May 2006 Newsletter
Resources for All of Us
The IGIC website has grown in leaps and bounds over the last year. We've added links to all the
interactive online maps we can find, job postings, committee activities, projects like the
IndianaMap, presentations from past seminars and conferences, policy documents, GIS success
stories, data standards and, of course, copies of all our newsletters. There's a wealth of
information for everyone, GIS novices and grizzled old-timers alike. If you haven't visited
recently, be sure to check out all the new features, articles and resources available free
and gratis at www.igic.org.
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Keeps on Coming
In addition to the orthophotography itself, there are a number of products being generated
as part of the 2005 Statewide Orthophotography Project. These will be shipped after all
counties have received their photography sets. The bonus products include:
- 1:20 compressed color orthos MrSid files (4000'x4000' tiles) (being shipped with the first deliveries)
- 1:50 compressed color orthos MrSid files, township mosaics (note: both state plane coordinate
system and lat/long versions will be available)
- 1-meter version of color orthos, quarter-quad/DOQQ tiles, in UTM projection
- 1:20 compressed color orthos MrSid files (1-meter DOQQ tiles) in UTM projection
- 1-meter Color-Infrared orthos, quarter-quad/DOQQ tiles in UTM projection
- Digital Elevation Model - Imagine (.img) format files (4000'x4000' tiles/5' pixels) in state plane
- Digital Surface Model - Imagine (.img) format files (4000'x4000' tiles/5' pixels) in state plane
- IndianaMap Package
- AccuGlobe viewer from DDTI
- 1:50 compressed color orthos MrSid files bundled as county sets
- Additional vector files (note: a companion .mxd file will be included)
- Indiana First Response Viewer (limited to the emergency management community)
- ArcReader viewer
- 1:50 compressed MrSid files bundled as county sets with
- Additional vector files
Additionally, Indiana University-UITS is creating county mosaics as MrSid compressed
images (sized to fit on CD) in state plane. These are being produced as UITS receives
copies of the county deliveries. The county mosaics are downloadable, go to
UITS webiste and click on the map to see
what's available (you have to click twice in a county). Please be patient when downloading.
All ISDP files are stored on a tape based system. File transfer usually takes 1-3 minutes to begin.
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Legislative Activities
Do you have an opinion about the future of Indiana GIS? You can play a role in shaping
the policy and direction for GIS. The IGIC Legislative Committee will resume regular
monthly meetings beginning Monday, May 8th. The agenda will include review of the
prior year's legislative activities and planning for the year to come. Join professionals
from around the state in discussing ways to improve and expand how geographic information
impacts the lives of all Hoosiers.
Monday May 8th, 1:30-3:30pm at the IGIC Offices in the Indiana State Library.
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Show Us What You've Got
Ramona is a nationwide, self-reporting, online GIS data inventory. What does that mean? If
you're a state, county or local GIS person you can tell everyone what data you've got - and
find out what everyone else has, too. Go to the
Ramona website and start sharing.
Top 10 Reasons to Participate in the Ramona GIS Inventory
1. Federal agencies will begin to use the Ramona GIS Inventory for future funding
allocations to states as they identify GIS needs and priorities.
2. IGIC uses the responses for strategic planning, to identify areas of need, and to
justify statewide GIS data and projects.
3. Since September 11th, leading GIS professionals involved in emergency management
have emphasized that among the best things GIS professionals can do to be prepared to a
ssist during a major disaster are a) have an inventory of all organizations' data, 2)
have a directory of GIS people - the Ramona GIS Inventory does both!
4. It is a "living inventory" that will let you update your responses over time -
after completing the inventory once there is minimal time needed in the future to make
sure it's up-to-date.
5. The Ramona GIS Inventory will reduce the number of federal agencies needing to
independently inventory for program specific purposes (less time for you answering the
same questions over and over again!).
6. National States' Geographic Information Council, which produced the project,
issued a challenge in March 2006 for 100% completion by all states of the Ramona GIS
Inventory by their annual conference - we want Indiana to look great!
7. When you participate, you make sure you're "on the map" (your data holdings
are represented in the Status Maps).
8. The 2006 homeland security grant guidance for GIS recommends participating
in the Ramona GIS Inventory.
9. If you don't already have metadata, the Ramona GIS Inventory can help you
jump-start your metadata efforts by automatically producing starter-metadata for you
(you can use this to create complete FGDC metadata).
10. It is designed to work with Geospatial One Stop and state metadata clearinghouses.
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Free Seminars: Whole Lotta Learnin'
IndianaMap Seminars and Road Shows
These half-day seminars and full-day Road Shows are all
FREE of charge, but seating
is limited. Please sign up early by sending your complete contact information (name,
phone number, email, and address) to
polis@iupui.edu or call
317.274.2455.
Digital Elevation and Surface Models
Wednesday, May 24th, 1:00-3:30pm, Indiana State Library, Room 401, Indianapolis
One of the most exciting deliverables of the 2005 Statewide Orthophotography Project is the DEM
(Digital Elevation Model) and DSM (Digital Surface Model) data. This workshop will show working
applications using this data. Topics covered will include visualization, site modeling, data
analysis, and product animation in 3-D. The workshop will also provide attendees with helpful
tips and tricks for translating, mosaicking and working with the data. Brian Mayfield of Pinnacle
Mapping Technologies will present, and Michael Kling of the US Geological Survey will be on hand
to answer questions.
Practical Uses of the 2005 Color Infrared Imagery
Monday, June 19th, 1:00-3:30pm, Indiana State Library, Room 401, Indianapolis
The 2005 Indiana Orthophotography Project includes statewide color infrared imagery.
What can these oddly-colored aerial photos tell us about the Hoosier State? Kelly
Johnston from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Dr. Lin Li of
IUPUI will explore practical applications of this unique infrared dataset. What
hidden secrets otherwise invisible to the human eye are revealed about water, soil,
vegetation, and the built environment in Indiana? Learn how color infrared imagery
gives us another tool to understand the world around us.
Addressing Do's and Don'ts
Wednesday, July 26th,1:00-3:30pm, Indiana State Library, Room 401, Indianapolis
Addresses are vital to nearly everyone in Indiana - government, private sector and
public alike. But finding and knowing which ones are "correct" can pose a problem.
Find out what's going on in the effort to create a statewide address database, where you
can go in the meantime, and how to use the data intelligently once you get it. Speakers will include
Larry Stout of Hamilton County, Brooke Gajownik of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and
Jill Saligoe-Simmel of IGIC.
IndianaMap: Orthophotography Road Shows
Join us for a full day of presentations and discussion on the statewide orthophotography,
elevation data and color-infrared imagery. Topics will include product descriptions, release
schedule, public availability and - most important - practical uses. Afternoon topics will
vary by location, and special attention will be given to a free viewer packaged specifically
for First Responders to use in emergency planning and response. More details are available
at the IGIC website.
Warsaw, Tuesday May 9th
Terre Haute, Thursday June 8th
Ferdinand, Thursday June 22nd
Richmond, Tuesday May 23rd
Sellersburg, Tuesday July 18th
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Be A Shining Star
Indiana has a new, one-year, high school course entitled "The Geography and History
of the World," which incorporates geographic and historic themes with basic geospatial
technologies. The
Geography Educators' Network of Indiana
(GENI) is developing a website to support the course with lesson plans, resource
materials and people, and other related information.
Part of the GENI website will highlight geospatial technology professionals from around
Indiana. The goal is to connect the new high school curriculum to real-world employment
possibilities for the 21st century. What GENI needs to make this a reality is information
- from you. They've developed a short form asking for job title and description, degrees
and certificates, courses in high school and college, and a photograph of you in action.
This will enable students, educators, parents and decision-makers to actually see who is
doing the work, what types of classes were taken, and the varying levels of experience.
You can download a copy of the form from the
IGIC homepage.
For more information contact Kathy Kozenski at 317.274.8879 or geni@iupui.edu.
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NASA World Wind
World Wind, a free 3D interactive world viewer, was created by NASA's Learning
Technologies project, and released in 2004. It is now maintained and improved by
NASA staff and open source community developers.
By leveraging satellite imagery and elevation data, World Wind allows you to zoom
from outer space to anywhere on earth. You can look across the Andes, into the Grand
Canyon, over the Alps or along the Sahara - all in "visually rich 3D." You can also
view thousands of place names all over the world, from capitals to villages in sparsely
populated regions. World Wind can also be expanded to include additional imagery and
data. There have already been a number of add-ons created, from Norway's prehistoric
hillforts to the terrain of Venus.
Visit the
NASA website for more information or to
download a copy of World Wind.
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Orthophotography Update
The last of the color photo tiles were shipped from acquisition vendor EarthData
on March 22nd, including the area which was reprocessed to correct a problem with accuracy.
Distribution vendor Pinnacle Mapping Technologies has been working hard to package the tiles,
and as of April 27th had delivered orthophotography to 75 counties. See a list of completed
counties on the IGIC website.
All the digital surface tiles have been shipped to Pinnacle, and 99% of the digital elevation
tiles have been shipped. All of the color DOQQ mosaics have been shipped, as well as 68% of the
infrared DOQQ mosiacs. Dewberry continues to perform the quality assurance tasks brilliantly.
Reflights in leaf-on areas are finished, and EarthData has begun processing those photos.
University Information Technology Services at Indiana University is posting the photos in an
interactive map and for free download at
www.indiana.edu/~gisdata.
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Scouts Love Maps
Help Them Always Be Prepared
The IGIC Education Committee has identified outreach to the K-12 community as one of its goals for
the 2006-07 year. We are encouraging IGIC members to help build GIS awareness among Indiana youth.
One of the most effective ways to reach out to youth is by working with established organizations
such as the Boy Scouts of America. The Boy Scouts serve more than 4.5 million young people
between 7 and 20 years of age with more than 300 councils throughout the country.
IGIC members can foster GIS education by becoming merit badge counselors within their local
community. In this role, they can mentor scouts who are seeking a merit badge that has a
mapping component, like computers, geology, engineering, or environmental science. Scouts
must complete research and other requirements in order to earn a their badge. As of January
2006 there were more than 121 badges available.
Questions about the process for becoming a merit badge counselor can be directed to Kevin
Mickey at kmickey@iupui.edu. You can also learn about the types of merit badges that are
available and associated requirements that scouts must complete to obtain the badges at
www.usscouts.org/mb. You can learn more about the Boy Scouts of American organization,
including who to contact about becoming involved with the scout district and troops in
your local area, at
www.scouting.org.
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Quick, Intelligent Cleanup
Environmental contaminants can spills and leak into sewers, endangering the drinking supply.
Quick response at treatment facilities can greatly increase the likelihood of
containment. Knowing how to respond requires knowing where an incident is, how
extensive, and how long it will take a contaminant to reach a treatment facility.
IGIC members can foster GIS education by becoming merit badge counselors within their local
community. In this role, they can mentor scouts who are seeking a merit badge that has a
mapping component, like computers, geology, engineering, or environmental science. Scouts
must complete research and other requirements in order to earn a their badge. As of January
2006 there were more than 121 badges available.
The City of Elkhart Public Works and Utilities' sewer pipe database contains information
like flow direction, pipe diameters, and pipe type (sanitary or storm). Using this
information, the utility customized its GIS to track the potential contamination
flow into a treatment plant. Using routing analysis, utility employees can quickly
locate upstream and downstream manholes in proximity to a contamination site, and
project the route pollutants might travel to the treatment plant. The resulting
route is displayed on a map for use in isolating the contaminant, keeping the water
supply safe.
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