VCGI is happy to announce the release of a new 10m statewide DEM and derivative layers from the recently completed (Jan. 2012) statewide 1/3 arc-second (~10m) DEM from the USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED). The NED is a multi-resolution dataset so for areas where LiDAR data exists the vertical accuracy is higher and subsequently the derived contours won’t match the 7.5′ USGS Quad Contours very well. See the Abstract section of ElevationContours_CN20T for more on this issue.

While the layer ElevationContours_CN20T can be custom downloaded, i.e. “clipped and zipped”, the other datasets are statewide in extent and compressed to “zip” files due to their size. These zip files contain both metadata and layer files you can elect to use in ArcGIS.

NEW LAYERS:

• ElevationDEM_DEM10m               (342 Mb) – 10m DEM
• ElevationContours_CN20T            (990 Mb) – 20′ contours
• ElevationOther_ASPECT10m         (358 Mb) – Aspect identifies the down slope direction of the maximum rate of change in value from each cell to its neighbors. Values rounded to nearest Integer.
• ElevationOther_HILSH10m            (299 Mb) – Hillshade from 315 degree azimuth and 45 degree altitude
• ElevationSlope_SLOPE10m           (135 Mb) – Reclassed “percent rise” slope values rounded to nearest integer.

DATA ISSUES:

• USGS states the NED can be used for hydrologic modeling but VCGI has not conducted any verification. It is highly recommending you review this issue before investing substantial resources in a modeling project.
• WaterHydro_VHD – These features are based on the earlier black and white Orthophotos (1994-2000), and will not necessarily match up with the 10m DEM or the latest vintage of Orthophotos (2005-2010).
• VTHYDRODEM – Created in 2004, this VT “hydrologically enforced” DEM (using the local resolution NHD for VT, i.e., the “VHD”) was interpolated from the VT Mapping Program orthophoto rectification X, Y, Z points to support the NHD effort and creation of “WaterHydro_VHDCARTO”, a cartographic version of the NHD with “intermittent” and “perennial” modeled streams. Having created it and working with ElevationDEM_DEM10m I would say the latter is more accurate. However, this raster does have the advantage of being integrated with the VHD.
• ElevationContours_CN100T and *_CN50T – These are not currently based on the 1/3 arc-second NED and will be replaced sometime in 2012. Until then they will not be coincident with *_CN20T.

The following pre-existing contour data will be superseded by ElevationDEM_DEM10M

•  ElevationContours_CN20T06A     20 ft contours from Ortho DEM – Addison, Wash, Orange Cnty
•  ElevationContours_CN20T06B    20 ft contours from Ortho DEM – Rutland & Windsor Cnty
•  ElevationContours_CN20T07      20 ft contours from Ortho DEM – Chit, Lam, Caledonia Cnty
•  ElevationContours_CN20T08      20 ft contours from Ortho DEM – GrandIsl, Frank, Orlean Cnty
•  ElevationContours_CN20T09      20 ft contours from Ortho DEM – Essex Cnty

Please feel free to contact me directly with questions, feedback about the metadata and any content or grammatical errors: Mike Brouillette, mailto:mikeb@vcgi.org

Coming Up

Webinars (all free)

Scheduled (click here for details and to register):

• Free Online Mapping with ArcGIS Online: March 6, 2012, 10:30 AM
• E911 PMF Map and Website Overview: March 13, 2012, 10:30AM

Ignite Spatial Vermont: Student Showcase

The event will be held in the evening on April 17, 2012 at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Montpelier, VT; Cash bar and appetizers will be provided.  The “Ignite” format provides speakers the opportunity and the challenge to tell their spatial story in only 5 minutes! The quick pace means that participants can learn about a multitude of projects and then network and follow up on topics that caught their interest. In 2012, we invite students of Vermont’s colleges and universities to submit abstracts to participate in this exciting event along with  professionals from a wide range of private, non-profit, and public organizations that use GIS.

Visit the web page to learn more about this event, and to submit a lightning presentation abstract or register to attend (for free!): http://www.vcgi.org/commres/?page=./events/ignite/default_content.cfm

VT College and University Student Map Contest

VCGI and a coalition of academic institutions in VT are pleased to present the first VT Map Contest (in a number of years, anyway). Any and all digital maps (dynamic or static) can be submitted! The only limitations are that the map must be viewable by the general public via a web link (URL – VCGI can provide a place to post the map if it is a PDF or image file) without the need to pay for special software, and the author(s) of the map need to be current full or part-time students at a VT institution of higher learning. Deadline for submission is April 1! Winner will be announced at April 17 Ignite event (see above).

Visit the map contest web page for more information and instructions on how to submit your map! http://www.vcgi.org/commres/?page=./map_contest/default_content.cfm

Introduction to ArcGIS 10 Training in Randolph, June 11-13

This 3-day training is still being planned, but the location and dates are set! Keep an eye on the front page of VCGI’s web site for details and registration link. The training will be conducted by UNH Extension in partnership with VCGI and the fee will be $350 (nonprofit, school, public enployees) or $495 (private sector).

NEARC Spring Conference – call for papers

The NEARC Spring Conference will take place Tuesday, May 22 at the Smith College Campus Center in Northampton, MA. Submit your “presentation proposal” by March 23!   See the schedule of the day and link to the submission form here: http://www.northeastarc.org/html/springnearc.shtml

There are many different ways that you can participate in this fun and dynamic event: Extended Talk (45-60 Mins.), Panel (45-60 Mins.), Standard Talk (20-30 Mins.),   Workshop (60 Mins.), Lightning Talk (5 Mins.), Video Poster, Poster.

Other Features of the NEARC Spring Conference include Lightning Karaoke, the Pub Social and more!

Data/Maps

BNDHASH Updated! – Steve Sharp ( steves@vcgi.org )

BNDHASH has been updated and is available for download here.

http://www.vcgi.org/dataware/?layer=BNDHASH

Significant Boundary Changes – Summary (2011A)
———————————————
1) Saint George / Shelburne Town line.  Adjusted to match Survey “Town Line Agreement between Towns of: Shelburne & St. George Chittenden County State of Vermont” conducted by a licensed land surveyor employed by Civil Engineering Associates, Inc. and dated March 9, 2011.  Boundary codified by VT Legislature in 2011 H. 452 (ACT 0015).  Recieved copy of survey boundary in shapefile format from CCRPC.

2) Braintree / Rochester town line.  Adjusted based on latest matching Braintree/Rochester parcel data provided by TRORC.

3) MA / VT boundary.  Adjusted MA / VT boundary based on survey point data provided by MassGIS http://www.mass.gov/mgis/townssurvey.htm which was derived from 68-volume MA “Harbor and Lands Commission Town Boundary Atlas”.

Minor Updates (2011A)
———————
1) Tweaked Norwich/Harford boundary based on the latest parcel data to correct a problem.

2) Updated LEPC boundaries based on new information.

3) Adjusted boundaries for several villages to match 2011 boundary information provided by VTrans from their HMS system.

VTrans County/Town Maps Updated, Sara Moulton, GISP

An updated set of the County-Town Map Series has been posted online and is available from the Mapping Unit Publications web page

http://www.aot.state.vt.us/Planning/Documents/Mapping/Publications/mapping_pubs.htm

The major change is the note in the legend identifying that Minor Collectors are not Federal Aid eligible.  Other changes included small cartographic changes plus the road centerline data that has been updated since the previous map set was produced in September-October 2010.

Links to the Past

Webinars Recorded and Posted (click here to access):

• Web Mapping Made Easy I – Leslie Pelch, VCGI, February 2, 2012
• Linking Parcel Maps/Data and Grand List Data – Pete Fellows, Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission, January 12, 2012

ESRI Seminar Materials re: ArcGIS Online

http://www.esri.com/events/seminars/extend-your-reach/index.html

Municipal and Irene Mapping Conference Presentations Posted

Click here to go to the Event Archive where all conference presentations are posted (as they come in, check back if they one you want isn’t posted yet!)

News

From Jonathan Frishtick:

• Big news. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/supreme-court-says-search-warrants-needed-when-police-use-gps-devices-to-track-suspects/2012/01/23/gIQA7wL1KQ_story.html

• From GPS TrackLog:”The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) wrote the FCC yesterday (PDF) saying they had concluded “that LightSquared’s proposed mobile broadband network will impact GPS services and that there is no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time.” Shortly thereafter, the FCC announced that they would “(1) vacate the Conditional Waiver Order, and (2) suspend indefinitely LightSquared’s Ancillary Terrestrial Component authority to an extent consistent with the NTIA letter.” http://gpstracklog.com/2012/02/fcc-kills-lightsquared.html

From Steve Sharp at VCGI:

USDA recently released the NAIP 2011 Compressed County Mosaics (CCM).  These county mosaics are in MrSID format and are limited to 3 bands (do not include the IR band) and are considered preliminary products.  They are available for download from the USDA Geospatial Data Gateway

• http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/
• click Get Data button on the right side
• Select Vermont, then the counties you want.
• Look under Orthos for NAIP2011 CCMs

The QQUADs (Quarter Quads) aren’t available yet.  The QQUADs will include all 4 bands and are fully QA/QCed.

VCGI will be receiving a fully QA/QCed copy of the QQUADs sometime in Q1 2012.  At that point the imagery will be reprojected to VT State Plane Meters NAD83, and will be posted to the VGIS Data Warehouse for download.

From Ryan Knox at ANR:

The USDA makes each state’s most recent year of NAIP imagery available as an image service. An imagery service, in addition to performing fast, allows direct access to raster data for analysis.  ArcGIS 10 layer file for Vermont is attached.  If you want to look at the other services provided by the USDA, Jarlath outlines how to connect here -

http://letters-sal.blogspot.com/2011/04/naip-arcgis-server.html

From Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne at the UVM Spatial Analysis Lab:

NOAA acquired orthophotography over Lake Champlain in 2009 and 2010.  I believe VCGI will be distributing the original tiled images in good time, but for those of you looking for your NOAA Christmas gift I created a mosaic, compressed it to ECW, and posted it for download.  Coordinate system is embedded in the ECW, but in case your software has trouble it is UTM Zone 18 WGS84.

http://www.uvm.edu/~joneildu/downloads/VT/LakeChamplain_NOAA_2010.zip

Please note that I don’t have any more info on this imagery, nor was I involved in the collection process.  I only mention this because I usually receive a few kindly-worded emails along the lines of “Back when I was at UVM we acquired better imagery than this using a disposable Kodak camera held by my roommate “Little Jimmy” Mevers while he was suspended from my motorized hang glider with nothing more than duct tape and old dental floss (non-waxed of course).  You should be ashamed of yourself!”

Another one from Steve Sharp at VCGI:

Thanks to the committed efforts of VT’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the GIS community now has access to statewide digital soils data (SSURGO certified).  NRCS recently released data for the last county, Essex County, which completes its effort to create a statewide soils data.  Thanks VT NRCS for your hard work!

VCGI has updated the following VGIS data layers and products based upon the release of Essex County.

- SO = Statewide soils (county soil survey)
- SOAG = Agriculturally important soil units
- ONSITE = Onsite sewage disposal ratings
- SOILATTR = TOP20 soil attributes

To download go here
http://www.vcgi.org/dataware/?keyword=soils

Details and registration for the events below can be found at the VCGI Events page:

http://www.vcgi.org/commres/events/

Webinars:

• Making Maps for Everyone in Town – December 15, 2011 (free)
• Linking Parcel Data with Grand List Data – January 12, 2012 (free)

Conference:

• Municipal and Irene Mapping Conference – Capitol Plaza Hotel, Montpelier, VT January 26, 2012   ($60)

Legislative Outreach:

• Display in the Card Room, The Statehouse, Montpelier, February 7, 8 AM – 3 PM

Churchill Globe – mentioned at GIS Lounge (see below)

Here are some resources for those seeking unique gifts for lovers of maps and geography:

“If you’re trying to figure out the ideal gift for the GISer or geographer on your list, check out these great ideas for your Christmas and holiday gift shopping. This list will be updated as new deals and unique geography themed gifts are discovered for the 2011 season.” http://gislounge.com/gifts-for-geographers-and-gis/

Scrambled States of America Puzzle and Book – Read the book, then do the puzzle! In the hilarious illustrated paperback story The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller, you’ll learn all about how the 50 States were bored and tired of staying in their same spots all the time. So they threw a party, and decided to trade places.

Charting the World: Geography and Maps from Cave Paintings to GPS with 21 Activities (For Kids series)

“As soon as early humans began to scratch images on cave walls, they began to create maps. And while these first drawings were used to find hunting grounds or avoid danger, they later developed into far more complex navigational tools. Charting the World tells the fascinating history of maps and mapmaking, navigators and explorers, and the ways that technology has enhanced our ability to understand the world around us. Richly illustrated with full-color maps and diagrams, it gives children an in-depth appreciation of geographical concepts and principles and shows them how to unlock the wealth of information maps contain. It also features 21 hands-on activities for readers to put their new skills to the test.”

Even better, a list of cool map-related books at Amazon. The list author says: “I love reading maps created for literary worlds. I also enjoy reading books that are illustrated with maps (like Barbara Hodgson’s novels) and any books with unusual map trivia.”

Please share your gift ideas in the comments area below!

The latest “Model Your Town” competition being sponsored by Google: The winning Town will get $10,000 for their school. Teams of up to 6 people have between now and March 1, 2012 to model their community. To learn more, point your browser to

http://sketchup.google.com/competitions/modelyourtown/index.html . Know that you do not have to model every building.

There is no software to purchase. Modelers can use the free SketchUp to draw their buildings. Completed models are uploaded to the Google 3D Warehouse, where Google staff will review each model. If accepted, they will add them to the Google Earth 3D layer for all to see. Even if you do not win, your work will remain in Google Earth where it can be used in visualization/planning projects. Models made in SketchUp can also be used in ArcGIS. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udhm3yxVinc to see how to convert your SketchUp created building model for use in ArcGIS.

Beautiful Destruction: 11 Gorgeous Geological Maps of Volcanoes from Wired Science

“It’s not always obvious what it is that scientists find beautiful about a graph, microscope slide, soil sample or some other aspect of their work. It just looks like numbers, blobs or dirt to the rest of us. But sometimes a scientific result or product is so visually appealing, anyone would want to hang it on their wall as art.

Geological maps are often in this category. And some of the most beautiful geological maps are of volcanoes.”

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/11/geological-maps-of-volcanoes/

The Year 2011 Town Highway Maps have been completed.  There are 94 new maps.  We generated new maps only for the towns that reported changes during the 2011 Mileage Certificate process.  The maps from the years 2003-2010 are still valid for the towns that did not have changes.

The PDF version of these new maps can be accessed through the Mapping Unit website at:

http://www.aot.state.vt.us/Planning/mapgis/town_maps1.htm

The changes incorporated into the maps are detailed in the “2011_AllChanges” document located at:

http://www.aot.state.vt.us/Planning/Documents/HighResearch/Publications/2011_AllChanges.pdf

FOR GIS FOLKS: The VTrans road centerline data layer (TransRoad_RDS)  that was posted at the VGIS Data Warehouse (http://www.vcgi.org) in August 2011 reflects the changes incorporated in this year’s town highway maps.

Questions? Contact me at 802-828-2109 or Sara.Moulton@STATE.VT.US

This comic is one of many created by Randall Munroe on the topics of “romance, sarcasm, math, and language.”  Check out the web page here: http://xkcd.com/977/

1.  Create Custom Google Maps for Android

“The app lets you quickly create a custom map for your Android phone from any map image or photo file. The image can be a photo or scan of a paper map. It could even just be the photo of a map posted at the beginning of a trailhead or at the entrance to an amusement park, which you can capture with your smartphone camera.” http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2011/10/create-custom-google-maps-for-android.html

2. Searching the Earth for Art From Google Earth Blog

Searthing was created by Mack Lazarus and Tim Schmauch, who are behind the similar EarthArtWorld.com site. The two site both focus on artistic-looking imagery, but Searthing is designed in a blog format to show off much more of it.

3. Occupy Wall Street on Google Maps from Google Earth Blog

The Daily Kos has created a Google Map of over 200 Occupy Wall Street events and Facebook pages throughout the United States.

4. State halts work on Lowell Mountain Wind Project.

From VTDigger.org

Construction on the Kingdom Community Wind Project is temporarily on hold after the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources issued a stop-work order.

Green Mountain Power, the utility that is building the project, violated part of its Clean Water Act permit when it failed to comply with part of its sediment control plan.

5. Strange Agricultural Landscapes Seen From Space

From Wired Science

My favorite is the Bolivian soybean fields. They look like snowflakes.

6. Find out where the Google Street View cars are currently on the road

7.  Best Mars Images From Orbiter’s First 5 Years

From Wired Science

Truly phenomenal photos. You can actually see the Mars rover Opportunity in some of the photos.

8. New ArcGIS Online Basemaps

“We added an entry for the new Light Gray Canvas basemap which provides a neutral basemap that makes your thematic data really stand out… We renamed the  ‘Physical’ basemap to ‘Physical and Ocean’ and added the Ocean basemap into this as a layer. “

9. Sea Ice Extent Animation updated for 2011

From Google Earth Blog: As they’ve done for the past few years (here is 2010), the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has produced their annual Sea Ice Extent data

While 2011 wasn’t a record year for ice loss, it came close, ending just slightly above the mark set in 2007. You can view the data for yourself by loading this KMZ file .

10.  The Guardian newspaper has created a Google Map showing Murder rates Around the World. The map was created using data from the UNODC.

11. Running for Mayor,  Ed Lee uses Google Earth to show his plan for San Francisco Job  Growth

From the Google Earth Blog:

“I don’t know the details of Ed Lee’s political agenda, and that information is irrelevant for this post, but he’s recently used Google Earth in a very creative way. In one of his recent TV ads, Ed made great use of Google Earth to help show off his plan for creating new jobs across the San Francisco area. Details on how the video was created aren’t available, but it appears that they simply took some carefully-planned Google Earth footage and then added all of the labels and highlights in a video editing suite like Final Cut Pro. As such, no KML or tour are available.”

12. Google partnered with NASA, ESA and JAXA to launch a new YouTube channel called Space Lab. Commander Mike Fossum, from the International Space Station, invites you to come up with a science experiment for space and upload a video explaining it to YouTube.

13. Display Real Time Lightning Strikes in GE

From Google Maps Mania:

“Blitzortung.org works with a community of users, who have built their own lightning receivers, to automatically display live lightning data on a Google Map.”

14. Yipes! From WIRED Threat Level blog:

California Gov. Jerry Brown is vetoing legislation requiring police to obtain a court warrant to search the mobile phones of suspects at the time of any arrest.

“The Sunday veto means that when police arrest anybody in the Golden State, they may search that person’s mobile phone — which in the digital age likely means the contents of persons’ e-mail, call records, text messages, photos, banking activity, cloud-storage services, and even where the phone has traveled.”

15. From Spatial Sustain:

“Boston Rare Maps, a specialist dealer in rare and unusual antique maps, has launched AmericanMapmaking.com, an online exhibit of maps of America from 1782-1800. The exhibit was originally hosted at the Harvard Map Collection, and illustrates an evolution in the country and its mapmaking ability.”

If you particularly like an item or have comments, please email me, gis.gps.mapping(at)gmail.com