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Newsletter, September 2006
Welcome to the Fall update for the Maryland Spatial Data Infrastructure!
September 12, 2006
MSGIC Executive Committee Sets Direction
During its July 12, 2006 meeting, MSGIC’s executive leadership decided to focus on three priorities:
- Maryland Statewide Orthoimagery Cooperative;
- Cooperative Statewide Centerline Program;
- Statewide GIS Coordination (USGS/NSDI project with Towson University).
These projects will help build the Maryland Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI) and enable the GIS community to access accurate, up-to-date spatial data for Maryland.
Mid-year elections for the Executive Committee were held at the meeting, with the following results:
Current Chair:
Mr. Jeff D. Edgin
Chair-elect:
Mr. Marshall L. Stevenson, III
Secretary:
Mrs. Virginia I. Peterman
Subcommittees:
Outreach and Education:
Mr. Kevin T. Boone
Data and Resource:
Ms. Charlene E. Howard
Mr. Jack P. Martin
Caucus Seats:
State:
Mr. Jason T. Mielke GISP
Mr. Kenneth M. Miller
Local:
Mr. David A. Gillum
Mr. Robert D. Slivinsky, Jr.
Regional Council:
Mr. Victor W. Henry
Ms. Charlene E. Howard
Federal:
Mr. Roger A. Barlow
Education:
Mr. Matthew S. Felton
Private:
Mrs. Alison M. Rice
The next Executive Committee meeting will be held on October 11, 2006.
The next MSGIC quarterly meeting will be held October 18, 2006 in Frederick County.
To read the minutes from the July 12 executive committee meeting, please visit http://www.msgic.state.md.us/
msgicinf/comittes/minutes/
exec0607.pdf.
Maryland Statewide Orthoimagery Cooperative
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), in cooperation with other members of the Maryland State Geographic Information Committee (MSGIC), are working on a cost-sharing effort that also involves federal, state, county and municipal governments, universities and private sector businesses. The partnership will pool resources to collect digital aerial imagery for spring 2007 that covers the entire state.
Specifications for the data will depend on available funding. All of the imagery will be natural color with two options for pixel resolution. Option #1 is a mixed resolution of 6” and 12” based on population density. Option #2 is a 6” pixel resolution.
Partnerships that are already established and that agree to allocate funding to the cooperative include MSGIC, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Geological Survey, the Maryland agencies of Natural Resources, Planning, Transportation (includes State Highway Administration and Maryland Aviation Administration), Towson and Salisbury Universities, the local governments of Howard, Anne Arundel, St Mary’s, Worcester, Talbot, Frederick counties, and others. Other possible partners include utilities, mass transit, military organizations, and the state’s Emergency Number Systems Board.
For information, please visit http://www.msgic.state.md.us/
publicat/imagpart06/Partnership06.pdf or contact Kenny Miller at kenmiller@dnr.state.md.us
Cooperative Statewide Centerline Program
The Cooperative Centerline Program is a data sharing process between the State Highway Administration (SHA) and local governments. This multiyear project will result in a statewide centerline with the same consistency across all counties. The entire state will be complete by September 2006.
Click on the map to see a larger version of this map.
 A derivative output of this dataset is available for viewing via The National Map, which provides public access to high-quality, geospatial data and information from multiple partners to help support decision-making by resource managers and the public..
Besides improving data management, the common statewide centerline file will improve many of the everyday business processes of state and local governments, including emergency response and management, land use and transportation planning, and annual road improvements, among others.
The Maryland Federated Street Centerline Synchronization Project pilot phase was recently completed by Maryland State Highway Administration, Anne Arundel County, and Towson University Center for GIS to test and build a methodology for centerline updates between SHA and counties. This process is based on geodatabase replication using ESRI’s 9.2 beta software. A kick-off meeting for the next phase of the pilot was held to bring aboard five additional counties in Maryland to synchronize a statewide street centerline dataset between their own geodatabase and the geodatabases of county governments.
New! Statewide GIS Coordination and the Maryland Spatial Data Infrastructure
GIS stakeholders in Maryland have been identified. Individuals from among the stakeholder groups have been invited and have agreed to participate in the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC). Click here to see a list of SPC members.
The kick-off meeting was held June 22, 2006 at Towson University. Discussion focused on the following facets of statewide coordination:
- Maryland’s needs relative to GIS;
- Including all areas of the state in the planning process;
- Data sharing;
- Identifying and housing the framework layers;
- Utility of spatial data;
- Importance of including organizations that use data for education, health, human resources, etc.;
- Next steps in the planning process.
The second meeting was held July 22, 2006.
A Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats analysis of Maryland’s current GIS status and coordination effort was completed and compared to NSGIC’s Nine Criteria for GIS Coordination. Possible structures for MSDI and lessons learned from other states were examined.
A flyer about Maryland’s GIS coordination effort was handed out at the MSGIC booth at the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) conference in Ocean City on August 15-18, 2006. To see the handout, please click here.
The Interim Report will be submitted to USGS/NSDI on September 15.
A first draft of the Strategic Plan for Statewide GIS Coordination is being written After the drafts undergo the review, editing, and approval process, work will proceed on the Business Plan.
The next SPC meeting will be held on September 15 at Towson University.
Click here for other Featured GIS projects in the state
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