VCGI Web Services Expanded – Documentation Posted

VCGI, in collaboration with VT’s Enterprise GIS Consortium (EGC), has developed a portfolio of “web services” which allow users to bring map layers and imagery into their GIS projects or map mashups without actually downloading any data. By connecting to the service of choice via the internet (a live internet connection is required in order for the images to appear in your GIS project) users can access a variety of resources.

VCGI provides Web Map Services (including a basemap and contours), Imagery Services (black and white, color, infrared, various ages and resolution levels), and Geocoding Services. Services are often available in two forms: 1) cache and 2) non-cache. Cached services (*_CACHE) are designed to be used in browser or mobile web applications which utilize imagery at specific scales and need the fastest rendering performance. Non-cache services (*_NOCACHE) render the imagery to the client application dynamically; this allows clients such as ArcGIS Desktop to ask for the data in different ways (eg: different stretch or band combinations). Many of the services are also available in VT State Plane or Web Mercator projection/coordinate systems.

Services available and information on how to connect is available at the VCGI website: http://vcgi.vermont.gov/warehouse/web_services

Webinars Coming Up: Open Source, Emergency Mapping, VCGI’s New Website, QGIS, Census…

Plenty more webinars are scheduled for the next 6 weeks or so! See if any of the topics interest you and register today!

 

Click on the link below each webinar date for more details and link to registration.

 

The promise and the reality of free and open-source desktop GIS software

Tue, Feb 19, 2013 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

http://vcgi.vermont.gov/node/635

 

QGIS: Creating Map Layouts – Printing and Exporting

Tue, Feb 26, 2013 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

http://vcgi.vermont.gov/node/636

 

The New VCGI Website

Tue, Mar 5, 2013 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

http://vcgi.vermont.gov/node/638

 

Mapping for Emergency Management (repeat)

Tue, Mar 12, 2013 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

http://vcgi.vermont.gov/node/639

 

Mapping With Census Data: Linking Tabular Data From Factfinder2 With VCGI’s Shapefiles

Tue, Mar 19, 2013 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

http://vcgi.vermont.gov/node/640

 

 

Feel free to contact me if you have questions about how a webinar works!

ArcIMS>>>>>ArcGIS Server: January 18, 2013

Steve Sharp, VCGI

VCGI is in the process of upgrading its servers and services, and will be phasing out the use of ESRI’s ArcIMS software product over the next month.  This will impact the following VCGI ArcIMS services

• VGIS_BASEMAP: Dynamic ArcIMS map services with “basemap” features
• GEOCODE_ESITE: ArcIMS geocoding service using E911 ESITE points

These and all other ArcIMS services will be “turned off” on 1/18/2013.  If you use these ArcIMS services please consider switching to our replacement ArcGIS Server services including

• VGIS_BASEMAP_OS:  Replacement for old ArcIMS VGIS_BASEMAP service being phased out.
  • http://www.vcgi.org/dataware/?page=./products/metadata/vgis_basemap.htm
• GEOCODE_ESITE: Replacement for old ArcIMS GEOCODE_ESITE service being phased out.
  • http://www.vcgi.org/dataware/?page=./products/metadata/geocode_esite.htm

VCGI is working with partners (member of the VT Enterprise GIS Consortium) to implement a robust suite of web services defined in the EGC’s Web Services Strategy.  We hope to have all of these online by the end of 2013.

• https://outside.vermont.gov/sites/egcgeo/Documents/EGC_WebServicesStrategy_v1.2.pdf

Leveraging Python to Revolutionize the Production of the Vermont Town Highway Maps

 Sara Moulton, VTrans

To put next week’s webinar into context . . .  a reminder that a year ago I sent an email to the VGIS-Listserv asking for feedback about the Town Highway Maps.  The overwhelming response was that people wanted hardcopy versions of the maps.

As a result of this, we worked with the ESRI Holistic Testing Team who devised a new approach to the production of these maps.   A simplified version of the process is available online here

http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=0ba4fd37e2e54f65b3edf6478e8cc30a

For more information about our actual process and production, tune in to the webinar titled

“Leveraging Python to Revolutionize the Production of the Vermont Town Highway Maps” scheduled for December 12

http://www.vcgi.org/commres/?page=./events/calendar/more_info.cfm&event=Leveraging%20Python%20to%20Revolutionize%20the%20Production%20of%20the%20Vermont%20Town%20Highway%20Maps&cdate=2012%2D12%2D12%2000%3A00%3A00%2E0

An object-based system for LiDAR data fusion and feature extraction

Jarlath P. O’Neil-Dunne, UVM Spatial Analysis Lab

An object-based system for LiDAR data fusion and feature extraction is the title of an article headed for publication in Geocarto International, but what it boils down to is our experience doing high-res land cover in Philadelphia.  Before I highlight the key points (who reads anything more that 140 characters anyway?) I did want to thank Sarah Low, formerly with the City of Philadelphia and now with the Forest Service, for all of her help and valuable feedback.  Funding came from ARRA grant, “Restoring Ecosystems in Fairmount Park” (10-DG-11244419-025) ……

 

For the rest of this article, click here: http://letters-sal.blogspot.com/2012/06/object-based-system-for-lidar-data.html

A Primer for Getting Started With Open-Source Web Maps

Bill Morris, Geosprocket, LLC

Now that you know why I care about telling compelling stories with widely-distributed maps, let’s look at a few of the many tools that are out there to help the process. I confess to narrow experience here; I use MapBox and CartoDB for the majority of my projects, and there are plenty of alternatives to those. But as a starting point I think that these open-source web map design platforms are perfect – they minimize the amount of code required, they use the best graphic rendering engine in the field, and they are extremely cheap (or free) to use, even in an enterprise or high-traffic environment. I’m avoiding ESRI’s “ArcWhatever for Server” options because of a.) the high price tag, and b.) the actual user-facing sites are only as robust as the javascript or flash developer who builds them. My preferred options give you a lot more to work with out of the box, for free. Read the rest at Bill’s blog:
http://geosprocket.blogspot.com/2012/05/browser-cartography-some-safehouses-for.html

Browser Cartography: A Manifesto

“Toner” tiles by Stamen Design

Bill Morris, Geosprocket, LLC

Hear me out for a minute . . .
. . . I’d like you to make maps intended for online viewing. 

This is partially a selfish impulse; I’m going to throw a rock through the window if I see another “PDF Download” link masquerading as a web map. I’d also like you to do this to save a few trees from their 24″-by-36″-poster fate, but mostly it’s because we’re at an inflection point in cartography . . .

. . . I think the public – the folks who show up to input forums for development projects, and who want to know how far it is to the next lean-to on the trail – are now fully-literate in maps. Mapquest started this process and Google advanced it, but now there are tools beyond those to help you engage your audience on computers and mobile devices (No, Trimble, I am not referring to the Juno. Screw that.). Many of these tools happen to be open-source . . .

See Bill’s blog for the rest of this article: http://geosprocket.blogspot.com/2012/05/browser-cartography-manifesto.html

FOSS4G North America 2012

Bill Morris, Geosprocket, LLC.

I had the good fortune to make it to this year’s iteration of the Free and Open Source for Geospatial (FOSS4G) tech conference – North American edition (other sections of it will be occurring in Germany and China). Having missed the O’Reilly festival of place, it was a great opportunity to catch up with – as one attendee put it – “The real makers in the world of map ” …. While there was more afoot than I could ever have followed entirely, I took note of two items… Click here for more: http://geosprocket.blogspot.com/2012/04/foss4g-north-america-2012-noted-points.html

Map Morsels IX

Jonathan Frishtick, GPS/GIS Mapping

As always, please let me know if you like one of these entries.

1.  Put learning Mandarin on the back burner and learn how to code. You have put it off long enough. You’ve been thinking about it for years. You know it will help you in whatever discipline you are in. It’s time to dive in. http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0

2. Threats from sea level rise and storm surge to all 3000+ coastal towns, cities, counties and states in the Lower 48.  http://sealevel.climatecentral.org/

3. Fonts in ArcGIS symbols, from Aileen Buckley, ESRI Map Center.                                                                               http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2012/03/28/fonts-in-arcgis-symbols/

4.  Google Earth Where in the World.             https://sites.google.com/site/sightseerwhereintheworld/

5.  Google Search Features.                                http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features.html

6.Google Voice Search.                                  http://www.google.com/insidesearch/voicesearch.html

7.  World Bank Announces Its Crowdsourced Map Data Will Be Free for the Crowd  http://techpresident.com/news/21989/world-bank-announces-its-crowdsourced-map-data-will-be-free-crowd, via the Spatial Law and Policy blog.

8.  The National Archives and Records Administration has made individual records from the 1940 Census available to the public for the first time. http://www.census.gov/1940census/

9.  From Google Maps Mania:The Outlook is Cloudy on Google Maps

Plane Finder, the real-time plane tracking website, has added options to view both the cloud layer and the weather layer on its Google Map.   To view the new weather layers on Plane Finder select ‘Map Options’, ‘Map’ and then select the ‘cloud’ and / or ‘weather’ check buttons. Martin Kleppe of Ubilabs has created a rather beautiful example of the cloud layer in action on a styled Google Map. This example map uses dark map tiles which contrast nicely with the new fluffy white clouds.

Map Morsel VIII

Jonathan Frishtick, GIS/GPS Mapping

 

LiDAR Mapping Helps Archeologists                                                                                                                                    http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/archeology-lidar-mapping/

Japanese disaster imagery one year later                                                                                                          http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2012/03/japanese_disaster_imagery_one_year.html

WeatherMob, a Social Network Around the Local Forecast http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/sxsw-weathermob-a-social-network-around-the-local-forecast/.                                                                                 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weathermob/id463729367

A Skeptic’s Lament: James Randi on the American psyche.                                                                                         http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/opinion-randi-maya-skeptic

Real time twitter feeds in a Google map interface:                                                                                                             http://tweereal.com/

Do you want to receive an email when Google updates a particular location’s imagery? https://followyourworld.appspot.com/

In the wake of the Tohoku-oki tsunami, scientists now know that seafloor topography affects the strength and height of a tsunami even in the deep ocean and at great distances.                                                                           http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77331

Where has Aaron been?   Maybe he is just a tad obsessive.                                                                                          https://geoloqi.com/blog/2012/03/data-portraits-powered-by-3-5-years-of-data-and-2-5-million-gps-points/

Map pages show threats from sea level rise and storm surge to all 3000+ coastal towns, cities, counties and states in the Lower 48.                                                                                                                                                           http://sealevel.climatecentral.org/

Pareidolia: I see faces…                                                                                                                                                          http://urbanhonking.com/ideasfordozens/2012/01/14/machine-pareidolia-hello-little-fella-meets-facetracker/

Lyme Disease Surge Predicted for Northeastern US, Due to Acorns and Mice, Not Mild Winter                          http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120316094452.htm

New hardiness zones show warming trend in Vermont http://vtdigger.org/2012/03/15/new-hardiness-zones-show-warming-trend-in-vermont

Time-Lapse Video Shows Stars and Earth From Space Station                                                                                  http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/stars-time-lapse-space-station

Will 2012 be the year of the Open Map?                                                                                                                http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/daily-report-some-sites-bypass-google-maps/               https://plus.google.com/u/0/118383351194421484817/posts/foj5A1fURGt

Strange Days: NASA Earth Observatory’s land surface temperature anomaly map. Noted in the article was that Climate Central reported that in Rochester, Minnesota the overnight low temperature on March 18 was 16.6°Celsius (62°Fahrenheit), a temperature so high it beat the record high of 15.5°Celsius (60°Fahrenheit) for the same date.                         http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77465                                                                              The Doors: Strange Days  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NSz-9qqgKE

Anything Frank Jacobs writes is worth reading.                                                                                   http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/all-hail-sealand/

U.S. Defense Department Develops Map of Future Climate Chaos                                               http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-defense-department-develops-map-future-climate-chaos