Why$Does$Geospa,al$Technology$Ma3er$To$Historic$Preserva,on$

And$Vital$Downtowns?$An$Introduc,on$

Leslie$Pelch,$VT$Center$for$Geographic$Informa,on$

WHAT IS GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY?

•  Digital Mapping! ! What is a Map? ! What is GIS? ! Introducing Vector and

Raster Data ! How Might Geospatial

Technology be Useful to YOU?

WHAT IS A MAP?

•  A map is any representation of a geographic area – that is, a part or all of the earth’s surface. That surface usually contains many things that the map-maker wants us to see in one image, for example, roads, cities, and lakes. Maps above all help us to graphically display spatial relationships. Tabula&Peu)ngeriana&is&the&only&

known&surviving&map&of&the&Roman&“cursus&publicus”&It&is&a&very&schema)c&map.&

WHAT IS GIS?

•  $GIS stands for Geographic Information System.

•  The earliest GIS programs were developed simply to allow map information to be stored in computerized form. This made maps easier to store, reproduce and update.

HOW DOES GIS SOFTWARE UNDERSTAND MAPS? VECTOR AND RASTER DATA

•  Vector Data is like a dot-to-dot image: the GIS data format stores information about:

•  The geometry: the shape and location of the objects (defined by coordinates)

•  The attributes: the descriptive information known about the objects, normally displayed on a map through symbology and labels.$$

•  And$then$mapping$soGware$DRAWS$the$features$

•  Examples:$roads,$historic$districts,$points$represen,ng$historic$barns$

HOW DO COMPUTERS UNDERSTAND MAPS? VECTOR AND RASTER DATA

•  Raster Data is like graph paper: •  The GIS data format stores

information about a grid of cells, each of which stores a value

•  The value can be: •  Color/Greyscale

•  Elevation

•  Intensity

•  Examples: aerial imagery, scanned topo maps, Lidar data (elevation)

VECTOR/RASTER EXAMPLE

HOW MIGHT YOU BENEFIT FROM GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY?

•  Manage Information About Your Assets: •  Historic Buildings •  Archeological Sites •  Designated Downtowns

ACCD’s&Smart&Growth&Mapper&&Shows&Designated&Downtowns&And&Historic&Districts&in&context.&

HOW MIGHT YOU BENEFIT FROM GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY? •  Visualize relevant

information about those assets and their environment

Map&of&Bennington’s&Downtown&in&Rela)on&to&Flood&Zones&

HOW MIGHT YOU BENEFIT FROM GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY?

•  Perform analysis (hazard mitigation, opportunities for expansion, finding sites)

Lidar&data&provides&very&detailed&surface&eleva)on&informa)on&

HOW MIGHT YOU BENEFIT FROM GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY?

•  Outreach/Marketing: h3p://goo.gl/0ww6Se$

Stone&Environmental&Created&a&Story&Map&about&Bennington’s&Downtown&AreaNWide&Plan&to&Explain&and&Promote&it&to&the&Public&

THANK YOU!

Leslie$Pelch,$Outreach$Coordinator$

Vermont$Center$for$Geographic$Informa,on$

h3p://vcgi.vermont.gov$

802T882T3002$