Projects and Activities FY 2011

Build and Disseminate State's Spatial Data Infrastructure

The WVGISTC supports digital data conversion, data development, and coordination with federal geospatial data initiatives, statewide mapping programs, and local (county, municipal) data producers. The Center collaborates with the WV Office of GIS Coordinator and other partners to create a value-added, high temporal and spatial resolution base map for West Virginia. Base layers such as imagery, elevation, transportation, streams and administrative map layers benefit the public. Data development efforts for the past fiscal year included the following:

National Hydrology Dataset (NHD): Completed the initial year of NHD stewardship and maintenance in West Virginia. Partners: USGS, NRCS, WV OGC, WV DEP, WVU NRAC.

Road Centerlines: Completed report on the integration of multiple statewide transportation datasets to support linear referencing, routing, and addressing. Partners: WV DOT, RTI.

Orthophotos: Presently the best statewide leaf-off imagery is the 2003 SAMB imagery collected at 1:4800-scale and 2-ft pixel resolution. To improve the spatial and temporal resolutions of the SAMB imagery, other organizations have contributed local resolution imagery, resulting in a mosaic of the best leaf-off imagery in West Virginia. Currently the best leaf off imagery mosaic includes 1"=100' orthophotos from Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, and Monongalia Counties; and 1"=200' orthophotos for the Charleston Area. Partners: local, state, and federal agencies.

Elevation: Created new statewide 10-ft contours and hillshade grid from 2003 SAMD elevation data.

Geographic Names: Updated 168 school features and corresponding mapping application (http://www.mapwv.gov/schools). In addition, 864 cultural features that included golf courses, prisons, hospitals, bridges, and shopping centers were updated in the national gazetteer database. Partner: USGS.

Addressable Structures: Updated locator services for site and street address data extracted from Statewide Addressing and Mapping System. Partner: WV DHSEM.

Trails: Collected and validated statewide trails for northern West Virginia. Integrated trail data of various stakeholders, resulting in an updated statewide trail database. Partners: WV DOT, RTI.

Mineral Parcels: WVGISTC contributed to the State Tax Department, Property Tax Division (PTD) Mined Minerals GIS project by spatially locating, digitizing and attributing mineral parcels. In 2010 WVGIS mapped 4,690 parcels and geo-rectified 580 mineral maps; in 2011 WVGISTC produced 1,954 polygons of mined areas and geo-rectified 799 mine maps. Partners: WV DTR, WV OGC.

Cultural Resources: Digitized 366 Civil War battles and skirmishes; conducted an audit of archeological sites and survey features. Partner: SHPO

Flood Hazard Layers: Created a statewide seamless file of flood hazard data. Partners: FEMA, WV DHSEM NFIP Office, private sector.

Mapping Projects and Applications

During fiscal year 2011, WVGISTC participated in a number of mapping projects. Select projects are highlighted below:

Flood Hazard Mapping and Hazard Determination Tool: In partnership with the WV National Flood Insurance Program Office & FEMA, WVGISTC released a new version of the WV Flood Tool utilizing ArcGIS 10 Server technology (Figure 2). The WV Flood Tool allows floodplain managers, insurance agents, developers, real estate agents, local planners and citizens to make informed decisions about the degree of flood risk for a specific area or property. Both casual and expert users can navigate or zoom to the location of interest, and then click on the map to query flood hazard information. The tool includes the best available flood and reference data, and includes connections to other Web map services hosted by other state agencies like WV DOT and WV DEP. The online mapping application and documentation can be accessed at the following link: http://www.mapwv.gov/flood

Feature Highlights:

• Includes the best available flood mapping data from FEMA and other approved sources
• Incorporates the best available background and reference layers (aerial photos, roads, 10-ft. contours, addresses, etc.) from commercial and local data sources
• Includes three customized map views (Public, Expert, and Risk MAP) for general and advanced users for determining flood hazards and mitigating flood risks
• Provides multiple ways to zoom to geographic locations, including by street address, coordinates, place names, and navigation controls
• Permits users to view high-resolution aerial photography at a zoomed-in map scale of 1:1,128
• Displays the approximate elevation of the ground at any location with a vertical accuracy of +/- 10 feet
• Links specific areas of the map to local floodplain manager contacts or FEMA's online map service center to view official flood maps
• Allows users to publish or exchange links of flood maps
• Displays and queries HAZUS 100-year flood event information to assist in mitigating flood risks
• Employs ArcGIS Server 10 technology to improve performance and visual appearance of map features

SHPO Cultural Mapping: In cooperation with the State Historic Preservation Office, WVGISTC provided continual support for the archeological and architectural resources application using ArcGIS Server. The application permits different levels of access to cultural resources.

Energy Research and Mapping: An updated and redesigned version of the National Carbon Sequestration Database and Geographic Information System (NATCARB) was launched on the NETL website. The interactive online tool integrates a wealth of information about worldwide efforts to deploy CCS technologies. Link:http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/carbon_seq/

Mass Evacuation Modeling & Simulation: WVGISTC and other contractors to the WV Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety completed an online mapping application to simulate a mass evacuation event from the National Capitol Region to rural regions like West Virginia. The simulation model was developed for emergency planners and is hosted on WVGISTC servers.

WV Base Map: WVGISTC is progressing on completing the new WV BaseMap application using ArcGIS Server technology. The application will incorporate the best available public data and enhanced functions for viewing and querying geographic information in West Virginia.

Other Internet Mapping Applications: WVGISTC continued support for a Trout Stream Stocking application for the WV Division of Natural Resources (http://157.182.212.223/website/dnr/viewer.htm), and created a new source water assessment and protection application for the WV Department of Health and Human Resources.

Geographic Information Network Services

WVGISTC provides a suite of Internet services to disseminate geographic data and information, including the MapWV.gov (http://www.mapwv.gov/) portal, State GIS Data Clearinghouse, and GIS People Directory. This past year external funding allowed for updating the hardware infrastructure with new virtualized servers and expanded storage to 48 TB, along with the deployment of ArcGIS 10 Desktop and Server software.

MapWV.gov: MapWV.gov is a public gateway to online mapping resources in the Mountain State, providing a wealth of high-quality maps and geographic data via the Internet. The site provides access to static and dynamic maps as well as Web map services. The target audience of MapWV.gov is the general public or casual user who is seeking geospatial information.

Data Clearinghouse: The State GIS Data Clearinghouse continues to grow each year. Currently, the Data Clearinghouse features over 320 separate datasets valued at more than $50 million dollars. Mapping professionals in the state and nation are the target audience for this website. Data is accessed by FTP download, Web map services, or links to data stewards who routinely post geospatial data on their websites. The Data clearinghouse can be found at http://wvgis.wvu.edu//data/data.php.

GIS Contacts and News: WVGISTC maintains a list of people interested in GIS news, events and activities in West Virginia. A WV GIS People Directory is maintained by an Access Database connected to a Web interface, accessible through the WVGISTC website. WVGISTC also provides support with news postings, online surveys, electronic mail lists, and the Constant Contact email marketing service utilized by the WV Association of Geospatial Professionals.

Assists with strategic planning, development, and implementation of statewide mapping guidelines.

WVGISTC continued its efforts with other partners on standards and business plans to advance the State's Spatial Data Infrastructure. Specifically, WVGISTC provided strategic planning efforts focused on statewide cadastral and trail GIS data produced by multiple stakeholders.

Trail Standards: In cooperation with the Rahall Transportation Institute, WVGISTC created a spatial database of trail lines and attributes integrated with the WV State Trail Coordinator's (WVSTC) tabular database of trail information. This dataset was constructed utilizing WV DOT guidelines and the Federal Interagency Trail Data Standard.

Cadastral Standards:WVGISTC participated in meetings convened by the State GIS Coordinator to draft a cadastral business plan. In addition, the GIS Manager of WVGISTC is Chair of the Tax Mapping Committee of the Property Valuation Training & Procedures Commission that has been charged with modernizing tax map procedures, map sales, and data distribution guidelines.

Technical Support, Educational and Training Services

WVGISTC provides outreach, educational and training support, and advisory services to the citizens, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and businesses of West Virginia in the area of GIS and related spatial data technologies.

2012 WV GIS Conference: Since 2004, WVGISTC has been a lead organizer and administrative supporter of the biennial state GIS conference. The WVGISTC will be a host for the 2012 WV GIS Conference at WVU on May 8-11.

GIS Training Survey: WVGISTC assisted with an online GIS training survey to identify and prioritize GIS training for the WV GIS community.

Certified Instructor-Led Training: WVGISTC organized and presented instructor-led training throughout the year. An ArcGIS 10 authorized instructor provided training to over 100 GIS professionals in the State, and this same staff member also became a certified instructor for the URISA Cartography and Map Design Workshop. In June 2011, WVGISTC led a GIS workshop at the WVAGP Annual Meeting in Shepherdstown; and as in the past several years, in July 2011, WVGISTC provided GIS training to K-12 teachers. Lastly, WVGISTC served as a training host site for FGDC metadata training and the new WV IJDC mapping application.

2010 GIS Day at Capitol: On November 17, 2010, GIS professionals converged on the Capitol to increase the awareness of geospatial technologies in the State. Governor Tomblin signed a GIS Proclamation prepared by Tony Simental, WV State GIS Coordinator.

Technical Support: WVGISTC provided a wide range of technical support services related to GIS data, map services, technical proposals, etc.

WV Association of Geospatial Professionals: WVGISTC provided administrative support for the GIS User Group.

Other Outreach Efforts: Presented GIS papers at ESRI and AAG conferences; co-authored an article on rural health research. Instrumental in approval of GISCI certification resolution and WVSPS allied membership.

Annual Report Documents

• 2011 Fiscal Year
• 2010 Fiscal Year
• 2009 Fiscal Year
• 2008 Fiscal Year
• 2007 Fiscal Year