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| Vol. 19, No. 3 | Sept. 9, 1999 |
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| Vol. 19, No. 3 | Sept. 9, 1999 |
As Delaware's population increases, how can state planners most effectively make decisions about land use? What's the best way to find precise boundaries of the state's many parks and recreational facilities? Where can ecologists locate satellite photography to identify large forest tracts?
An extensive, web-searchable catalog of digital maps and other information relating to Delaware-being assembled by the Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination and UD researchers, with the participation of more than 25 public-sector agencies-should improve the decision-making process, said Richard S. Sacher, Information Technologies/User Services.
"This new system was designed to help planners make better-informed decisions and increase data-sharing efforts," Sacher explained. "You can't assess emergency preparedness without access to high-precision road maps and property records. Similarly, effective study of an endangered species' habitats relies on high-quality maps of vegetation, hydrology and geology."
The joint effort to provide regional, state, county and local planners with easy access to crucial geographic data recently earned a Special Achievement Award from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), maker of geographic information system (GIS) software.
The work "will be inspirational in leading the world into the next millennium," said Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI, which selected the Delaware/UD group from among 200,000 organizations worldwide.
Though the project is still in its early stages, Sacher said, it ultimately will point researchers and planners to the most reliable geospatial information on Delaware-its topography, transportation systems, wetlands and watersheds, estuaries, population, income levels, zoning, political and statistical boundaries and much more.
The general project goals included promotion of documentation-and-search standards, education, outreach, development of data-documentation software and the collection of data to populate the Clearinghouse.
Currently, Sacher said, the research team is compiling "metadata"-data that provides users with detailed information on where to find specific types of information, whether they're looking for a digital map of Delaware rivers or potential locations for new high-tech, industrial ventures.
"Much like a library uses a cataloging system, we have exploited a national metadata cataloging standard in our clearinghouse of Delaware-related data," Sacher said. "This clearinghouse helps users locate the map layers they need. It provides information on the precision of the map, its geographic coverage, how it's stored, how it's distributed and so forth. Users can restrict their search to the Delaware Clearinghouse, or extend it to any of the more than 120 national and international clearinghouse nodes that support the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).
The UD Spatial Data Clearinghouse was part of Delaware's answer to President Bill Clinton's 1996 Executive Order establishing the NSDI, a national system for sharing geospatial data. To complement and support the Federal effort, 1998 state legislation created the Delaware Geographic Committee. The committee now coordinates data-sharing activities statewide, and is composed of a wide range of governmental agencies and UD representatives.
At UD, those currently participating in the project include Sacher, Jian Chen, Dean Nairn and John Callahan, all of IT/Research Data Management Services; David Racca, Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research; Alex Settles, Institute for Public Administration; Sandy Schenck, Delaware Geological Survey; and Tracy DeLiberty, geography.
Funding for this research has been provided by the Federal Geographic Data Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce.
To view the UD Spatial Data Clearinghouse, please see <http://www.nsdi.udel.edu>.
-Ginger Pinholster
Photo by Jack Buxbaum
