IGI and Related GIS Activities Status October 19, 2011
Due to state budget cuts this past spring, many IGI projects were delayed while we sorted out the impact. Several DNR contract workers have been moved to positions at ISU’s GIS Facility, including Zeb Squires and Jesse Soukup (geocoding) and Cody Hackney (historical orthos). Thanks to Kevin Kane and Robin McNeeley at the ISU GIS Facility for making lemonade out of lemons.
The Iowa Geocoding Project has been reorganized, with ISU GIS Facility playing a major role. We are on schedule to release 50 counties of address points and structure points for western Iowa in January. Second round of Pooled Technology funding was awarded to the project in July for $194,000, which will help finish up western Iowa and start on NE Iowa. Final application for Pooled Tech funding to finish eastern Iowa got third place in annual competition with other state IT projects. We won’t know the outcome until next June but the project now has a chance to be completed on time in two and a half years.
State GIS Service Bureau – Evan Koester hired under contract with ISU GIS Facility, and has a good start working with other state agencies to create GIS needs inventory. He is also providing one-on-one training as needed. State Agency GIS steering committee met in September and did something. Needs inventory due out in January, with business plan by July. Project runs until December 2012.
FGDC Return On Investment CAP Grant in progress. Mary Ann Stewart continues interviewing economic development agencies that are using GIS. Interesting metrics from Priority One economic development group in Cedar Rapids that may help us to estimate the benefits of increased GIS use for entire state. Funding ends December 31, final report due end of March.
FGDC Metadata CAP Grant project was finally launched with the hiring of Amy Logan of Ames to be the Metadata Outreach Coordinator for the project. She will work with local, state and federal agencies to create badly needed metadata for publicly available GIS layers, and place metadata records on the updated Iowa Geospatial Data Clearinghouse, which is getting an upgrade with ESRI Geoportal software. Metadata training classes will be offered early in 2012 and open to everyone. The hiring of Amy for this position means that there are now two GIS service bureau persons at work in Iowa, both of which are contracted through the ISU GIS Facility. Additional funding for 2 years was requested in the current Pooled Technology application.
Related GIS Projects:
USDA color 1 meter NAIP Imagery has been flown for Iowa this past summer and will shortly be available on the ISU Ortho Server and NRGIS Library. Stay tuned.
Historical Orthophotography Project continues with the release of the 1980’s collection of aerial imagery, which was flown by USGS in their National Aerial Photography Program during the early 1980’s. These images are color-infrared photography. Gregg Hadish of NRCS has a web service and the county files will be available shortly on the NRGIS Library and ISU Ortho Server. That leaves imagery from the 1970s and 1960s needed to complete the decadal collections.
Stream centerlines and bank break lines continue to be digitized by the Iowa Flood Center and DNR staff in Iowa CIty, for the statewide floodplain mapping project. Contact chris.kahle@dnr.iowa.gov for details.
High resolution land cover project at DNR continues. Contact pete.kollasch@dnr.iowa.gov for details.
