August 2007

EIGS Perspective

August 2007

With August signaling the return to school, we thought this would be a good time to reflect on the success of the recent MARS pilot program which addressed the on-going demand for qualified, well-trained employees for Mississippi’s geospatial industry.  EIGS and the IHL Geospatial Council set out to reach secondary students, and while the MARS pilot program was not a formal program instituted into the educational curriculum, it is apparent from the results that there are alternative ways to reach students and spread the use and enthusiasm for geospatial technology. By providing direct, hands-on experience, the program has clearly planted the seed with the MARS students; they have been bit by the GIS bug and will be the ones in the pipeline for geospatial-related college degree programs and will populate the future workforce for the geospatial industry.

When we started the process of establishing this program, we had no idea how great the results would be. We knew we had the resources and manpower to jumpstart activities at the secondary level, but it was really the response and enthusiasm we got from the participating high schools and local communities that has made this endeavor such a success:

• “This is not the end of the MARS Project for Water Valley. This is just the kick-start.  We hope to be involved with numerous city and county projects, possibly plotting water mains or manholes.”
  - Liz Reynolds, Water Valley High School teacher 

• “This was a wonderful project that gave my students exposure and the opportunity to think geo-spatially. My students received a chance to research concerns of their community which have in turn sparked an interest to continue research to empower and improve their environment.”
  - Krystyna Tate, Claiborne County Vocational and Technical Complex Facilitator

• “The GIS project has opened up a new area of opportunities for me. Not only has it introduced me to a growing technology, it will help me in my future.”
  - Annah Bailey, South Panola High School student

•  “The opportunities that this technology provides are truly amazing.  The students and teachers were impressed with the various organizations that utilize geospatial technology in providing statistical information and specific location and transportation options. During a post seminar discussion, students shared their opinions of this learning experience.  It was great to hear them say that they found the sessions “fun and exciting,” “interesting,” and “a new way to open doors of opportunity.” 
    - Kathy Dedwylder, Counselor, Enterprise High School

• “You can't put a price on their work. We didn't know how many hydrants we had or where they all were, so they GPS'd every one of them and got them on a map where we could locate them. We now have all the information about every hydrant such as manufacturer, date installed, part numbers, etc. We can order parts without even stepping out the door.”
  - Morris Surrette, Water Valley Water and Waster Water Superintendent

• “We plan to continue building on our GIS training by planning a project for fall that will extend the bus tracking to rural routes. We are also considering including the locations of rural fire departments.”
  - Donald Downs, TSA Sponsor, South Panola High School

• “We are very excited about our Delta Tourism interactive website.  Although still in beta format, we see the opportunity and potential for using this site for visitors to locate businesses and points of interest.  We want to congratulate the students on this tremendous joint effort.  We look forward to the continued progress on this project.”
  - Judson Thigpen III, Executive Director of Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce

• “The impact of the student GIS projects to the participating individuals and to their communities is like throwing a pebble into a lake…the effect just keeps moving out in every direction. Students improved their skills in teamwork, research, computer use, presenting project outcomes, problem solving, networking, and exploration of all kinds.”
  - Joyce Brasell, Northwest Mississippi Community College and Statewide Coordinator for MARS

We encourage you to learn more and visit the GIS Development website which has featured a full-length article about the MARS program titled, “Mississippi Tackles Challenge of Qualified Geospatial Workforce by Taking Aim at the Secondary Level” 

FEATURED ARTICLE

Real Estate Applications of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems
Reprinted with permission from the Real Estate Leader, the official publication of the Mississippi Association of Realtors
by Mark E. Carruth

The Scenario

It’s Wednesday afternoon. You haven’t had a showing since last Friday and the market shows no signs of picking up. Suddenly, the phone rings. The caller is well-qualified, ready to purchase a new home and is inquiring about a new subdivision in town. She’s looking for a home with 2,200 to 2,500 square feet, on the lake, with at least one
shade tree in the yard and backed up against the wooded area of the development. Her price range is $150,000 to $225,000.

Ok, your MLS might have the square footage matched with price, but shade trees??? And how will you know which one(s) back up to the woods? Oh, she wants to know her options within the hour or her husband will call his old college buddy – one of your competitors.

The Fix

Normally, now is when you would panic. However, by attending the Technology Training Camp at MAR’s Convention & EXPO on Dec. 5-7 you will learn how to use a fully-integrated GIS and remote-sensed imagery with tandem GPS data to meet this potential client’s needs in a matter of minutes. In the competitive world of real estate and property development, the most professional members of the industry use the latest, best-proven methods of information flow to collect, analyze and disseminate
information about their properties.

Two of the newest examples of such technologies are remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS). Take a look at what these tools can do for you.

Remote Sensing

In its simplest terms, RS means observing, measuring and/or collecting data about something without coming into physical contact with it. This concept is not new; x-rays are a well-known example of such. For this discussion, RS refers to imaging, mapping or otherwise collecting physical data about a property that allows analysis and interpretation of its physical qualities or characteristics without actually going onsite. Most often, this means taking visual images of the property or scanning it either from a ground-based or air- or space-based platform with lasers, radar or similar methods. RS also includes collecting and often “piggybacking” additional data
that enhances or supports the visual information.

One of the more common types of RS data is GPS positioning data that permits appropriate software to measure distances, areas or other features within the image or map product derived from the collected data. The other great news about this type of product is that many of them have come down dramatically in price and collection/delivery timeframes have shrunk to the point that turnaround from order placement to delivery meaning data is usually available in a matter of days instead of weeks or months.

Geographic Information Systems

GIS is a term heard frequently in real estate, development and other industries today. However, the term still remains somewhat of a mystery to the business community at large. If you are in the dark about GIS, don’t feel bad. You are not alone.

One of the wonderful aspects of the information age is the abundance of new kinds and amounts of data available to us for use in our businesses. On the other hand, one of the curses of the information age is the abundance of new kinds and amounts of data available to us for use in our businesses. This reality is what makes it highly desirable that you have enough basic understanding (or hire someone who does!) of GIS that you don’t waste time and money wading through the ever-rising swamp of information while the alligators of time and finance are snapping at your bottom (line).

In its simplest form, a GIS is two or more pieces of information that correlate and one of them is or describes a physical place or characteristic. The one we all use the most is the phone book. A name is matched with a physical location, in this case an address. Also consider a river and stream stage report that links a specific place to the height value of the water at that place. But in the grander picture of data management, most technical people consider a GIS to be a full-fledged database that is interactively linked to maps and/or images as meeting the most complete definition of a true GIS.

Many of the tax assessor’s offices are developing such concepts. Give them a name or address, and they can then pull up on the computer the tax records for that parcel, its size and valuation, the owner of record and a map showing the dimensions of the property, its location within the city or county (possibly including GPS coordinates) and the latest aerial imagery so that other features such as trees, sidewalks, ponds and lakes or streams, etc., may be evaluated from a sales or development aspect. It is
the ability to use such powerful tools to “mine” additional data from the database, images or maps that will be the hallmark of a successful realty and/or development business in the future immediately ahead of us.

Learn more

Ready to know more about about the use of RS and GIS products in real estate? Then, you should find my session during Technology Training Camp at the 2007 MAR Convention to be useful and anything but dull. I hope to see you there!

Mark Carruth is the Director of
Operations for GeoData Airborne
Mapping & Measurements, Inc. in
Weir, Miss.

Carruth will be a featured
speaker during the
Technology Training Camp at the
2007 MAR Convention in Tunica, Dec. 5-7

IMAGE OF THE MONTH

McMurdo Station, Antarctica
McMurdo Station, the largest community in Antarctica, sits on the shore of McMurdo Sound at the southern tip of Ross Island. The U.S. run station serves as both research facility and logistics base. Located at 77°51′S, 166°40′E is about 2,200 miles (3,500 km) south of New Zealand.

Image taken July 15, 2007

GIS Day 2007

Get ready for GIS Day 2007!
Excerpted from ArcNews Spring 2007

What Is GIS Day?
Held as part of the National Geographic Society's Geography Awareness Week and Geography Action! initiative, GIS Day is an international grassroots event to encourage geographic literacy and help build better understanding and collaboration in our communities, schools, and organizations.

How Can I Participate?
Last year, people from more than 80 countries participated in events ranging from corporate open houses to hands-on workshops, community expos, schoolwide assemblies, mapping projects, geography games, GPS scavenger hunts, and more. Although the official celebration date occurs each year during the third week in November, it is possible to celebrate GIS Day on any day that works for you and your organization.

Mark Your Calendar Today
Wednesday, November 14, 2007, will mark the ninth annual GIS Day celebration. GIS Day provides an opportunity for you to share your knowledge with your colleagues and associates, business partners and customers, elected officials and leaders, and local schools and universities. Please join us in this global effort to build understanding in your community one GIS Day at a time.

For more information or to register your GIS Day 2007 events, visit the GIS Day website. Alternately, read more in ArcNews.

Breakfast With an Innovator

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 7-10, 2007
ESRI Health GIS Conference
Scottsdale, AZZ

October 15-17, 2007
Rocket City Geospatial Conference
Huntsville, AL

November 5-7, 2007
2007 ESRI Homeland Security GIS Summit
Denver, CO

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that there are only 1,621 GISP-certified (Geographic Information Systems Professional) experts in the world?

This is according to the GIS Certification Institute in Chicago. They earn incomes from $60,000 to more than $100,000. In existence only since 2004, the GIS Certification Institute estimates it will issue about 500 certifications annually for the next several years, GISCI Executive Director Scott Grams said. The GISCI was created by the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, the trade's educational organization, out of concern that the field was unregulated, Grams said. There is discussion about going to an examination-based certification process by the end of the decade, but for the time being certifications are issued on the basis of an applicant's education and work experience, he said.

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

Mobile GIS Greatest Hits

The new Mobile GIS Best Practices booklet features articles on innovative uses of mobile GIS across a variety of industries.  This booklet also shares industry examples of how mobile GIS products are currently being deployed in the field and ways to be more productive using ESRI software.

GIS Best Practices booklets are available on a variety of topics, such as public works, law enforcement, and ArcMap editing tips and tricks.  These booklets are instantly available online at no cost.  Published as PDFs with color illustrations, these booklets can be read online as the ESRI website or downloaded and printed.  More than 20 additional titles will become available throughout 2007.  For a complete list of GIS Best Practices booklets currently available, visit this link.  Also, see examples of organizations benefiting from mobile GIS at the Mobile GIS page.

U.S. Geological Survey makes Topographic maps available in GeoPDF format

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is using the GeoPDF format to make its primary base series quadrangle maps available online.

The initial project, started by the US Army Corps of Engineers, involved converting more than 60,000 USGS Digital Raster Graphics to GeoPDF files. These maps represent USGS primary base series quadrangles used by businesses and consumers for all kinds of applications from engineering to land use management and recreation such as hiking, hunting and camping.

The GeoPDF maps can be accessed online and printed or downloaded. Once maps are downloaded, users can view, manipulate and update maps via Adobe Reader with or without an Internet connection or access to geographical information systems.  The USGS GeoPDF maps can be accessed through the USGS store.

USGS and NASA Release TerraLook

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), announced the release of the TerraLook data product. TerraLook product is a user-specified collection of JPEG images created from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images from the NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, and Tri-Decadal Global Landsat Orthorectified images from the USGS archive.

TerraLook images are designed for visual interpretation and display, and are of value to anyone who wants to see the changes to the Earth's surface over the last 30 years. The products are available through the USGS Global Visualization Viewer at no cost to the user.

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE FUTURE:
GIS USERS OF TOMORROW

Part 2 of 2

This is the second of two articles focusing on the need for geography, earth, environmental, and computer science graduates to be prepared for a 'portfolio' career and how it is advantageous for these graduates to be able to identify and capitalize on entrepreneurial opportunities. This second article focuses on the educator’s role in addressing this need.

Eddie Moore, an instructor at Itawamba Community College, holds a Masters Degree of Science in Technology from Mississippi State University.  He has been working this summer with EIGS member NVision Solutions, assisting Hancock County Port and Harbor build up their GIS for economic development and facility management.  This project was started by NVision shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Eddie has also assisted NVision with configuring and testing new vehicle tracking devices.

Eddie heard about this opportunity from a fellow instructor at Itawamba Community College, and indicated in his application that he was interested in working in an area that would possibly involve GPS/GIS applications. As a result, he was matched with NVision Solutions.

The primary reason that he applied for the Fellowship was the desire to strengthen his skills in the use of GPS and GIS technology. Eddie feels that this has been accomplished and that he “will definitely be able to use these improved skills to become a better teacher. Much of the experience I have had this summer goes hand-in-hand with providing improved instruction to develop better student skills in using GPS receivers and GPS/GIS software to collect and process data and I am looking forward to getting back into the classroom and sharing my experiences with the students. ”

Moore says, “I would recommend this experience to another instructor... [If] the instructor can be matched with an area of technology in line with one’s teaching discipline, then the instructor should be able to bring new found knowledge and pertinent experiences back to the classroom, making it a win-win situation for all: the participating company, the instructors and the students.”

Over the years, the State of Mississippi and NASA have fostered relationships between commercial companies and universities in order to build a well-trained workforce with a strong emphasis on technology. “We take full advantage of the student and faculty programs offered by universities and NASA,” said NVision CIO Craig Harvey.  “As a small company we are able to get extra help in the summer and in return interns are able to work on high-profile, critical projects.  Several of our former students are now full time employees.”

For Part I of this article, see the July 2007 edition of The Sensor on our Archives page.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Google Earth Enterprise Data Now in Browsers
PC World - USA

Google, Inc., recently released an upgrade to its Google Earth Enterprise mapping system that for the first time will let users display two-dimensional geospatial data from the product on a web browser.

Learn more about the Enterprise mapping update.

Mapping Can Save African Forests, Scientists Say
SciDev.Net, distributed by AllAfrica.com

Experts say that geospatial technology can be used by developing countries to conserve forests and biodiversity.

Learn more about saving African forests.
 

EIGS IN THE NEWS

Auto-Steering Steers into Cellular Territory
Delta Business Journal - July 2007

Auto-steering farm equipment using GPS technology has been on the market for several years. To maximize the GPS signal for optimum accuracy, local base stations were needed within six miles of the crop. These GPS signals can be dampened by trees, building, hills and other obstructions. The director of research and development for InTime, Hendrik “Henk” van Riessen has developed auto-steering using cellular phone technology. Cellular phones frequencies are less affected by those obstructions and the cellular towers are already in place. InTime’s system relies on the federal Continuously Operating Reference Station network, which is free to the public.

Digital Quest's STARS Adopted
Mississippi Business Journal - July 30, 2007

RIDGELAND -- The national Spatial Technology And Remote Sensing Geospatial Apprenticeship Program has adopted the Digital Quest Inc.'s STARS certification curriculum materials as part of the National Standards of Apprenticeship. Read more.

CONGRATULATIONS

Dungan Engineering Opens New Support Office

EIGS member company, Dungan Engineering, recently opened a support office in Brookhaven, MS. The firm currently operates offices in Columbia, Picayune, and Madison. Dungan Engineering provides a variety of engineering services including civil engineering, surveying, GIS mapping, construction materials testing, and geo-technical engineering. H. Les Dungan, PE, PLS, and Jeff J. Dungan, PE, PLS, founded Dungan Engineering P.A. in 1993. Dungan Engineering serves as county engineer for five south Mississippi counties including: Marion, Walthall, Lawrence, Jefferson Davis, and Pearl River. They also provide engineering services to the MS Department of Transportation, NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center, the MS Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Park, the MS Bureau of Buildings, Grounds, and Real Property Management, Ducks Unlimited, eight municipalities and over 20 different rural water associations, highway construction and general contractors and many commercial and residential developers. For more information, visit the Dungan Engineering Website.

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Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions - 100 Barr Hall  - University, MS 38677