Digital Wetlands. Bringing the Field into the Office Through GIS

Transcription

1 Digital Wetlands Bringing the Field into the Office Through GIS

2 Maryland Department of the Environment Wetlands and Waterways Program MDE's Wetlands and Waterways Program seeks to conserve valuable aquatic systems; providing for the environmental, economic and resource needs of Maryland. Funded by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Outcome Wetland Demonstration Grant CD and Maryland Department of the Environment

3 Maryland Department of the Environment Wetlands and Waterways Program MDE lacked a fully operational database. In some instances wetland gains and losses were calculated manually. In 2005, received pilot EPA Environmental Outcome Wetland Demonstration Grant to improve implementation of the State wetland regulatory program. A key task is to update and expand the database system.

4 Maryland Environmental Service Involvement & Overview Created in 1970 Independent state agency Over 600 employees Water\Wastewater Environmental Monitoring and Technical Services Dredging Engineering

5 MDE Project Overview Historic Status Paper products a valuable wealth of information..lost Reports time consuming Data not in the right hands Databases - outdated Multiple data entry tasks - inefficient Maps not being utilized enough

6 MDE Project Overview Benefits of GIS Agency data sharing Public information Spatial validation Geographic analysis Field verification Digital cataloging Ancillary data management

7 MDE Project Overview Benefits of GIS Wetlands Grant The reporting capability will be enhanced to allow new reports to be created without additional sophisticated programming support. Reports would for the first time display regulatory gains and losses l by county, wetland type by county and watershed, functional changes by county and watershed, detailed wetland type changes (e.g. State tidal wetland classification system) and changes by permit modifications. The database will also be constructed to support other electronic information, such as digital design plans, photographs of the pre- disturbance impact site and mitigation site, and electronic monitoring reports. Another enhancement to the database will be the development of a tracking system for wetland preservation, to record the extent of o wetlands permanently protected through the regulatory process.

8 Wetlands Permit Review Automated data entry Reporting Tracking GIS data integration Auto QA\QC

9 Wetlands Permit Review

10 Wetlands Reporter Database driven GIS integrated Reporting Data analysis Multi-user accessible Automatic math!

11 Bridge & Culvert Inventory in Floodplains FEMA provided funding for new floodplain maps CORPS (provide engineering support at many locations / corps districts ) Maryland GIS data available MDE (middle man) get data to everyone How?

12 Bridge & Culvert Inventory in Floodplains Custom application development Field support Custom data integration Data management QA\QC procedures Technology integration Data delivery

13 Digital Floodplain\Wetland Mapping Field Verification

14 Ancillary Data Management

15 Tidal Wetlands Maps Project Overview Purpose: to have electronic, reproducible copies of legal wetland boundary maps from 1970s. No local sources for printing from mylars. Everyday use over 30 years = bad condition. User access limited

16 Tidal Wetlands Maps Inventorying Paper Maps Fragile state Locations unknown Still need everyday Over 2,700 Database tracking Related information

17 Tidal Wetlands Maps Scanning maps\county indexes Time consuming Map repair Maintain database Verify post scan Visual adjustments File storage

18 Tidal Wetlands Maps Georeferencing and digitizing task Scanned PDF s into a TIFF image Apply real-world locations to maps Enhance usefulness

19 Tidal Wetlands Maps GIS programming\adobe programming GIS application Adobe PDF interface Map data lifted

20 Tidal Wetlands Maps Data Access GIS catalog Perform GIS tasks Integrated with other systems already online Print Add to reports Access from desktop

21 Non-Tidal Wetlands Field Inspector GIS based non-tidal wetlands impact assessor Collect, map and validate wetlands data GPS location and delineation updates Ancillary data tracking: photos, documents, digital images and sketching tool

22 GIS to the field for updates and verification Photo documenting Digital signatures Sketch tool GPS locating GIS layers accessible WSSC Roads Permit locations, etc.

23 Tracking and Reporting In the field QA\QC Automated reporting Document tracking Data management Little lag time

24 Office management Connecting staff Accessible anytime Standardization Easy to use No GIS needed

25 Future endeavors Continued upgrades Integration with enterprise Corps ORMS system - New automated information system for the Corps Regulatory Program Replacing RAMS, RAMSII

26 Thank You & Questions Denise Clearwater MDE Special Projects Coordinator Tim Palmer MES Manager GIS Services