Regional GIS and GIS Alternatives Carl Zimmerman, PhD Senior GIS Manager
Data Availability Imagery now available for entire region. 3 and 4-band imagery
Data Availability Imagery now available for entire region.
Data Availability Imagery now available for entire region.
Data Availability Imagery now available for entire region.
Data Availability Topography available for entire region Utilized in engineering applications and environmental planning Note: Can provide a complete package of contemporary wetlands data for interested towns along with a discussion of utility and interpretation of data to wetlands commissions LiDAR 2 per sqmt 1m DEM and SEM
Statewide Flight New Imagery and Topography will be delivered for next year We are closely involved in the statewide flight planning and specifications activities to align the work with our legacy data Sanborn
HV Planimetrics Sanborn conducting planimetrics acquisition using exactly the same structure from SWRPA flight Completes the region Used available funds for RPIP grant 14 blocks Contractor is delivery one block per week throughout fall. Everything is on schedule
HV Planimetrics Quality control / quality assessment is underway and will progress throughout fall
MS4 Permit program WestCOG is closely involved with permitting data process to ensure we provide the best methodology for tracking reductions described by the permit Mapping of IC and DCIA is required to fulfill permit. All towns should have some GIS capabilities.
Regional GIS Service Portal is now up and running and will be available shortly to the towns and greater community Testing and tweaking Data for entire region will be available in early winter WestCOG can come to towns to discuss what their external facing portal will look like-- should they want it. QUESTIONS: Carl Zimmerman czimmerman@westcog.o rg Can provide introduction to wetlands, land use commissions, conservation commission, etc. so that they can understand how to use it. Will NOT have private access because of interpretation by ESRI regarding COGs-can if interested Investigating options westcog-gis.org
Access Either external or internal If external, we can set up standard external facing pages. If interested in internal (i.e. Mallozzi) we can set up and purchase an access license
Alternatives for GIS Or, how can we avoid paying full price for ESRI software
Caveats about ESRI Pros Global company with tremendous and integrate resources Seamless integration between most products Migration is successfully moving from desktop environment to web environment/platform Significant investment in educational resources Many companies are using it as backbone (i.e. GeoCortex) Cartography a strength Cons Small towns are treated like big corporations not NGOs or educational institutions Pricing is very high and profit margins are excessive (my opinion) Advanced license is 10K+ with maintenance fee but personal license is $100/year for everything No one wants to bargain with them Annual maintenance fees are very high
Pricing Margins Personal Use State Pricing
Free Desktop Software
Free Desktop Software QGIS Best of the lot Extensive governmental and consultant support (especially European) Multi-platform (so can use for tablets and Macs) 64-bit Can handle geodatabases and integrate with some cloud computing Many standalone plug-ins for additional capacity See http://www.qgis.org/en/site/ https://www.qgis.org/en/site/forusers/do wnload.html Use Long-term Release
QGIS Interface
ArcGIS Explorer Desktop and Explorer for ArcGIS Free 32 or 64 bit (faster) Essentially a very well designed reader but Does utilized WMS and gdbs Can download Desktop ArcGIS Explorer (Windows) Tablet for field staff Explorer for ArcGIS (ios, Mac, Android)
GUI
Other GIS and Analytic Softwares GeoSpatial ArcGIS Pro (sort of) Free with ArcGIS Online Future of GIS Very fast Allows you to map directly to ArcGIS Online Analytic GeoDa R with R Commander Gives you a GUI Many flavors of Python WhiteboxGIS Excellent processing engine Fugroviewer IrfanView MiniCAD Viewer
GIS Platforms
Caveats Pro Different pricing structures but typically WAY cheaper Provide 80% of the functionality Web applications have matured and internet is nearly universal More add ons and extension available now (AVL) Cons Many are international They are the bananas in the room not the guerilla in the room Most are recent start-ups so model is less proven Don t give all of the functionality and extensions New platforms
ArcGIS Online Stand alone usage possible with other open source GIS Limited functionality but little upfront costs
GISCloud Different pricing model More robust environment http://www.giscloud.com/products/
Mango Maps https://mangomap.com Simple but cheaper/
Leaflet Lightweight and free Good for maps in web pages http://leafletjs.com/
Lists of GIS and Analytics Software References https://www.gislounge.com/opensource-gis-applications/ http://gisgeography.com/free-gissoftware/ GIS Geography is a useful website with software, training, career, and technical information.
Questions Carl Zimmerman WestCOG Senior GIS Manager czimmerman@westcog.org