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ERDC/CRREL SR-03-1
GIS software to manage the data. GIS provides the means to store, display, and
analyze information from multiple diverse sources in one, two, and three dimen-
sions. Effective data management is critical given the scale and complexity of the
DPG environmental investigations. Although large amounts of data have been
generated, much of it had resided in separate locations. Making a common data-
base of chemical sampling results was the first step toward creating the GIS. A
common geospatial database was also created, bringing together various vector
datalayers and raster imagery. A customized, easy-to-use graphical interface
was then written to access and analyze these data. There is a Windows desktop
version as well as an Internet-accessible version that runs in a Web browser.
Project managers can now use the GIS software via either platform to compare
and analyze datasets of diverse types, e.g., orthophotos, contaminant information
stored in a database, and geospatial datalayers such as sample locations, roads,
and buildings. Powerful chemical query capabilities allow any user to search for
analytical results either basewide or at a particular SWMU or HWMU. Project
managers can query one or multiple contaminants by a specific detection thresh-
old level, or return all sample results regardless of detection level. A typical
query might involve searching for selenium samples taken anywhere on DPG
that yielded a result greater than 100 g/L. Query results can then be mapped to
the screen to highlight clusters and/or possible contamination trends, or sent out
to a spreadsheet program. Hard-copy maps can also be printed.
The Installation Restoration Program GIS also protects current and future
data investments. By making these data available to contractors prior to their
undertaking new projects, there exists a significant potential to reduce redun-
dancy in data acquisition.
Scott Reed, Installation Restoration Program Manager at DPG, states
emphatically, "The GIS developed by ERDC saves me time and makes my
operations more efficient. A contaminant sample query that had previously taken
several calls to different contractors and several days in execution time now
takes, in most cases, under a minute. We are extremely pleased with the Corps'
GIS software product."
This state of the art Geographic Information System software for accessing,
displaying, and analyzing DPG installation restoration data was developed by the
Remote Sensing/GIS Center at ERDC-CRREL using object technologies from
commercial GIS and Database vendors.
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