from pipline location and
attribute date, to bathymetric data and digital grouned models.
If anybody knows of a similar project that involves this as it would
be great to have some sort of imput from other GIS users and
designers please email Nicholas at
nhewlett@plymouth.ac.uk
NovaLIS Technologies
Gina Stack tells us about NovaLIS Technologies' involvement in land records management projects across
North America. Designed to operate on top of ESRI software, NovaLIS products
make maintaining and updating maps and data simple through a user-friendly
graphical interface. More specifically, NovaLIS' products automate and
integrate the collection and flow of information within land records
agencies, and improve access to information relating to land tenure,
cadastral mapping, property valuation and land use planning.
Two of their recent success stories include a Parcel Editor (parcel mapping)
installation in Escambia County, Florida, USA and an Assessment Office
(automated appraisal and administration) installation in the City of
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Some details about the installation at Oshawa are
provided here... enjoy
Torcuill Torrance, Positioning Resources Ltd
Torcuill describes a recent incident... "We recently took a panic call from a local architect who needed to survey
over 500 trees in 5 acres of ground in a day. Or his multi-million pound
proposal would miss its planning submission deadline.
Using conventional methods this is impossible - he also needed the heights
and diameters to be noted on the map to be sure that they only removed the
trees which may fall onto the development.
I was able to map every single tree in the area using a laser and GPS
backpack linked to a Husky fex21 running PocketGIS
software
http://www.pocket.co.uk. This software can use easily obtainable
Ordnance Survey Superplan mapping as a background
http://www.ordsvy.gov.uk - and we could then fix the positions under very
dense tree cover using the laser (and incidentaly avoiding the boggy
conditions underfoot!). The laser/PocketGIS combination allowed me to
download the diameter and heights straight onto the map - about a million
times faster than an old diameter tape!
Later on that day we emailed the completed map with attributes - and
received the heartfelt congratulations of the architect."
Andrew S. Harrison - The Schneider Corporation
A group of GIS professionals at The Schneider Corporation have announced
the debut of
http://www.indianagis.com, a bulletin board web site designed
for GIS novices and enthusiasts alike.
Schneider expects the site to become quite valuable to Indiana County
Government officials. "More and more Indiana counties are developing new GIS
systems or enhancing existing systems," said Andrew Harrison, GIS consultant
for Schneider, "we are simply providing an opportunity for these people to
learn from one another."
Ultimate bulletin boards allow Internet users seeking information on a
particular topic to easily post questions, and those with information on the
topic the opportunity to post replies in a "user-friendly" environment.
Particular topics are called "threads" and anyone who has registered with
the site can join an existing thread or start a new thread. There is no cost
to register.
Developing a GIS takes a lot of time and commitment. The bulletin board
system enables people who are committed to building a GIS to learn and grow
together. For example, someone in a northern Indiana county may be
experiencing a challenge with their parcel mapping. It is possible that a
county in southern Indiana recently overcame a similar problem and can offer
suggestions or assistance. The bulletin board is a way to bring together
these people who otherwise may never have met.
"GIS is not a competition," explains Harrison. "There is no proprietary
information to hide. We are all striving toward the same goals with GIS. Why
shouldn't we share information and work together to propel our state into
the future?" Harrison believes www.indianagis.com will benefit GIS users
across Indiana - www.theschneidercorp.com
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