GIS/LIS NEWS Min ne sota GIS/LIS Con fer ence An other Suc cess. From the Chair. In This Issue... Fall 1999 Number 23

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1 Fall 1999 Number 23 GIS/LIS NEWS The Newsletter of the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium 1999 Min ne sota GIS/LIS Con fer ence An other Suc cess by Kelly Clark, 1999 Con fer ence Chair On be half of the con fer ence com mit tee, I would like to take this op por tu nity to thank eve ry one who at - tended the 1999 Min ne sota GIS/LIS Con fer ence in St. Cloud. Once again, the con fer ence was a huge suc cess, and we had an in crease in the number of at tendees. This year, our num bers jumped to 426 in di vidu als at - tend ing the work shops and 604 in di vidu als at tend ing the con fer ence, which pushed our com bined total at - ten dance to 1,030. Of spe cial note, this was the first time the con fer ence por tion of the event has gone over the 600 mark. I would like to take this op por tu nity to give a spe - cial thank- you to Les Maki, who worked dili gently on the con sor ti um s be half to get Mr. Jack Dan ger mond as the con fer ence key note and open ing speaker. I would also like to thank the con fer ence com mit tee (Larry Char boneau, Sonia Dick er son, Joella Giv ens, Blain Hack ett, Cath er ine Han sen, Banette Kritzky, Alan Lau meyer, Brent Lind strom, Nancy Read, Dan Ross, Mike Rowekamp, Mark Wald, and Bob Wer ner) who really worked as a man age ment team to make con fer ence plan ning ef fort less. We are sched uled to hold the 2000 con fer ence again in St. Cloud. For those of you who at tended the con fer - ence, we sin cerely hope the con fer ence was both en - joy able and edu ca tional. For those of you who were un able to at tend, we look for ward to see ing you in St. Cloud next year. The Min ne sota GIS/LIS Con sor tium is a vol un teer or gani za tion and one way to par tici pate is to be come a mem ber of the 2000 Con fer ence Plan ning Com mit tee. If you or any one you know is in ter ested in vol un teer - ing your time, we en cour age you to contact the 2000 Con fer ence Chair, Larry Char boneau at or by e- mail at larry@law rence group.com. I hope to see you all in St. Cloud next fall. From the Chair by Dan Ross, 1999 Chair As we draw to wards the end of 1999, I can look back and say we have had an other very good year. The Con sor ti um s an nual fall con fer ence has come and gone, and as one has come to ex pect, it con tin ues to grow and get bet ter. We had ex cel lent speak ers again this year, and we added a fourth con cur rent ses sion and more work shops. But the con fer ence is not the only thing the Board has worked on this year. The GIS/LIS News con tin ues to pro vide in for ma - tion to the mem bers re gard ing no ta ble top ics in the GIS/LIS com mu nity. Like the con sor tium mem ber - ship, the news let ter con tin ues to grow from the few pages it used to be to the 20 or so that are pub lished cur rently. The news let ter is al ways look ing to pass on in for ma tion, so please con tinue to sub mit ar ti cles for pub li ca tion. In This Issue... From the Chair, con tin ued on page 2 From the Consortium...1 State Agency GIS Activities...3 Governor s Council on Geographic Information...6 MetroGIS...10 Professional Organizations...12 Information for Non-profits...12 Higher Education...13 Federal GIS Activities...14 User Groups...18 Contacts for Large-Area GIS Data...19

2 Page 2 GIS/LIS NEWS Fall 1999 From the Chair, con tin ued from page 1 To pro vide an other form of ac cess to in for ma tion re lated to the GIS/LIS com mu nity, we rolled out the new Con sor tium web site ( lis.org) and logo about this time last year. Based on in put from mem bers and the Board, the web site you see to day has ad vanced sig nifi cantly and is a ex cel lent re source for GIS pro fes sion als in ter ested in a va ri ety of top ics from K 12 edu ca tion to data re sources and fu ture con - fer ences. Thanks go out to our Web mas ter and Board mem ber Gerry Sjer ven. For the first time this year, the Con sor tium spon - sored spring work shops. About 225 mem bers at tended the ses sions held in May. The work shops fea tured both hands- on and lecture- style ses sions. The Con sor tium re leased the re sults of the GIS/LIS Salary Sur vey that many of you par tici pated in dur ing the sum mer and fall of The re sults in cluded such top ics as salary com pari sons be tween job sec tor, and in for ma tion about edu ca tional re quire ments, skill sets and salary ex pec ta tions.* The Con sor tium has re it er ated its com mit ment to GIS/LIS edu ca tion through the de vel op ment of a schol ar ship pro gram. Al though the pro gram will not be in place un til fall of next year, the Board has set aside fund ing and has de vel oped some fund rais ing strate gies in or der to sup port the pro gram in the fu ture. The first of those strate gies was rolled out at the Con fer ence this year in the form of Con sor tium polo shirts and hats. All pro ceeds from the sale of the shirts and hats go en tirely to the schol ar ship pro gram.* In the last quar ter of this year, the Board will be work ing very hard to set up the struc ture for a schol ar ship com mit tee and do the nec es sary re search re gard ing op por tu ni ties at pro spec tive uni ver si ties (see the fol low ing ar ti cle). This has been a busy year, and none of this would have been ac com plished with out the tire less ef forts of the vol un teers that put their time in to see these ef forts come to frui tion. My thanks to all of the com mit tee vol un teers and es pe cially the mem bers of the Board (listed on the last page) for a job well done! I would also like to rec og nize the ef forts of Don Yae ger and the rest of the Edi to rial Board for their hard work in co or di nat ing the GIS/LIS News and get ting the word out. Best wishes to the 2000 Board! *Information regarding Consortium polo shirts and hats as well as the GIS/LIS Salary Skill Survey is available on line at the Consortium s web site or can be obtained by contacting Dan Ross at or dan.ross@dot.state.mn. us. Funding our Schol ar ship Fund The Con sor tium is now in the shirt and hat busi - ness, kind of. We are try ing to pro mote the spa tial dis - tri bu tion of our new shirts and hats. In other words, the Con sor tium is spon sor ing a new fund rais ing ac tiv ity to sup port our up com ing schol ar ship pro gram. De tails of the Con sor ti um s new schol ar ship pro gram will be an - nounced early next year. The fund rais ing was rolled out at the Con fer ence this year in the form of Con sor tium polo shirts and hats. All pro ceeds from the sale of the shirts and hats go en tirely to the schol ar ship pro gram. Thanks go out to all of those who pur chased one of the items at the Con fer ence. The polo shirts are nice, heavy weight, and short sleeve with the Min ne sota GIS/LIS logo on the front. They are 100% cot ton, with welt col lar and cuffs, and wood- tone but tons. They are avail able in natu ral or black, sizes from M to XXL. The cost of $23.50 in - cludes ship ping. The hats are two- tone brushed twill caps. They are 100% cot ton, seamed front, six- panel con struc tion, fab ric clo sure with grom met (in stead of that plas tic fas tener in the back). The color is natu ral with black vi sor and black stitched eye lets, and of course, the Min ne sota GIS/LIS logo on the front. The cost is $13.50 in clud ing ship ping. You can save $3.50 by pick ing any of the items up at 117 Uni ver sity Ave nue, St. Paul, MN. Or ders must be placed in ad vance. Or der ing in for ma tion will be avail able through the web or you may contact Dan Ross at or dan.ross@dot.state.mn.us. Help sup port the schol ar ship fund and get a shirt or hat to boot! MN GIS/LIS Con sor tium K 12 GIS Edu ca tion Link by Theresa K. Fos ter, Met ro poli tan Council The MN GIS/LIS Con sor tium has added a K 12 GIS Edu ca tion Link, lo cated at lis. org/edu ca tion.htm, that ad dresses the need for GIS in for ma tion to sup port teacher edu ca tion and serves as a re source of in for ma tion for stu dents, teach ers, and school ad min is tra tors through out the state of Min ne - sota. Not all states have adopted a central ware house to store K 12 GIS edu ca tion in for ma tion and re - sources, with the ef forts of the Con sor tium, Min ne sota

3 Fall 1999 GIS/LIS NEWS Page 3 will be one of the lead ers in es tab lish ing such a site. A sec on dary fo cus will be that through this site, K 12 edu ca tion teach ers, stu dents, and school dis tricts will have ac cess to other pro grams go ing on through out the United States and the world around us. The Con sor tium would like to in vite you to par tici - pate in the MN K 12 GIS Edu ca tion list serv, mngis edu@lists.gis.umn.edu, hosted by TerraSIP, ra sip.gis.umn.edu, at the Uni ver sity of Min - ne sota (see re lated ar ti cle on page 16). In for ma tion on the list serv will fo cus on GIS edu ca tional is sues. List par tici pants are also in vited to make con tri bu tions. Com plete de tails on how to ob tain ac cess to the list - serv can be found at the Con sor tium K 12 GIS Edu ca - tion Link un der list serv ers or by go ing to gis.umn.edu/mngis edu. Send in for ma tion up dates or other sug ges tions to the Con sor tium ad dress listed on the last page of this news let ter or e- mail to web mas lis.org. Con sor tium Mailing List Pol icy Un changed The pol icy on the use of the Con sor ti um s mail ing list has again been re viewed by the Board and the cur - rent pol icy re mains in ef fect. The cur rent pol icy pro - vides that the list may only be used (1) by the Board for all of fi cial Con sor tium busi ness and (2) on Board ap proval, by non- profit or gani za tions that are of fer ing serv ices or in for ma tion di rectly re lat ing to or bene fit - ting Con sor tium mem bers. These non- profit us ers must agree to one- time use and other re stric tions and pay a fee to cover the cost of pro duc ing la bels. The mail ing list will not be used, or sold to, other par ties. The Board wel comes your input re gard ing this pol icy at the ad dress on the last page of this news let ter or lis.org/talk tous.htm. State Agencies DNR For Net Completing On- line Photo Cov er age by Bill Be fort, DNR For estry Air pho tos On line, the aer ial photo browse fa cil ity on the DNR For Net web site ( state.mn.us) is ap proach ing its goal of pro vid ing ac - cess to the full set of DNR pho tog ra phy cov er ing the for ested por tion of Min ne sota. A to tal of 41 coun ties, and sig nifi cant por tions of four more, are now ac ces si - ble. With the ad di tion of Pine, Carl ton, Todd, and Mor ri son coun ties later this winter, cov er age will be com plete. All photo cov er age is from the 1990s much of it from the last few years. Air pho tos On line al lows us ers to se lect pho tos for view ing from a zoom able map in ter face. The on- line im ages are mod er ate reso lu tion (75 dpi), com pressed JPEG files made from DNR s stan dard 9"x9", 1:15,840- scale fall color in fra red for estry pho tog ra phy. The site has two pur poses: to give de ci sion mak ers im - me di ate ac cess to in ter pret able im ages and to fa cili tate air photo pur chases. At pres ent, Air pho tos On line pro vides pur chas ers a cata log and price data for tele phone ( , ext. 0) or mail or der ing of photo prod ucts. When DNR DNR For estry Aer ial Pho tos Cur rent Year by County 9"x9" fo rm at 1:15,840 (4 " = 1 m ile) scale fall co lo r infrared co v erage Di vi sio n o f Fo restry Reso u rce Assessm ent 413 SE 13 Street Grand Rapids, MN (218) w w w.ra.dnr.state.m n.u s On-line Photo Coverage, con tin ued on page 4

4 Page 4 GIS/LIS NEWS Fall 1999 On-line Photo Coverage, con tin ued on page 4 ac quires e- commerce ca pa bili ties, proba bly in 2000, us ers will be able to place or ders on line, and di rectly down load high- resolution (300 dpi) scans of all pho - tos. Air pho tos On line and the other DNR For Net ap pli - ca tions were pro to typed at the Uni ver sity of Min ne sota un der a NASA grant. The site is best viewed with Javascript- enabled Netscape or Ex plorer browser, ver - sions 4 and higher. 6th An nual EPPL/EPIC Con fer ence Fo cused on Spa tial Analy sis The Land Man age ment In for ma tion Cen ter hosted the 6th An nual EPPL7-EPIC GIS Con fer ence on Oc to - ber 26 27, 1999, at the Earle Brown Cen ter on the St. Paul Campus at the Uni ver sity of Min ne sota. The two- day event drew 200 peo ple to a se ries of pres en ta - tions on how geo graphic in for ma tion will in flu ence our fu ture and in cluded train ing work shops, dem on - stra tions, poster ses sions, and user ap pli ca tions. The con fer ence theme was Changing the Rules: Trans form ing Geographic In for ma tion into Spa tial Analysis and Mod el ing Systems. Dr. Jo seph Berry, a lead ing author ity on GIS and spa tial analy sis, de liv - ered the key note ad dress, Think ing Spa tially Into the Next Mil len nium. The con fer ence was well at tended by stu dents and in struc tors, many of whom ei ther pre sented GIS proj - ects or pre pared poster ses sions show ing their work. Sev eral groups at tend ing were part of EPPL7 s educa - tional grant pro gram de signed to get GIS tools and data in the class room. At tendees in cluded Ap ple Val - ley s School of En vi ron men tal Stud ies at the Min ne - sota Zoo; Ma cal es ter Col le ge s Ge og ra phy De part ment, Be midji State Uni ver sity, Lake head Uni - ver sity, Min ne sota State Uni ver sity and the Uni ver sity of Min ne sota. In to tal, 60 stu dents and 15 instructors from col leges, uni ver si ties, and high schools through - out Min ne sota and Can ada par tici pated. Ma jor EPPL7/EPIC news in cluded the Oc to ber re - lease of EPIC 2000 soft ware that pro vides en hanced ana lyti cal ca pa bili ties, the ca pa bil ity to use ArcView Shape files, an in ter face to Fragstats met rics analy sis, em bed ded links to metadata and a beta copy of 32- bit EPPL for reg is tered us ers. The EPIC data CD has been ex panded to in clude more than 650 state wide or met ro - poli tan area data files. An ad di tional CD of Min ne sota data at 30 me ters in a com bi na tion of ArcView Shape - files and EPPL ras ter files will be avail able by year s end. The EPIC soft ware and data is avail able to EPIC Con sor tium mem bers at no cost and to all oth ers for $99 for an in di vid ual copy. For more in for ma tion see: or con tact Ken Pekarek at or ken.pakarek@ mnplan.state.mn.us. LMIC Data Catalog 2000 LMIC will soon pub lish an up dated ver sion of its Minnesota Geographic Data Cata log. The cata log de - scribes ma jor da ta sets avail able through LMIC, as well as a number of other state wide or re gional Min ne sota da ta sets avail able from other or gani za tions. Many of the da ta sets are now free on line, and prices for cus tom or ders have been sig nifi cantly re duced. The cata log is or gan ized into seven sec tions: ad min is tra tive and po - liti cal bounda ries; census ge og ra phy; physi cal and bio - logi cal; re mote sens ing; trans por ta tion and utili ties; U.S. Geo logi cal Sur vey base data; and data col lec - tions. In for ma tion pre sented in the cata log in cludes each da ta set s source, origi nal map scale, file for mat, the area each file cov ers, and how much of the state is cov ered. To ob tain a copy, con tact LMIC at , clear ing house@mnplan.state.mn.us, or check LMIC s web page at cata log for a PDF ver sion. Fol low Trends and De vel op ments With Minnesota IssueWatch As GIS and LIS tech nolo gies con tinue to ex pand into all lev els of gov ern ment, it is im por tant for us ers to moni tor trends that they may be asked to con sider as part of the plan ning pro cess. To learn about trends and ideas that could af fect gov ern ment spend ing, reve nues, and poli cies, check out Min ne sota Plan ning s Issue- Watch at sues/iw - homepg.html. This monthly elec tronic news let ter pres ents brief sum ma ries of ar ti cles from jour nals, news pa pers, and other sources, many of which have a geo graphic di men sion. A com ment link al lows read ers to add their ideas and alert the scan ning team to ar ti - cles and is sues to cover in fu ture edi tions.

5 Fall 1999 GIS/LIS NEWS Page 5 Well Location Data now On line by Su sanne Maeder, LMIC Well lo ca tion in for ma tion de rived from the Min ne - sota Geo logi cal Sur vey s County Well In dex database is now avail able for free down load in ARC/INFO cov - er age and shape file for mats. The County Well In dex (CWI) is a PC- based data - base sys tem de vel oped by the Min ne sota Geo logi cal Sur vey for the stor age, re trieval, and ed it ing of wa ter well in for ma tion. The database con tains ba sic in for ma - tion on well rec ords (e.g., lo ca tion, depth, static wa ter level) for wells drilled in Min ne sota. It also in cludes in for ma tion on the well log, con struc tion, and wa ter chem is try for many of the wells. The data are grouped to gether by county. Wa ter well con struc tion contractors are re quired to re port in for ma tion on new wells con structed to the Min ne sota De part ment of Health, us ing the Wa ter Well Driller Log form, in ac cor dance with the Min ne - sota Wa ter Well Con struc tion Code (1974). The Min - ne sota Geo logi cal Sur vey (MGS) has en tered much of this in for ma tion into its County Well In dex da ta base. Two well lo ca tion point files are cur rently de rived from in for ma tion in County Well In dex. The first file, wwpt, con sists of wells for which lo ca tions have been field- verified by MGS, plot ted on 1:24,000- scale USGS base maps, and dig it ized. Some wells have GPS lo ca tions. Field- verification occurs in the course of a geo logic study by MGS: for ex am ple, in County Geo logic At las de vel op ment. The wwpt file cur rently con tains nearly 90,000 wells. The sec ond file, wwptcalc, con sists of wells for which a point lo ca tion has been cal cu lated based upon the Pub lic Land Sur vey (PLS) lo ca tion re ported by the well driller. These re ported PLS lo ca tions have not been in de pend ently veri fied. Re ported PLS in for ma - tion ranges in reso lu tion from the sec tion to the quarter- quarter- quarter- quarter- section level. A lo ca - tion ac cu racy code for each well in di cates the level of ap proxi ma tion for the well. The wwptcalc file con - tains nearly 160,000 es ti mated well lo ca tions. While this in for ma tion is coarse, it can still be used, with cau - tion, as a start ing point for lo cal well in ven to ries and stud ies, where lo cal veri fi ca tion and up date will occur. Well lo ca tion cor rec tions can be re ported to the Min - ne sota Geo logi cal Sur vey. The two files do not in clude all wells in Min ne - sota re port ing of well con struc tion has only been re - quired since the Wa ter Well Con struc tion Code took ef fect in Wells drilled prior to 1974 are gen er - ally not rep re sented. Even af ter 1974, re port ing com - pli ance has been in com plete, al though it has im proved over time. De spite these draw backs, these two files do form the larg est sin gle source of state well lo ca tion in - for ma tion. The cur rently avail able GIS files were cre ated based on data in the County Well In dex as of De cem - ber 28, The files will be up dated on an an nual basis. Up dates will in cor po rate newly drilled wells, as well as higher- accuracy in for ma tion based upon ad di - tional MGS field work and the Min ne sota De part ment of Health s field in spec tions of se lected new wells. Ad di tional in for ma tion on well data qual ity is in cluded in the metadata. The well lo ca tion GIS files are ac com pa nied by an as so ci ated data ta ble from the County Well In dex (CWI) database. The ta ble is the main In dex file of CWI, and con tains in for ma tion such as owner name, well use type, well com ple tion depth, well di ame ter, aq ui fer (if in ter preted), and well status. The Min ne sota Unique Well Num ber as signed to all wells based on the Wa ter Well Driller Log Form is the key to as so ci - at ing the well point in for ma tion to the County Well In - dex data ta bles and other agen cies ground wa ter in for ma tion. The ta ble in for ma tion is auto mati cally down loaded with the cov er age and shape file. The arc cov er ages and shape files of wwpt and wwptcalc are avail able by ac cess ing the Land Man - age ment In for ma tion Cen ter Metadata site at lucy.lmic.state.mn.us. Data file de scrip tions are at ta data/wwpt. html, and ta data/wwptcalc. html. Se lect the MGS County Well In dex 1998 meta - data rec ords; go to the on line link age field, and di - rectly down load the data. For fur ther in for ma tion about these files, contact Su sanne Mae der, LMIC, at or su sanne.mae der@mnplan.state. mn.us or Min ne sota Geo logi cal Sur vey staff. The full CWI database (by county) and data entry and query tools are avail able di rectly from the Min ne - sota Geo logi cal Sur vey. For or der ing in for ma tion, con tact Tim Wahl or Bob Tip ping at the Min ne sota Geo logi cal Sur vey at or ac cess the MGS web site at html. County Well In dex is be ing re for mat ted into an Ac - cess database. MGS dis tri bu tion may be chang ing with the new for mat. For up dates on County Well In dex for mat and dis tri bu tion pol icy, check the MGS web site at the ad dress noted above.

6 Page 6 GIS/LIS NEWS Fall 1999 Min ne so ta s Popu la tion in 1900 and To day Re port Re leased Carver, Scott, Wash ing ton, and Da kota coun - ties to day among the fastest- growing coun ties in Min ne sota were some of the state s slowest- growing areas in This is one of the find ings re ported in Turn of the Cen tury: Min ne so ta s Popu la tion in 1900 and To day, a new re port is sued by the State Demo - graphic Cen ter at Min ne sota Plan ning. This study points up the dra matic demo graphic shifts that have oc curred in the last 100 years, said State De mog ra pher Tom Gil laspy. Since we are head - ing into a new century, this is a good time to take stock of how our popu la tion has changed. The re port is based on the 1900 cen sus and other of fi cial docu - ments. In 1900, Min ne sota was a young, fast- growing state with a large im mi grant popu la tion and an econ omy based on farm ing and natu ral re sources. The popu la - tion was about 1.75 mil lion, com pared to 4.78 mil lion to day. About 28 per cent lived in the seven- county Twin Cit ies re gion, com pared to 53 per cent to day. Full of maps, charts, and pho tos, Turn of the Cen - tury: Min ne so ta s Popu la tion in 1900 and To day is avail able on Min ne sota Plan ning s web site at www. mnplan.state.mn.us. For cop ies of the pub li ca tion, call Governor s Council Plan ning for 2000 Com mit tee Activity Drives Pro gress The Gov er nor s Coun cil on Geo graphic In for ma tion held a plan ning retreat in August. They dis cussed fu - ture di rec tions for the group and re vis ited the coun cil s charge to ad vance pol icy that en cour ages co or di nated growth and in vest ment in GI tech nol ogy in Min ne sota. Participants pro vided a number of sug ges tions that sup port GIS use and build aware ness of spa tial analy - sis tools that en hance pub lic serv ice de liv ery and de ci - sion mak ing. Those sug ges tions were or gan ized into topi cal groups and have been for warded to com mit tees for ac tion. Com mit tees Rely on Vol un teers The Coun cil is an or gani za tion largely sup ported by vol un teer com mit tees com posed of peo ple with an in - ter est in shar ing their ex per tise for com mon good. The coun cil rep re sents the Min ne sota GIS com mu nity to the state and fed eral gov ern ments while en cour ag ing prac tices that sup port us ers within the state. Al though com mit tee struc ture has changed lit tle since last year, po ten tial ac tivi ties for com mit tee ac tion have grown. Listed be low are cur rent com mit tees and ac tion items for the com ing year. Data Com mit tee Es tab lish a pro cess to iden tify the most de sired state - wide data. Fin ish sam ple data shar ing and ex change agree ments and dis claim ers. Look at how gov ern ment unit bounda ries are mapped and re sources needed to main tain a com pre - hen sive state wide digi tal mu nici pal bound ary file. Land Re cords Mod erni za tion Re search is sues sur round ing the auto ma tion of land rec ords in Min ne sota. Re search is sues sur round ing map ping and main tain - ing par cel data. Pro vide edu ca tion on the bene fits of us ing a GIS to rec ord par cel in for ma tion and track land rec ord trans ac tions. Work with part ners to de velop a pro posal to sup port land rec ords auto ma tion in Min ne sota. Out reach/com mu ni ca tions De velop a multi- purpose in for ma tional bro chure ex - plain ing the role of the coun cil as a multi- sector rep - re sen ta tive and its role in GIS pol icy de vel op ment. Clearly de fine the roles of the coun cil and its re la - tion ships with other GIS or gani za tions in the state and ar ticu late this im age in im proved web site de - sign, ar ti cles in GIS and other news let ters, press re - leases, con fer ences, etc.

7 Fall 1999 GIS/LIS NEWS Page 7 De velop meth ods to reach out state and in crease con - nec tions to bet ter rep re sent the in ter ests of the entire state. GIS Data Standards Iden tify stan dard prac tices that al low for eas ier data ac cess and ex change, spe cifi cally at trib ute codes and unique iden ti fi ers. Re view de vel op ing and ex ist ing data stan dards for adop tion in Min ne sota. In crease aware ness of how data stan dards help or - gani za tions to lev er age ex ist ing ef forts and fa cili tate data shar ing. Please con sider sup port ing GIS in Min ne sota and your peers through com mit tee in volve ment. This is your chance to af fect how GIS is used and man aged in Min ne sota. Contact the Coun cil at gc@mnplan.state. mn.us or for fur ther in for ma tion. New On the Web A number of new items have been added to the coun cil s web site. Some items are seek ing re view by you; oth ers re port on coun cil ac tiv ity. All can be found in the NEW sec tion of the coun cil s home page at or or dered in hard copy by con tact ing coun cil staff at or gc@mnplan.state.mn.us. Call for Com ments! Pri ori ties Sur vey for GIS At trib ute Cod ing Stan - dards: This is your chance to be heard and help guide the ef fort of the Gov er nor s Coun cil! If you work in Min ne sota and use GIS data, you are be ing asked to re spond to a very short on- line sur vey. The sur vey asks you to tell us which GIS stan dards would help you work with oth ers in the GIS com mu - nity. It spe cifi cally asks you to re spond to the fol low - ing ques tion: If a state wide stan dard ex isted for this GIS at trib ute/unique ID, would it im prove the ef fi - ciency of data ex change be tween your self and those with whom you share (give or re ceive) GIS data? Let ter From the Coun cil Chair New On the Web, con tin ued on page 8 I am writ ing this let ter to in form the en tire GIS com mu nity about a new fo rum for fu ture Gov er nor s Coun cil meet ings. In an ef fort to reach- out within the state of Min ne sota and achieve our mis sion we are es tab lish ing the fol low ing: We will have time sched uled in our agenda at each Gov er nor s Coun cil meet ing for what we call open- mic. Our in tent is to en cour age peo ple to at tend our meet ings and voice opin ions, share needs, and make sug ges tions. We also en cour age peo ple to con tact us and sched ule in for ma tive dem on stra tions so we can pub li cize ma jor GIS ef forts tak ing place within the state of Min ne sota. We plan to sched ule at least two of our six meet ings this fis cal year in out- state Min ne sota. The Gov er nor s Coun cil will pub li cize the time, date, and lo ca tion well in ad vance of the meet ings. We strongly en cour age the com mu nity to at tend our meet ings. Listed be low are the times and dates for up com ing Gov er nor s Coun cil meet ings. Wednes day Janu ary 12, 2000 (time and lo ca tion to be de ter mined) Wednes day March 8, 2000 (time and lo ca tion to be de ter mined) Wednes day May 10, 2000 (time and lo ca tion to be de ter mined) Wednes day June 14, 2000 (time and lo ca tion to be de ter mined) Please visit our web site at or con tact the coun cil for more in for ma tion on meet ing times, lo ca tions, or other coun cil ac tivi ties at , fax , or e- mail gc@mnplan.state.mn.us. Best Re gards, Larry Char boneau, Chair man Governor s Council on Geographic Information

8 Page 8 GIS/LIS NEWS Fall 1999 New On the Web, con tin ued from page 7 Please help the com mit tee pri ori tize stan dards de vel - op ment ef forts. Status Re port, Pri or ity GIS Data: A draft pub li ca - tion that reports cur rent in for ma tion about 11 key data themes in clud ing data avail abil ity in for ma tion and rec om men da tions for fu ture de vel op ment. The pub lic com ment pe riod will ex pire soon. Please take a look at the draft and send us any com ments or sug - ges tions. New Pub li ca tions 1999 An nual Re port: Each year the coun cil pro - duces a re port docu ment ing ac tivi ties and ac com - plish ments of the pre vi ous 12 months. This year s re port was re leased in Sep tem ber and is be ing widely dis trib uted. Top ics cov ered in the re port in clude the coun cil s ef forts to ease ac cess and ex change of geo - graphic in for ma tion, build un der stand ing about GIS among cit ies and coun ties, and rep re sent Min ne sota with fed eral geo graphic in for ma tion co or di na tion and pol icy groups. The re port also show cases four ex cep - tional geo graphic in for ma tion sys tem ef forts, which re sulted in Gov er nor s Com men da tions last year. Land Re cords Mod erni za tion Com mit tee Re port: Over the next year the coun cil will be look ing into is - sues sur round ing the auto ma tion and map ping of land rec ords in Min ne sota. The coun cil origi nally vis ited this topic nearly three years ago. Pre vi ous re - search, com mit tee products, and rec om men da tions have been cap tured in a draft docu ment. This re port is be ing used to in form cur rent com mit tee ac tiv ity and oth ers in ter ested in this topic. Rec og ni tion For a Job Well Done! At the rec om men da tion of the Gov er nor s Coun cil on Geo graphic In for ma tion, four GIS proj ects were of - fi cially com mended by Min ne sota Gov er nor Jesse Ven tura. Mr. Jack Uldrich, Dep uty Di rec tor of Min ne - sota Plan ning and a staunch GIS sup porter, pre sented the awards dur ing the clos ing lunch eon of the GIS/LIS Con sor tium Con fer ence on Oc to ber 7, Awarded proj ects re flect the coun cils guid ing prin - ci ples, pro vide bene fit be yond the originator, ad vance the use of GIS tech nol ogy, and en hance the de liv ery of pub lic serv ice. This year s award win ners in clude: Al ex an dria Tech ni cal Col lege for its dedi ca tion to go well be yond the ob li ga tions of the in sti tu tion to pro vide GIS train ing and edu ca tion to de ci sion mak - ers, de part ment heads, and end us ers on the value of GIS for their or gani za tions. It has com mit ted re sources to ex pand the knowl edge base and un der stand ing of GIS tech nol ogy into all lev els of gov ern ment, in clud - ing the op era tion of a mo bile GIS train ing lab. Da kota County for its pio neer ing web- enabled par - cel map ping in for ma tion pro gram. This proj ect is rec - og nized for put ting the coun ty s par cel maps and par cel data on line for ac cess by realtors, de vel op ers, and the gen eral pub lic. This has cre ated an en vi ron - ment where im por tant data is avail able at no cost. At the Gov er nor s Coun cil Com men da tion Award Cere mony: from left to right, Jack Uldrich, Dep uty Di rec tor of Min ne sota Plan ning; Dave Weirens, As so cia tion of Min ne sota Coun ties, George Orn ing, CURA, Uni ver sity of Min ne sota; Tim Lo esch, Min ne sota De part ment of Natu ral Re sources; Mon ica Ger berd ing, Al ex an dria Tech ni cal Col lege; Jay Witt stock, Da kota County; and Steve Hoium, City of Min nea po lis.

9 Fall 1999 GIS/LIS NEWS Page 9 The city of Min nea po lis for its pio neer ing de vel op - ment of the GIS Print Room where it has made maps eas ily ac ces si ble to all in ter ested par ties at lit tle or no cost. Nu mer ous let ters of sup port were re ceived with this nomi na tion, prov ing its wide use and ex traor di - nary value as a com mu nity re source. The As so cia tion of Min ne sota Coun ties, Mr. George Orn ing, and the De part ment of Natu ral Re - sources for their dedi ca tion and stew ard ship in the de - vel op ment of the state wide land use and land cover data layer. The re sult of this multi- year co op era tive ven ture is a da ta set that is read ily avail able free over the Inter net and al ready in use by scores of or gani za - tions. Thou sands of maps have been given to school groups vis it ing the Min ne sota Sci ence Mu seum. Each spring the Coun cil seeks proj ect nomi na tions through an nounce ments in this news let ter and on the The fol low ing individuals have been ap pointed to the Min ne sota Gov er nor s Coun cil for serv ice through July 2000 Vot ing Members Robert Block, Ot ter Tail County Luci Botzek, Minnesota Association of County Officers (vice-chair) Larry Charboneau, The Lawrence Group (chair) Christopher Cialek, Land Management Information Center at Minnesota Plan ning Will Craig, Center for Ur ban and Regional Affairs, Uni - versity of Minnesota Tom Glancy, Minnesota Department of Transportation Jeffrey Grosso, city of Saint Paul Roger Hirschman, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Ag ri cul ture Richard John son, Metropolitan Council Fred Logman, Minnesota Counties Computer Coopera - tive Les Maki, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Mark Olsen, Minnesota Pollution Con trol Agency Larry Palmer, Minnesota Department of Ag ri cul ture Andy Pichotta, Arrowhead Regional Development Commission Ken Saffert, city of Mankato Phillip Sailer, Pro- West & Associates Rory Vose, Saint Mary s University at Wi nona Jay Wittstock, Dakota County Ex Officio Members David Arbeit, Land Management Information Center at Minnesota Plan ning Chuck Bry ant, Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium Kari Craun, U.S. Geological Survey, Mid-Continent Mapping Cen ter Rand Hove, Senate Counsel and Research Eileen McCormack, Minnesota Office of Tech nol ogy Lee Meilleur, Geographic Information Systems Office, Legislative Coordinating Commission Coun cil s web site at htm. For more in for ma tion, visit the web site or con - tact the coun cil at gc@mnplan.state.mn.us or call Gov er nor s Council Com pletes Data Ac cu racy Standard Hand book by Chris to pher Cia lek, LMIC The Gov er nor s Coun cil on Geo graphic In for ma - tion Stan dards Com mit tee re cently re leased the fi nal ver sion of the Po si tional Ac cu racy Hand book: Using the Na tional Standard for Spatial Data Ac cu racy to Meas ure and Report Geo graphic Data Qual ity. This guide de scribes a new fed eral ac cu racy stan dard and helps data de vel op ers evalu ate the ac cu racy of their GIS datasets. The hand book ex plains how po si tional ac cu racy can be meas ured and re ported for da ta sets that con tain geo graphic fea tures such as roads, riv ers, and prop erty lines. Five prac ti cal ex am ples walk read - ers through the pro cess us ing da ta bases de vel oped at the Min ne sota De part ments of Trans por ta tion and Natural Re sources; the city of Min nea po lis; Wash ing - ton County; and The Law rence Group. The hand book and for mat ted spread sheets that help cal cu late the ac cu racy sta tis tics and can be down - loaded in PDF and Ex cel for mats from the com mit - tee s web site at press/ac cu rate.html. A printed ver sion can be or dered through the web site or by con tact ing the Land Man - age ment In for ma tion Cen ter, 658 Ce dar Street, St. Paul, MN For more in for ma tion, contact Chris to pher Cia lek at LMIC at ; fax ; or e- mail gc@mnplan.state.mn.us. U.S. Gaz et teer On line This gaz et teer site can be used to iden tify any place in the U.S. and then link to maps on the Ti ger Map Server and/or ob tain cen sus data from the 1990 Cen - sus Lookup server. You can search for places, coun - ties, or MCDs by en ter ing the name and state ab bre via tion (op tional) or 5- digit zip code. Check it out at

10 Page 10 GIS/LIS NEWS Fall 1999 Applying the NSSDA by Joella M. Giv ens, Mn/DOT This example dem on strates how the Po si tional Ac cu racy Hand book helped the Min ne sota Department of Transporta - tion make a pru dent busi ness de ci sion. Keep ing track of the state s tens of thou sands of road signs is no sim ple task. When speed lim its change or a sign gets knocked down or sim ply gets old, the Min ne sota De part ment of Trans por ta tion must in stall, up date, repair, or re place those signs. To ef fi ciently man age this sub stan tial re source, the de part ment needs to ac cu rately iden tify where signs are lo cated and ul ti - mately, to de velop a GIS sys tem for Fa cili ties Man - age ment. Tra di tional sur vey meth ods for col lect ing sign lo ca - tions can be time con sum ing and costly. This is par - ticu larly true when deal ing with large num bers of signs spread out over a size able area. With thou sands of signs to sur vey, mainly situ ated near high way traf fic, Mn/DOT looked to desk top sur vey ing to pro vide a safe, quick, and cost- effective way to col lect sign lo ca - tion in for ma tion. Desk top sur vey ing is the pro cess of cal cu lat ing co or di nate in for ma tion from im ages on a com puter. The im ages are col lected us ing a van equipped with mul ti ple cam eras and geo- referenced with ground co or di nates. To evalu ate this tech nol ogy, Mn/DOT chose a short seg ment of State Trunk High way 36 and col lected x and y co or di nates for all west bound signs with desk top sur vey ing soft ware pack ages from three ven dors. A Mn/DOT sur vey crew was also sent out to col lect the same signs with tra di tional sur vey equip ment. The task of try ing to fig ure out just how ac cu rate the sign lo ca - tions were for each desk top sur vey ing pack age called for a stan dard ized method; one with proven sta tis ti cal merit. Sign lo ca tion com pari sons for this sec tion of Trunk High way 36 in Ram sey County in di cate er rors rang ing from 20 cen ti - me ters to 4 me ters. Tra di tional meth ods of cal cu lat ing ac cu racy are based on pa per maps and would not work for this data. Mn/DOT turned to the draft Po si tional Ac cu racy Hand book, for a step- by- step ap proach and sound sta - tis ti cal meth od ol ogy. The NSSDA rec og nizes the grow ing need for evalu at ing digi tal spa tial data and pro vides a com mon lan guage for re port ing ac cu racy. Mn/DOT used the draft hand book to com plete an ac - cu racy evalua tion and to cri tique this new data col lec - tion method. Af ter the re sults of Mn/DOT s Mo bile Map ping Ac cu racy As sess ment were re leased in May 1999, the de part ment made the de ci sion to use desk top sur vey - ing to col lect lo ca tions for all signs in the Twin Cit ies met ro poli tan area, about 8,000 signs along 500 miles of road way. Con fi dence in the ac cu racy and re sults of this new data col lec tion method will save the state valu able time and re sources. For more in for ma tion, contact Joella M. Giv ens, GIS co or di na tor, Mn/DOT, at joella.giv ens@dot. state.mn.us. MetroGIS Metro GIS Moves For ward by Jeanne Landkamer and Ran dall John son, Metro GIS Metro GIS Hears Feed back on Cost- sharing Plan Strong sup port ex ists for the col labo ra tion, fa cili ta - tion, and out reach work of Metro GIS, but the pro posed data in te gra tion func tions of an on go ing Metro GIS or - gani za tion are not widely un der stood, and a sub scrip - tion fee to fi nance them needs to be modi fied. This mes sage came through clearly when more than 70 peo - ple rep re sent ing a va ri ety of gov ern ment or gani za tions gath ered in Sep tem ber to re view a pro posed fair- share cost al lo ca tion plan to fi nance an on go ing Metro GIS. Metro GIS pre sented re sults of its Fair Share Fi nan - cial Model and Organi za tional Study, funded by the Na tional Spa tial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Program and the Met ro poli tan Coun cil, at a peer re view fo rum. The study pro posed to ini tially spread the cost of sup - port ing 20+ func tions that fa cili tate and pro mote data shar ing among seven classes of gov ern ment or gani za - tions. The plan pro posed sub scrip tion fees that are driven by the per ceived bene fit re ceived by each or - gan iza tional class. The fee struc ture also rec og nizes

11 Fall 1999 GIS/LIS NEWS Page 11 con tri bu tions made by each class in data de vel op ment and other func tions. While sup port for a sub scrip tion fee of some kind was ex pressed by many at the fo rum, lo cal gov ern - ments in par ticu lar found the pro posed fees too high. Com ments re ceived from sev eral par tici pants also in - di cate they did un der stand that Metro GIS is not pro - pos ing to du pli cate the data- development func tions of its stake hold ers, but rather the pro posed fee would fi - nance in te gra tion of data de vel oped by Metro GIS stake hold ers into seam less re gional datasets. Metro GIS Pol icy Board and Co or di nat ing Com mit tee mem bers ac knowl edge that more edu ca tion on this topic is needed in or der to build sup port for sub scrip tion fees that fi nance data in te gra tion. Bene fits of Col labo ra tion Con firmed Pre limi nary re sults of a sur vey of par tici pants in the Metro GIS proj ect show that more than three- quarters be lieve their par tici pa tion has been a very or mod er - ately ef fec tive use of their time. The most val ued func - tions pro vided by Metro GIS are those that fos ter co or di na tion, in clud ing the fa cili ta tion of data- sharing agree ments and li cens ing, the sur vey found. In creased com mu ni ca tion within the GIS com mu nity and a bet ter at ti tude about shar ing data are also noted bene fits. Dr. Wil liam Craig of the Uni ver sity of Min ne so ta s Cen ter for Ur ban and Re gional Affairs and his gradu - ate as sis tant, David Bitt ner, are wrap ping up the study of the bene fits of the Metro GIS Pro ject to gov ern ments serv ing the seven- county met ro poli tan area. As of late Oc to ber, 78 per cent of the more than 150 peo ple who were mailed the sur vey had re sponded. In ad di tion to con duct ing the writ ten sur vey, 45 re - cipi ents of data shared by the seven metro coun ties and the Met ro poli tan Coun cil were in ter viewed. Bene fits men tioned most of ten by in ter view ees were im proved ac cess to re gional datasets, the ex is tence of Da taf inder and metadata stan dards, and im proved work ing re la - tion ships among GIS us ers. Pol icy Board En dorses Prepa ra tion of Busi ness Plan The Metro GIS Pol icy Board voted in late Oc to ber to pre pare a busi ness plan to guide Metro GIS as it moves through the next stage of im ple men ta tion. The plan will in clude a budget, sources of fi nanc ing, time lines for de ci sions and ac tion, and pro vide a foun da - tion for a mar ket ing strat egy. Based on the re sults of the bene fits study and feed - back on the fair- share cost al lo ca tion plan, the Board de cided to mod ify the pro posed role of Metro GIS with re gard to re gional datasets. Rather than cre ate and main tain the datasets, the busi ness plan will for mal ize a pol icy that Metro GIS con tinue to de velop de sired re - gional data stan dards and con tinue to de fine da ta set cus to dian roles but, at least dur ing ini tial op era tions, limit its in volve ment with re gional da ta set de vel op - ment to fa cili tat ing part ner ships to un der take the re - quired in te gra tion ac tivi ties. Ini tially, a sub scrip tion fee was pro posed as a means to fi nance re gional data - set de vel op ment. The sub scrip tion fee pro posal will be modi fied in the busi ness plan. The plan will also ex am ine the ad - van tages of be com ing an in de pend ent en tity to achieve Metro GIS core func tions. The Met ro poli tan Coun cil will con tinue to pro vide staff and proj ect funds to sup - port Metro GIS co or di na tion, out reach, re search, and data dis tri bu tion func tions through The Busi ness Plan will evalu ate op tions for fund ing be yond Board Moves Ahead With Re gional Par cel Da ta set The Metro GIS Pol icy Board has ap proved speci fi - ca tions and as signed cus to dian roles and re spon si bili - ties for de vel op ment of a re gional par cel boundary da ta set. Coun ties will be re spon si ble for up dat ing their own par cel bound ary data on a quar terly ba sis and pro - vid ing it to the re gional cus to dian, which has not been de ter mined yet. Da kota County Sur veyor Gary Ste ven son is head ing up a work group of county GIS tech ni cal staff to de ter - mine how the re gional par cel boundary da ta set will be put to gether. For more in for ma tion on any of the above items, con tact Ran dall John son, Metro GIS Staff co or di na tor at or randy.john son@metc.state.mn. us. Fu ture GIS/LIS Con ferences Year 2000 For the most current information, see or urisa.org/mtg.htm.

12 Page 12 GIS/LIS NEWS Fall 1999 Pro fes sional Or gani za tions Minnesota ASPRS In creas ing Education/Networking Fo rums by John An der son, MN Chap ter Presi dent How can I use LI DAR, IFSAR, Hy per spec tral im - agery, Multis pec tral im agery, Syn thetic Ap er ture Ra - dar, Landsat, IK ONOS, IRS, Quick bird, CIR or Color or Pan chro matic aer ial pho tog ra phy, DOQ s, DOQQ s, DEM s, etc.? Which tech nol ogy (or com bi na tion of tech nolo gies) is suit able for ap pli ca tions in ag ri cul ture, civil gov ern ment, ex plo ra tion/re sources, for estry, in - sur ance, map ping, na tional/global se cu rity, real es tate, tele com mu ni ca tions, trans por ta tion, and utili ties? The Min ne sota Chap ter of The Ameri can So ci ety for Pho - to gram me try and Re mote Sens ing (ASPRS) is in creas - ing the number and va ri ety of pro fes sional fo rums in or der that we may help each other un der stand these com plex tech nolo gies and their ap pro pri ate ap pli ca - tions. Past fo rums have in cluded pres en ta tions about digi - tal air borne im agery, air borne GPS, sat el lite im age clas si fi ca tion of for est re sources, DOQ pro duc tion and ap pli ca tions, wet land in ven tory meth ods, ar cheo logi cal ap pli ca tions of ra dar in Iraq, and pho to gram met ric is - sues in trans por ta tion. Fu ture fo rums will fo cus on pho to gram met ric ap pli ca tions, pri mary data ac qui si - tion (i.e., plat forms, sensors, data proc ess ing, and prod ucts), pro fes sional prac tice (i.e., eth ics, quali fi ca - tions, cer ti fi ca tion, stan dards), re mote sens ing ap pli ca - tions (i.e., tech nol ogy, data analy sis pro ce dures, and ap pli ca tions), and geo graphic in for ma tion sys tems. The Min ne sota Chap ter holds quar terly meet ings and an an nual ban quet which is cur rently be ing planned for the Chero kee Sir loin Room in St. Paul on Tues day, Janu ary 18, For more in for ma tion, see lis.org/an nounce ments/asprs.htm. For more in for ma tion about the Min ne sota Chap ter or to get on the mail ing list, contact John An der son, Chap ter presi dent, at or hy dric@aol. com. In for ma tion about na tional ASPRS ac tivi ties may be ob tained at MSPS Offers Books on Un der stand ing Land Descriptions The book, Metes and Bounds De scrip tions, has been used for more than 25 years as the guide line for pre par ing land de scrip tions in Min ne sota and other Mid west states. Stan dards that are com monly used to - day for clear and con cise de scrip tions can be at trib uted to the book. Al though origi nally writ ten as a ref er ence book for land sur vey ors, the book can be equally valu - able to the many pro fes sional dis ci plines that are called upon to prop erly in ter pret land de scrip tions. The book is hard cover and a very nicely done ref er ence man ual that was writ ten by three mem bers of the Min - ne sota So ci ety of Pro fes sional Sur vey ors. The cost is $34.14 for Metes and Bounds De scrip tions, and is avail able from the Min ne sota So ci ety of Pro fes sional Sur vey ors. Call or LAND; fax ; or web site at net. A sec ond book avail able from MSPS, Pub lic Land Sur vey in Min ne sota, was writ ten as a ba sic sum mary of the U.S. Rec tan gu lar Sur vey Sys tem and its per - petua tion and sub di vi sion. The author ac knowl edged that a thor ough study would fill many books, but for those that would bene fit from strictly an over view, this is an ideal ref er ence. This book costs $14.73 and is also avail able through the MSPS as listed above. In for ma tion for Non- profits GIS Grants Avail able for Non-profits Con ser va tion, sus tain able de vel op ment, and en vi - ron mental jus tice non- profit or gani za tions seek ing to use com puter map ping tech nol ogy can ap ply now for grants of com puter equip ment and spe cial ized soft - ware. The Con ser va tion Tech nol ogy Sup port Pro gram (CTSP) an nounced the re lease of guide lines for its 2000 Geo graphic In for ma tion Sys tems Grants, which will be awarded in April 2000 to ap proxi mately 50 groups. Ap pli ca tions are due Janu ary 7, To re ceive the guide lines and ap pli ca tion, in ter ested con ser va tion groups should visit the CTSP web site at To be con sid ered, an or gani za - tion must be U.S.-based and have tax ex empt status. Some in ter na tional groups with U.S. spon sors may