June 2005

What's Inside This Month's  Sensor:

Features:

• The Director's Cut

• Company Spotlight: EMC, Inc.

• Image of the Month

• Training Opportunities

• Upcoming Events

• Legislative Corner

• Did You Know???

• EIGS Partner News

• Seen and Heard

• EIGS Partner Profile

June Articles:

• Global Perspectives

• Geospatial Information Technology: Changing the Way Mississippi Does Business

• Dedication of New Tide and Water Level Station

• Mississippi's Statewide GIS Competition: Producing the Workforce of Tomorrow

• Fast-paced growth, success the focus of Fast 40 program

Robin Buchannon Director, EIGS

The Director's Cut

It is time for you to get a new perspective on things, so beginning next month we are going to feature guest columnists in the Director's Cut. Be sure to look for fresh faces starting in July 2005 including EIGS staff, companies, partners and others. If you are interested in being featured, please submit material to lstone@olemiss.edu for consideration.

Now back to this month's column...On May 16, 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor released "Geospatial Industry Snapshot." Here are some of the highlights:

• Geospatial Technologies is one of 12 sectors identified as a growing technology by the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative.

• Geospatial technologies are projected to add substantial numbers of new jobs to the economy or affect growth of other industries.

• The progressively complex and accelerating pace of change in the geospatial technology industry offers dramatic possibilities for meeting the increasingly sophisticated geospatial information demands of government, private industry, scientists, and the public.

• The worldwide market for geospatial technologies is projected to have annual revenues of $30 billion by 2005.

• The architecture and engineering occupations group, which includes surveyors, cartographers, photo-grammetrists, and surveying technicians, is 1 of the top 10 occupational groups projected to have the fastest growth in employment between 2002 and 2012.

We are certainly part of a dynamic and exciting industry. For more information, visit www.gisuser.com/content/view/5637 or
www.doleta.gov/BRG/Indprof/geospatial_profile.cfm.

A member of Mississippi’s geospatial technology industry cluster for the past 5 years, EMC, Inc. is an innovative survey-engineering firm that serves local, state, and federal agencies, as well as the private sector. A small HUBZone business, EMC has extensive experience in all facets of surveying and mapping including:

• GPS and conventional surveying 

• Automated hydrographic surveying 

• Cadastral services 

• Data conversion 

• Digital photogrammetry 

• GIS system services

EMC has built their business on constantly improving upon processes and addressing their customer’s needs in new and more efficient ways. For example, a few years ago the Memphis District Corps of Engineers needed a hydrographic survey of eighty miles of the Mississippi River. EMC was able to answer this need and employed a totally new method to do it. They developed one of the first practical commercial applications utilizing DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) technology. DGPS, a faster relative of the widely used GPS, utilizes a RTCM (Radio Technical Commission for Maritime services) correction from a stationary GPS receiver to roving receivers for high accuracy horizontal positioning. Merging DGPS with other mapping technologies resulted in a major advance in the science of hydrography.

From their headquarters in Greenwood, Mississippi and field office in New Port Richey, Florida, EMC is effectively working on projects all across the Southeast including Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama. For more information about EMC, contact Mark Mattox at 662-453-0325, mattox@emcsurvey.com or visit www.emcsurvey.com. 

IMAGE OF THE MONTH

Image of Hurricane Adrian taken May 17, 2005. This highly unusual storm is the first of the 2005 Pacific hurricane season, having formed just two days after the season officially started.

This image provided by NOAA, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

LEGISLATIVE CORNER

The Mississippi Legislature officially adjourned the 9-day special session on Saturday, May 28th. This year marked what some are calling an historical event, as it was one of the first times in history that Mississippi lawmakers finished a regular session without passing a budget. The three-month session ended in early April, and Barbour called them back to the Capitol starting May 18. Legislators worked all but two days since then. The cost for the session was about $347,500. Legislative officials say a special session costs $34,951 a day. Once a week, $16,510 is added for round-trip travel costs. The totals cover salaries, travel, per diem expenses, Social Security and retirement for all 122 House members, 52 senators and the lieutenant governor.

EIGS PARTNER NEWS

Joanne Gabrynowicz, research professor of law and director of the UM Remote Sensing and Space Law Center, was a featured guest last week on the National Public Radio program "Talk of the Nation."

The topic for the program was an examination of a Bush administration proposal to put weapons in space to protect American satellites and other interests.

Joining Gabrynowicz for the broadcast was the the New York Times reporter who broke the story last week and two other guests.

EIGS wishes to congratulate Joanne for a job well done!

Additionally EIGS wishes to extend its congratulations to another partner, GCGC, on their recent dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new tide and water level station. Please see the article below for further details.

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Located at Northwest Mississippi Community College – Senatobia Campus:

Introduction to GIS for Juvenile Court Professionals
June 23-24, 2005   8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Contact: Patricia Lowder, 662-562-3349,  
Registration Deadline: June 15, 2005

Introduction to GIS for Educators
June 21-23, 2005   8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Contact: Patricia Lowder, 662-562-3349,  
Registration Deadline: June 15, 2005

Introduction to ArcView (GIS)
July 18-22, 2005, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Contact: Joyce Brasell, 662-562-3458

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 12-15, 2005
2005 MEMA and MCDEMA Partnership in Disaster Preparedness Conference
Gulfport, Mississippi

June 15, 2005
MARIS Meeting
Jackson, MS

July 11-14, 2005
The Mississippi Municipal League Annual Conference
Biloxi, MS

July 25-29, 2005
25th Annual ESRI International User Conference
San Diego, CA

September 12–14, 2005
ESRI Homeland Security GIS Summit
Denver, CO

October 19-21, 2005
Mississippi Gulf Coast 2005 Geospatial Conference
Biloxi, MS

SEEN AND HEARD

In the field of environmental decision-support technologies, “the volume of data is overwhelming. Not only do we need to develop image processing methods, but we also need transmission and storage techniques, as well as ways to mine that data.”

- Dr. Greg Easson, R&D Magazine, “Geospatial Tools Guide Environmental Decisions” 

DID YOU KNOW???

At least 13 percent of the police departments in the U.S. are now using GIS to solve and prevent crimes, according to the National Institute of Justice.

Global Perspectives

'Geospatial Intelligence' Helps Save Troops' Lives
Mention the word "geospatial" to troops on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and they might ask, What's that? Geospatial and intelligence are two words that help save a lot of lives on the battlefields and get the combatants back home to their loved ones safely. But the troops will never know when these two words come into play to protect them, because much of what the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency does is top secret. 

Spy Agency Might Also Move Outside of Beltway 
More federal agencies in Washington, D.C. are moving outside of the Beltway. The latest is the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, which was actually included with the base closings announcement recently. The Department of Defense is recommending that the NGA be relocated from its current Bethesda home to Ft. Belvior, Va. The NGA has been looking for a place to move for several years. Officials within the agency even initiated a study before defense officials decided to include it in the BRAC process. The spy agency has about 7,000 employees who take satellite pictures of things such as chemical weapons movement and travel routes for military convoys. 

New Geospatial Center
The two geospatial labs that were so instrumental in the Columbia Shuttle recovery are merging to form the Columbia Geospatial Service Center. The union of the geographic information systems is designed to enhance the labs functions. Personnel changes are in the works. The goal is to develop GIS talent into a fully functional team. Dr. James Kroll with the Forest Resources Institute lab said, "There will be no loss of service from either laboratory. As a matter of fact, I think the services will improve and become more efficient." The newly created Columbia Geospatial Service Center will be located across the street from the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau. The move begins in July. 

Geospatial Information Technology: 
Changing the Way Mississippi Does Business

Submitted by Joyce Brasell, Northwest Mississippi Community College

On April 28, 2005, a GIS Information Summit was held at Pearl River Community College’s Lowery A. Woodall Advanced Technology Center in Hattiesburg, MS. The purpose of the meeting was to help ‘close the gap’ of information between GIS software purchasers, the education and training environment, and the geospatial workforce in Mississippi. 

Representatives from various entities presented with the goal of having funding concerns resolved, data questions answered and GIS workforce skills requirements elucidated. Presenters included:

• Dr. Scott Samson, Associate Geospatial Extension Specialist with Mississippi State University Extension Service, spoke on the purpose of the IHL Remote Sensing Council and its work to develop coordinated training and education strategies in geospatial information technology in the state. 

• Jim Steil, director of Mississippi Automated Resource Information Systems (MARIS), spoke about digital geographic data that is available free of charge through the MARIS web site, www.maris.state.ms.us. A summary listing of available geographic data includes cadastral, economic geography (wastewater discharge sites underground storage tanks, toxic release inventory, etc.), geo-political, subsurface and surface hydrology, transportation and utilities infrastructure, physical geography (environmentally sensitive areas, land characterization and physiography), census data and cultural data. 

• Joyce Brasell, Director of Workforce Planning and Development at Northwest Mississippi Community College discussed a replicable program development process for the geospatial integration project at the community college. Having supervised the integration project since 1997 with a team of dedicated instructors at NWCC, Brasell stated, “Whatever your area of interest, if it’s GIS related, we’ve got you covered!”

• Julie Lott, Workforce Training Project Manager for PRCC, explained GIS training opportunities through the Workforce Development Centers located at each of the fifteen community colleges in Mississippi. Lott stated, “If it’s workforce related, training in GIS can be provided through our Centers at little or no cost to the participant.”

• Eddie Hanebuth, president of Digital Quest, an EIGS member, showed how GIS technology can be used by law enforcement to efficiently analyze and solve crimes in a timely manner. Hanebuth’s company is in the process of developing curriculum for the use of GIS technology in issues of homeland security. 

• George Roedl, GIS/Remote Sensing Technology Coordinator at the University of Southern Mississippi, spoke about how small businesses and local governments can take advantage of the educational resources available in the state by utilizing staff expertise, putting student to work, participating in the cost-effective workforce training, and collaborating on projects.

Over 50 people attended including emergency response personnel, university faculty, private companies, community college instructors, and government agencies.

Dedication of New Tide and Water Level Station 

May 19, 2005, marked the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new tide and water level station located at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL). The new station will help support subsidence measurements and will be established in time for the start of the 2005 hurricane season. The station is the second for Mississippi and the first on the coast to be co-located with a GPS-based continuously operating reference station (CORS). The reference station provides highly accurate positioning information to the coastal surveying, engineering and scientific communities.

Grant funding by NOAA has established a new Southern Miss height modernization initiative to install and operate a network of the reference stations throughout the state as well as water level stations along the coast. The program, carried out through the university's Gulf Coast Geospatial Center at the GCRL, is part of a national NOAA height modernization program. It will provide the resources for Mississippi to have higher accuracy in data on land elevations and to relate those measurements to the changes in sea levels in the Gulf of Mexico. Locating the tide station and the reference station together provides coastal populations information on tide and water levels, storm surge, habitat restoration and coastal flooding relative to sea level rise and as well as accurate positioning information to support coastal projects, infrastructure and community development.

Mississippi's Statewide GIS Competition: 
Producing the Workforce of Tomorrow 

Adam Moore, a ninth grader at Senatobia Middle School, won first place in a Geographic Systems technology challenge at the Technology Student Association state competition March 23-24, 2005, in Jackson. The challenge question required Moore to solve a bank robbery by developing a series of GIS overlays to map where the loot was stashed. Moore’s overlay won over those of four others. 

Moore’s GIS instructor was Dennis Campbell, president of Urban Tech Mapping, Inc. and GIS specialist, who worked through a Workforce Investment Act grant managed by Joyce Brasell with the Northwest Mississippi Community College Workforce Planning and Development geospatial technologies applications program. The Senatobia school activity was possible through a partnership with the Tech Prep program. 

Fast-paced growth, success the focus of Fast 40 program

One of the state's most prestigious recognition programs for business - Fast 40 - is back in 2005, and it will once again honor Mississippi's fastest-growing private companies. Nominations are currently being accepted, and the awards luncheon is slated for October 20, 2005. To be eligible for the bi-annual Fast 40 program, companies must be independent and privately held; have revenue of at least $1 million in 2004 and have three complete years of operations; and, have its home office and principal place of business in Mississippi. The nomination deadline is June 17, 2005. Nomination forms are available on the MBJ Web site - http://www.msbusiness.com. Select "Special Events" from the menu, then choose "Fast 40." For more information, contact Cindy Calabrese at cindy@msbusiness.com, or call (601) 364-1015.

EIGS Partner Profile

With the creation of the Center for Spatial Data Research Applications (CSDRA) in 1987 through collaboration with NASA Stennis Space Center and USGS, Jackson State University has been playing a key role in the development of GIS/RS technologies and training of students, faculty and staff in this field. Building on the capabilities and expertise of the CSDRA, JSU officially designated the Trent Lott Geospatial and Visualization Research Center in May 2002. Established to strengthen existing capabilities and talents in GIS, Remote Sensing and Scientific Visualization, the Trent Lott Center has resulted in a centralized facility at the JSU E-Center. The center works with a number of collaborators including faculty, researchers, government agencies and private sector companies on a variety of areas including:

• Digitization and data conversions

• GIS application development

• Automated mapping

• Image processing

• Space mapping

• Remote Sensing applications in natural and environmental resource management

• Spatial analysis

• Database development

• Application modules design

• Statistical modeling

• Integration of diverse data and modeling

The GIS/RS laboratories support the development, enhancement and transfer of applications, making geospatial data accessible and promoting R&D innovation among users. One such project is the Environmental Risk Assessment Integrative Systems Approach Initiative. Working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS), the project aims to provide a national model of Environmental Risk Assessment as it pertains to local economies and infrastructures. 

TLGVRC staff have worked with EIGS member Radiance Technologies on the development of two GIS Decision Support Systems: the Shellfish Management Tool is helping the Department of Marine Resources manage the State's oyster resources and the Storm Surge Tool is helping the Harrison County Civil Defense office better operate during a hurricane event. Currently, JSU and Radiance Technologies are working with NOAA, MDEQ, and MEMA in mapping the potential extent of flood water caused by catastrophic dam failure. Concurrently, software is being developed for combining dam failure model output with GIS information with the intention of assisting emergency management personnel in the same manner as the previously developed Hurricane Storm Surge Tool.

Additionally, the Trent Lott Center is addressing critical workforce development needs by providing training opportunities through workshops and student assistantships in the lab. For more information about the Trent Lott Geospatial Center, contact Julius Baham at 601-979-2989, Julius.m.baham@jsums.edu.

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