“It’s Not a Sprint – It’s a Marathon” GIS 101 For Local Government ICIT Midyear Conference June 17, 2010 Jeff Miller, Dubuque County Matt Boeck, Story County

Goal of Presentation  Describe GIS technology  Explain how GIS technology can aid local governments  Discuss the creation of a Geographic Information System (GIS) for a local government  Demo a real life scenario of creating a GIS for a county in Iowa

What is GIS?  A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.  GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts.  A GIS helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared.  GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework.  From GIS.com – June 2010

GIS Components  Hardware – Computers, Servers, and Network equipment  Software – The programs used to access the data  Information – visualization and analysis of data  System – linking software, hardware, and data  Personnel – people with knowledge of how to use the hardware, software, and data

People  Locate GIS Champions  Everyone should try to get along  Leave unrelated disagreements at the door  Explain how everyone can benefit from developing a GIS  Work as a team  See the end goal  Recognize and acknowledge achievements along the way  Recognize those with GIS talents

GIS Can Help With Many Tasks  Cadastral Inventory and Maintenance  Transportation Inventory  CSR Calculation  Voting Precincts and Locations  Emergency Services and E-911  Utilities Inventory for Cities  Trail and Park mapping  Many more!

GIS Can Help With Many Tasks  Environmental  Monitoring & Modeling  Business  Site Location & Transportation  Government  Local, State, Federal  Microsoft and Google

Examples of Visible Goals  Print Maps On Demand  Plat Maps (Auditor’s Office)  Economic Development  Public Requests  Spatial link to real estate data  Real Estate information available on-line anytime/anywhere  This is expected today – it is not a novelty anymore

Budget  Vendor or No Vendor?  Pros and Cons  Keep budgeting money  Software maintenance  Expand services  GIS Coordinator

What is NOT GIS?  GPS – Global Positioning System  A static map – paper or digital  Maps are often a product of a GIS  A way to visualize the data or analysis  A software package

Real World vs. GIS  A method to visualize, manipulate, analyze, and display spatial data  “Smart Maps” linking a database to the map or the ability to ask the map questions and get back answers

Database Not easy to interpret

Visualization Easily worth a thousand words

Types of Data  Raster – Grid  “pixels”  a location and value  Satellite images and aerial photos are examples  Vector – Linear  Points, lines, & polygons  Features with attributes  Size, type, area, length Real World

Common Raster Data Formats  TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)  High Quality  No Compression  Slower  MrSID (Multiresolution Seamless Image Database)  Good Quality  Some Compression  Faster  Geodatabase  High Quality  Compression up to the Administrator  Fastest  More disk space

Vector Data Type - Points

Examples of Points  Wells  Addresses  Stream gauges  School Locations  Cemeteries  Voting Locations  Section Corners  Manholes

Vector Data Type - Line

Examples of Lines  Roads  Rivers  Contours  Parcel Lines  Water or Sewer Lines  Trails  Railroads

Vector Data Type - Polygon

Examples of Polygons  Parcels  USPLSS Grid (Township/Section/Quarter)  Counties  Rivers and Lakes  Precincts  Flooded area  Building Footprints

Data Type vs. Scale  Large scale, small area  Cities as polygons  Roads as polygons  Rivers & Streams as polygons  Small scale, large area  Cities as points  Roads as lines  Rivers & Streams as lines

Data for GIS Applications  Digitized and Scanned Maps  Purchased or Free from Internet  Created by users  Databases  Tables of data  GPS – Global Positioning System  Provides accurate locations  Remote Sensing & Aerial Photography

Five Data Layers Rivers Roads Cities LakesStates

Asking a Question - Interaction

Databases can be Linked and Related

Accessing GIS Data GIS Server Local User Mobile User Worldwide Users

Select by Attributes  Select by any Layer in your Map  Select the Field you wish to query  Then the value you wish to find

Select by Location  Choose which layers you wish to select  Choose method of selection  Choose which layer you are selecting by

Geocode an Address  Type the Address and Zone (Zip Code)  The software compares the address typed against the reference layer (roads) to find a match

Training Opportunities  ESRI   ICIT   GeoTree - UNI 

Free GIS Data  Iowa Geological Survey   U.S. Census Bureau   University of Northern Iowa   Iowa Geospatial Data Clearinghouse 

Live Demo  Jeff will demonstrate how to build a GIS using free data

Questions? Jeff Miller, GIS Coordinator (563) Matt Boeck, GIS Coordinator (515)