The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has picked Juliana P. Blackwell as director of the Office of National Geodetic Survey, making her the first woman to oversee the nation's spatial reference system.
VUEWorks, a developer of GIS-integrated work order and asset management solutions, and InfraMetrix, a provider of infrastructure diagnostic services, have formed a technology partnership intended to help local governments prioritize infrastructure maintenance and capital investments.
Current radio frequency assignments — which are static, inflexible, and inefficient — have a detrimental effect on military communications. A potential solution, the cognitive radio, uses an onboard digital map system to select transmission frequencies and potentially shape the RF beam.
At least 1,500 homes were destroyed in the 2007 California wildfires, and more than 500,000 acres of land burned from Santa Barbara County to the U.S.-Mexico border. Maps of damaged structures, flood plains, and soil burn severity are among those USACE prepared to help FEMA aid those displaced by the catastrophe.
When compared with other population groups in the United States, African-Americans are at the greatest risk for cancer. This study used GIS to map the accessibility of various food types in two small towns — the first step in investigating whether there is a causative relationship to the risk of cancer. Results from this study will be used to identify predominantly African-American communities in Alabama at increased risk linked to a lack of healthy food options.
When the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources sought a more methodical and transparent decision-making process to prioritize geologic mapping activities, it turned to multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). The approach provides methodology and techniques for weighting and scoring multiple criteria to reach a conclusion in complex decision problems.
In 1972, the United States declared war on water pollution with the passage of the Clean Water Act. As the primary water/wastewater utility for a city flanked by water on three sides, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) played an aggressive role in the battle to eradicate industrial contaminants that were fouling both San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. And in 2005, SFPUC deployed mobile GIS to take the water pollution fight directly to the public.
Experiences gained in Venezuelan barrios teach that improving poverty conditions requires a full understanding of the organization of the development — both physical and social. Involving community groups with GIS enhances their capacity to generate, manage, and communicate valuable spatial information about their neighborhoods.
