January 2006 Newsletter
Indiana GIS Conference
Mark your calendars for the Annual Indiana GIS Conference, March 7-8, 2006. Your professional development
opportunities abound, with exciting sessions, technology discussions, forums, student poster competition
and more! Sponsorship and exhibiting space are now available. Visit the
conference website for all the details. Early Bird pricing ends February 10th, so sign up today!
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IGIC Board Member Nominations
Translate your dedication and enthusiasm for GIS into action - serve as a Board member of the
Indiana Geographic Information Council. To nominate yourself or someone you think could be a
real asset, visit the IGIC webpages
and fill out a nomination form. Deadline for submissions is January 20th.
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GIS Awards
Every year IGIC seeks to recognize outstanding GIS projects and programs across the state.
Know of a project that has made a positive impact? Are you feeling particularly proud of one
of your own accomplishments? Send in a nomination form - you can spread the word and possibly
win an award for yourself! Click here
to submit online.
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RAMONA Release
Indiana's GIS Inventory is a critical tool used to 1.) Benchmark the statewide status of GIS, 2.)
Perform a gap analysis for framework data coverage across the state (by different variables:
levels of activity, scale, etc.), and 3.) Plan for the completion of
framework data statewide. In fact, IGIC's 2002 GIS Inventory was critical in developing the business case
for the 2005 Statewide Orthophotography Project.
IGIC recently migrated our online GIS Inventory to a new system. "
Ramona" is a GIS inventory tool
that provides robust functions like on-the-fly status maps, a searchable user directory, and
automatic "basic metadata" creation. As part of our system migration, all respondents from
Indiana's previous GIS Inventory and on-line Rolodex have been imported into Ramona. If you
were in the old system, you will receive an email notification this week with instructions on
how to log-in and update your profile. Not in the system (check the Directory)? New users can
simply create a new account. Ramona (beta) was developed by the National States' Geographic
Information Council (NSGIC).
The migration to Ramona officially kicks off Indiana's 2006 GIS Inventory! A big push will be made
to have every community in the state complete their profile in Ramona. Please help us by spending about
20 minutes this month making sure your user Profile is complete.
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Orthophotography Update
Thanks to an FGDC CAP grant and a lot of man-hours, University
Information Technology Services at Indiana University, in partnership with IGIC, is able to offer the 2005 orthophotography free for download.
Files are being added as work is completed and delivered to the counties. Visit UITS'
Indiana Spatial Data Portal
to take advantage of this exciting new service.
At the end of December, orthophoto acquisition vendor EarthData had shipped 52,000 photo tiles
(76% of the state) to Dewberry for QC review. The acceptance rate is good - better than 99%, except
for leaf-on conditions. To resolve these issues, EarthData will first deliver the 2005 photos for
the entire state, then refly Perry and Dubois Counties and any other heavy leaf-on areas in the
spring of 2006. The table below shows the projected dates of delivery. Distribution to the
counties generally takes place is about 2 weeks after the dates shown, provided there are no
QC issues with the photos.
Deliverable |
Delivered for Quality Control Review |
| Natural Color Photos (1-ft, 6-in) |
Through January 24, 2006 |
| DEM (near bare-earth) |
Through February 14, 2006 |
| Color Photos (1-meter) |
Through April 14, 2006 |
| Color Infrared (1-meter) |
Through April 14, 2006 |
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Funding Opportunities
Homeland Security Grant
The FY 2006 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP)
integrates the State Homeland Security Program, the Urban Areas Security Initiative, the Law Enforcement
Terrorism Prevention Program, the Metropolitan Medical Response System, and the Citizen Corps Program.
Completed applications for the 2006 HSGP must be received no later than March 2, 2006. In the grant
guidance, Geospatial Guidance has been expanded to support qualified GIS grant requests (see page 174
Appendix H), including a series of "considerations." Please see the grant guidance document for complete
documentation.
Federal Geographic Data Committee Grants
Information about funding opportunities under the 2006 NSDI Cooperative Agreements Program (CAP) has been
released. More than $1 million is available in five different categories, including metadata
training, framework client development, and the 50 States Initiative. Applications are due
February 1, 2006. Go to the FGDC home page and click on the link "2006 CAP
Funding Program Now Open" for more information about the program.
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Seminars
IGIC, in partnership with The Polis Center at IUPUI, is sponsoring a number of half-day seminars and
full day Road Shows at sites around the state. Topics will include using the 2005 orthophotography,
elevation models, color infrared data, planimetrics, local projects, and more. All events will be
free for IGIC members. A full listing of dates, locations and topics will be available on the IGIC
website in late January. Look forward to at least 16 events in 2006!
Exploring Statewide GIS Resources - Second session added!
January 17, 9-11:30 am, Indiana State Library, Room 401, Indianapolis
Topics for this seminar will include a review and hands-on exploration of the considerable resources
that are available to Indiana GIS users thru the Indiana Geographic Information Council. These
resources include the IndianaMap Data Library, Framework Data, Map Services and Viewer; also
included are opportunities for networking, education for new as well as experienced GIS users
throughout the state, guidelines that can help GIS users more effectively develop GIS projects
within their communities, and much more. The seminar will also provide an opportunity for
participants to share their thoughts and ideas regarding how IGIC can best support the needs of
GIS users across Indiana. The presenter for this seminar will be Jill Saligoe-Simmel, PhD.
This seminar is FREE of charge, but seating is limited. Therefore, it is important that you sign up
early by sending your complete contact information (name, phone number, email, and address) to
polis@iupui.edu or call 317-274-2455.
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Protecting Kids from Lead Paint
Elevated lead levels in children's blood can cause serious health problems and learning disabilities. So
when the Center for Disease Control suspended funding for a screening program, Hoosiers were concerned.
The CDC requested an analysis of the problem before allocating additional funding.
The Indiana State Department of Heath (ISDH) used GIS and their existing children's blood lead
level data (150,000 records) to show where the high risk populations were. Their analysis revealed:
1. 80% of children with a problem lived in 6 counties
2. 90% of the children with elevated blood lead levels lived in 17 counties
3. Problem areas were dominated by pre-1950`s housing and poverty
The results of the analysis identified at-risk populations and provided a scientific basis for
ISDH to do targeted, rather than all-inclusive screening. The outcome saved the State of Indiana
about $2 million versus a blanket approach to testing. Since the assessment, the Center for
Disease Control has resumed funding for the program.
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In Brief
New member of GIS community
Christine McCullough of the Military Department of Indiana and her
husband welcomed Adrianna Christina into the world on December 8, 2005, 2:16 pm (as the snow storm started).
Congratulations to Christina and her (slightly larger) family!
Microsoft releases local mapping platform
Windows Live Local has been called "a pretty slick application" with high resolution oblique aerial
imagery from pictometry. See if you can spot your house at http://local.live.com
Remote Sensing Conference
The 3rd Annual U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Industry Conference updates attendees on best
business practices, trends, policies and emerging markets in 2006 from a full spectrum of
remote sensing leaders and experts active in the field. Join the Strategic Research Institute
in Washington D.C.'s Renaissance Hotel on February 9-10, 2006 to see where the industry is headed:
www.srinstitute.com
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