NCSU LibrariesGeospatial Data Services

Jeff Essic

Data Services Librarian

DH Hill Library

jeff_essic@ncsu.edu

515-5698

Libraries GIS Services

• Data Resources– Networked– In Library

• Assistance– Finding & Getting Data– Using Data & Software

• Workstations & Software• Virtual Campus Courses• http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/data/gis/

Virtual Campus

• Free to NCSU faculty, staff, students

• 80+ courses and workshops

• 15-25 hours per course

• Includes exercises with provided data & software

• Certificate for course completion

• http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/virtcamp.html

Popular Virtual Campus Courses

• Learning ArcGIS 8.x, Part I and Part II

• Learning ArcGIS Spatial Analyst

• Creating, Editing, and Managing Geodatabases

• Introduction to Visual Basic 6

• Exploring Marine Science with

ArcGIS

• Introduction to ArcView 3.x

• Understanding Map Pro-

jections and Coordinate

Systems

Networked Data Access at NCSU

• Geodata Server

– Mapped drive from Windows, Mac

map to roanoke.lib.ad.ncsu.edu

– FTP

(ftp://gisdata.lib.ncsu.edu)

– HTTP (Web)

for off campus access, requires authentication

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/geodata.html

Data Distribution

• Federally produced unclassified data is public-domain

• State, local, and commercial data are held by NCSU under distribution agreements that limit their use to NCSU affiliated users for educational purposes only.

• Distribution of data for “un-seeable” features (underground infrastructure) is being stopped for homeland security.

Factors in Choosing Geospatial Data

1. Source - Fed, state, local, international, other

2. Extent - watershed, Census tract, county, state, etc.

3. Age - 1-2 years old vs. 3-7 vs. 8 or more

4. Data accuracy and scale - positional and Attribute

5. File size - How much free space do you have?

6. Attribute availability

7. Metadata availability

8. File/Image Format

9. Projection and Datum

10. Use Restrictions

Federal Data Sources

• Federal data is public-domain and easily downloaded from numerous websites.

• http://www.geodata.gov - Federal data portal linked to agency data sources

• http://nationalatlas.gov - Interactive mapping and download

• http://nationalmap.usgs.gov - Cascading Map Server

State Data Sources

• NC Center for Geographic Info. & Analysis– Wide range of data, over 100 different layers– Scale: mostly 1:24,000 to 1:100,000– Available to NCSU via geodata server

• NC DOT– http://www.ncdot.org/planning/statewide/gis– DOT data, contours, FEMA flood, ’93 aerial photos,

USGS DRG’s,

• NCSU PrecisionAg (Soil Science)- http://www.precisionag.ncsu.edu/

- Census, DLG, NRCS soils, ’98 Color IR Orthophotos

Local Data Layers and Sources

• Typical layers include parcels, street centerlines, digital orthophotos, miscellaneous districts, zones, infrastructure, and cultural features.

• Sources:– Download from the Web– Available from the library – Acquire directly from the city/county.

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/gis/counties.html

Feature Data Acquisition Status

Other Data Sources

• Council of Governments, Ex/ Regional open space

• Utilities

• University Faculty and Peers

• Commercial data products, usually originate from govt. sources, but are value added- Maptech- Delorme- National Geographic- Geolytics

Digital Orthophotos

Census Data Resources-Web

• Download TIGER shapefiles from

http://www.esri.com/data/download/census2000_ tigerline/index.html

- Some basic tables can be downloaded here too

• Generate tables from

- American Factfinder: (http://factfinder.census.gov/) or

- NC State Data Center (http://census.state.nc.us/)

- Be sure to get a geographic ID field to join your tables to the shapefiles.

Recent Acquisitions

• Delorme’s Xmap 4.5– Complete US coverage of DRGs

on an external hard drive, plus

3-D viewing available at DH Hill GIS workstation

• Maptech’s DigitalCharts – NOAA digitized Nautical

Charts and photos- Norfolk VA to Florida plus

Intracoastal Waterway

LIDAR

• LIght Detection And Ranging.

• Measure distance, speed, rotation, chemical composition/concentration of a remote object

• Airborne LIDAR for the flood mapping program has been collected for 2/3 of NC.

• This data can be processed for many different applications

• Symposium being planned for May 14

NC OneMap

NCFloodmaps.com

• Web Data Viewer

• Property/Flood Zone

Lookup Tool

• Data Download Tool

– flood zones

– state govt. data– local govt. data– 20 and 50ft. ASCII

digital elevation data

National Digital Information Infrastructure Program Proposal (NDIIPP)

• NDIIPP is a Library of Congress effort focused on preservation of digital resources.

• Our proposal focuses on NC state/local geospatial data partnering with CGIA.

• Try to acquire data, document it with preservation metadata, and ingest it into digital repository for long term maintenance, investigate new protocols.

• Content: feature data, imagery, digital maps, tabular

• 3 year grant--$1 million+ project, 4-6 total awards. Slim chance of us receiving, but we’re still in the running

Contact

Jeff Essic

Data Services Librarian

jeff_essic@ncsu.edu

515-5698

DH Hill Library, Research & Information Services

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/data/gis