GIS NEWS: Coastal Flood Modeling
Emergency Evacuation Maps for all campus dorms & apartments have been completed and are being installed by Facilities Management & the Office of Housing.
We are planning several general and topical GIS workshops for the campus community & regional community partners
New data storage & access procedures are being developed to allow for easier and more secure access to campus data!
INTERESTING GIS TECHNOLOGY
INTERESTING GIS TECHNOLOGY
NOAA Coastal Inundation Toolkit Geospatial & Visualization technologies are critical for
modeling coastal flooding resulting from storm surge and relative sea level rise. NOAA’s Inundation toolkit provides
managers with methods & tools for assessing, analyzing, and communicating flood risk. http://tinyurl.com/nb42sld
Geospatial & Visualization Computing, Information Technology Services - ITS
Old Dominion University 4
th Floor E&CS Building
Norfolk, VA 23529 P: 757-683-6752 or 757-683-4842 E: [email protected]
ODU GeoVis Digest January 12, 2014
Issue 2, Winter 2015
ODU’s Geospatial & Visualization Computing team consists of 3 full-time staff (1 vacant) and several student employees. We work closely with faculty, staff, and graduate students to help them integrate geospatial information, visualization, and analysis into their research, projects, and course work. Our primary directive is to plan and oversee the development and maintenance of the technical architecture of the University’s enterprise GIS and distributed GIS applications in support of the growth and effective management of the University’s academic programs, research pursuits, facilities, and related infrastructure.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
WHO WE ARE
For assistance with software installations, technical troubleshooting, or data discovery please place an inquiry with our Help Desk at [email protected] or 757-683-3192. For discussions related to specific research or project collaboration, please contact George McLeod by email at [email protected] or phone 757-683-6752.
GIS REQUESTS
1 http://www.odu.edu/facultystaff/research/resources/computing/gis
ODU and partners convene Flood Modeling Workshop On Friday, January 23, a meeting on “Storm Surge Modeling
Tools for Planning and Response” will occur at VMASC as part of an ongoing Sea Level Rise/Flooding Adaption Forum.
Experts from several Universities, public and private agencies will present. Register here: http://tinyurl.com/np6fq43
Geospatial & Visualization Computing @ ODU
ITS GIS provides valuable employment experience for higher-level GIS
students. We accept applications for student internship vacancies on
an ongoing basis. All relevant information is included on the GIS
Internship application.
Internships are widely recognized as an
important first step in building a successful
GIS career. Former ODU GIS employee Brian
Diunizio received several job offers upon
graduation in December 2014. He’s accepted
a position with international ocean sciences
firm Continental Shelf Associates (CSA) in
Florida. Congratulations Brian!
ODU GeoVis Digest January 12, 2014
Issue 2, Winter 2015
On December 12, 2014, ODU hosted a day long workshop devoted to technical discussion regarding the nature, collection, and usage of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. Partners from VITA/VGIN (VA’s GIS agency), Dewberry, and the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) offered presentations and workshop exercises for over 25 participants. The capacity crowd was comprised of technical experts and managers from municipalities, engineering firms, and educational institutions throughout the Commonwealth. Topics discussed included:
Airborne Topobathymetric LiDAR Amar Nayegandi, Director of Remote Sensing, Dewberry
2014 Hampton Roads LiDAR Collection Overview Andrew Peters, Project Manager, Dewberry
Regional Efforts to Map Sea Level Rise Inundation Ben McFarlane, Sr. Regional Planner, HRPDC
Slide shows from the days’ presentations can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/kcxhq9z
Software: The University funds campus site licenses for two major commercial geospatial software packages: ESRI ArcGIS (v. 10.2.2) and ERDAS Imagine (v. 2014). Faculty and students in need of state-of-the-art geospatial computing resources have several options, whether working on-campus or remotely. GIS Instructional Lab: Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building (MGB) Room 342 houses a 25-student instructional laboratory dedicated to the instruction of GIS and related courses. The lab includes 26 high performance desktops with dual monitors, a high capacity color laser printer, a large-format HP DesignJet plotter, and a ceiling mounted projector. GeoIDS Collaboratory: Oceanography and Physical Sciences (OCNPS) Building Room 331 houses the Geospatial Interdisciplinary Studies (GeoIDS) Collaboratory. This small 5-workstation facility provides a space where faculty, GIS staff, and graduate students may collaborate on geospatially-oriented research projects. MoVE: The Monarch Online Virtual Environment (MOVE) provides browser-based access to virtual GIS workstations that have the same software configuration as desktops in the aforementioned GIS labs. See page 3 for access instructions. GIS on the MOVE may be accessed from any client machine from any location with an internet connection and a compatible web browser.
ODU LiDAR Technical Workshop
GIS Instructional Resources
GIS Employment
2
Classified LiDAR data for utility infrastructure, Norfolk VA
LiDAR is an excellent tool for visualizing and cataloguing physical assets
spread across large geographic areas
http://www.odu.edu/facultystaff/research/resources/computing/gis
Feature extraction from LiDAR data, Kaufman Mall, ODU
LiDAR may be used to identify building footprints and vegetation areas
without the need for costly field surveys
Discover and use VGIN’s publicly available maps and data layers
1. In a web browser, navigate to: www.arcgis.com
2. In the Search box type: “owner:VGIN”
*VGIN must be in ALL CAPS
3. You should receive over 170 results!
4. Selecting the Open dropdown allows you to
interact with the data in a variety of ways!
Joshua Behr and Rafael Diaz, research associate professors at VMASC, are building maps of the region's communities to show which communities are most likely to contain medically fragile and at-risk populations. Behr & Diaz employ GIS and visualization computing technologies to help accurately estimate the spatial placement of residents that will not or cannot evacuate, which allows planners to more efficiently gauge where to place shelters and stage resources and personnel. The data being gathered by Behr & Diaz through telephone surveys and neighborhood canvassing by ODU's Social Science Research Center are being used to compile a set of maps illustrating the most medically fragile and vulnerable populations in Hampton Roads, right down to the neighborhood level.
ODU GeoVis Digest January 12, 2014
Issue 2, Winter 2015
USEFUL DATA BOX
Virginia NAIP 2014 now available as a web service!
The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) acquires imagery during the agricultural growing seasons in the continental U.S. This 3-band color imagery has a spatial resolution of 1m and has been made available as a web-service by VGIN at the following web address: http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=218abe5c7be248
b3a6ec1a33df1e839e
HOW TO
Research Spotlight
3 http://www.odu.edu/facultystaff/research/resources/computing/gis
“Heat” Map of Financial Vulnerability generated by collaborating faculty member Dr. Hua Liu
GeoVIS technologies in support of the ODU Strategic Plan
The recent publication of the University’s 5-year Strategic Plan (2014-2019) provides a strong reminder that each of our functional units should craft our department-specific plans and goals in congruence with the broader goals of the University. The following are just few of the ways in which the efforts of the Geospatial & Visualization Computing (ITS) group are supporting the strategic goals of ODU:
The development of the Old Dominion University Strategic Plan provides the University with the opportunity to review progress on its previous
Strategic Plan and to chart a direction for the next five year period and beyond.
ODU GeoVis Digest January 12, 2014
Issue 2, Winter 2015
EDITOR’S CORNER
4 http://www.odu.edu/facultystaff/research/resources/computing/gis
Goal 1 – Enhance the University’s Academic & Research Excellence
ODU & ITS provide excellent GIS teaching/research labs and technology
Our staff partner with researchers from ALL Colleges in developing research proposals involving geospatial & visualization computing
Goal 2 & 3 – Support Student Success & Enrich the Quality of University Life
ITS-GIS offers student employment experiences which provide excellent hands-on learning opportunities & improve graduates’ marketability
GIS technologies provide campus administrators with critical information to help manage & improve campus facilities and student safety
Goal 4 – Engage with the Greater Community
GeoVis technologies help to address many of our Regional & Community challenges. Members of ODU’s GeoVis group regularly participate in collaborative efforts with our local municipalities and other Universities and external agencies, such as: HRPDC, VGIN/VITA, VIMS, VA Tech, ECU, Chesapeake Conservancy, NOAA, and many more.
ODU Students & Staff use their GeoVis skills at the Chesapeake Climate Hackathon in November, 2014
~ George M. McLeod, Asst. Director Geospatial & Visualization Systems