What is (a) GIS?

Presented internally to RIDOLFI Inc. and EcoChem staff. A high-level overview of GIS. Designed to impart to project managers the applicability of GIS in their workflows.

1. What is (a) GIS? Let’s find out in twenty-minutes or less (or more)! Matt Kenny August 7th, 2012
2. The Flow • Overview of GIS Components • GIS at RIDOLFI – Current Projects • GIS at RIDOLFI – Future Goals • Conclusion 2
3. From the Literature • “A computer based system to aid in the collection, maintenance, storage, analysis, output, and distribution of spatial data and information.” – Bolstad, 2005 • “A computer system for capturing, storing, querying, analyzing, and displaying geospatial data.” – Chang, 2008 • “[The] integration of data, hardware, and software designed for management, processing, analysis, and visualization of georeferenced data.” – Netler and Mitasova, 2005. 3
4. From the Literature • “A computer based system to aid in the collection, maintenance, storage, analysis, output, and distribution of spatial data and information.” – Bolstad, 2005 • “A computer system for capturing, storing, querying, analyzing, and displaying geospatial data.” – Chang, 2008 • “[The] integration of data, hardware, and software designed for management, processing, analysis, and visualization of georeferenced data.” – Netler and Mitasova, 2005. 4
5. From the Practitioners • “GIS is the name given to ‘doing nifty things with spatial data’…” – Dave Bouwman • “GIS works hand-in-hand with other disciplines and domains in order to solve problems, just as the hammer works hand-in- hand with other disciplines, e.g. structural, HVAC, electrical, plumbing – to create a building.” – Dave Smith 5
6. Many Things to Many People 6
7. Many Things to Many People 7
8. With Great Power Comes…. 8 • Maps can provide a sense of legitimacy. – Improper understanding of data, or personal bias can misrepresent the mapped phenomena. – It’s the job of the GIS Analyst to properly represent those phenomena.
9. With Great Power Comes…. 9 Source: Making Maps, John Krygier
10. With Great Power Comes…. 10 Source: Making Maps, John Krygier
11. With Great Power Comes… 11 Source: Making Maps, John Krygier
12. With Great Power Comes…. 12 • Intentionally, maps can be used to alter spatial perceptions and promote points- of-view.
14. GIS at RIDOLFI 14 Storage Analysis Display Collection
15. Yakama Nation Site Prioritization • Effort undertaken through EPA’s Tribal Response Program • Question: “Of all the hazardous sites along the Columbia River, which should we target for cleanup?” 15
16. Yakama Nation Site Prioritization 16
17. Collection 17 Storage Analysis Display Collection Data Sources • EPA Facility Registry System (FRS) • WA Ecology Facility/Site Database • OR DEQ Environmental Cleanup Site Information (ESCI)
18. Collection 18 Storage Analysis Display Collection Supporting Datasets • EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) • EPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) dataset • Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership’s (LCREP) Estuary Partnership’s Program Database • National Land Cover Database 2006 (NLCD2006) raster dataset
19. Storage 19 Storage Analysis Display Collection • Microsoft SQL-Server Makes Basin Wide Analysis Possible • ~ 114,000 Sites Evaluated • > 18 GB In Size • Data Conflation is Key
20. Analysis 20 Storage Analysis Display Collection Master Site List Within 1/4-Mile to the CR; Downstream of Bonneville Dam Target Specific Federal- Or State- Level Programs Remove Sites In Developed Areas (NLCD) Exclude Superfund or Portland Harbor Sites Filtered Master Site List Include EPA ECHO Violators Include Existing YN TRP Sites Calculate Proximity to Restoration Sites (LCREP) Final Site Prioritization List Dataset GIS Process Database Process Legend
21. Display 21 Storage Analysis Display Collection
22. Looking Forward for RIDOLFI • Continuing to Perform Innovative Analyses – E.g. Eric’s work with the City of Yakima. • Creating, Analyzing Large-Scale Datasets – E.g. Yakama Nation TRP; Hanford PED. • Decision Support Tools 22
23. Decision Support Tool • Empower the Decision Maker to Utilize GIS without knowing it – GIS/Database workflows are complicated! Remove the learning curve. – Answer a focused question through the execution of a parameter-based model. • Empower the GIS Staff to focus on the data, not the deliverables 23
24. Decision Support Tool • Question: “As a mission commander, where will I send these folks to train?” 24
25. Decision Support Tool 25
26. Decision Support Tool • Question: “As a planner, what are the tradeoffs associated with a given shoreline development and its conservation potential?” 26
27. Decision Support Tool 27
28. What is GIS? • I think it is a set of tools, people, and practices in a state of radical-change. • Moving from desktop only GIS to a hybridization of desktop-web based tools, depending on the user. • “We are probably at a similar point in GIS evolution as word processing was 30 or 40 years ago.” – Don Meltz, “GIS Is Dead – Long Live GIS”. 28
29. Where we’re headed? 29
30. What is GIS? • “GIS is the name given to “doing nifty things with spatial data”. For a long time, these nifty things were a black art that required special software, and arcane training. These days are ending.” – Dave Bouwman • The barrier to entry will become lower, but the specialized tools and users will never go away. 30
31. Thanks 31
32. Digital/Paper Confluence • FieldPapers.org • Create a paper atlas, collect information via markup, upload as georeferenced image to traditional GIS software. 32
33. Digital/Paper Confluence 33