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Mapping the future Unit shares data with the Commonwealth and world By Kerry A. Newman
For more information about Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access, visit the Web site at www.pasda.psu.edu/ or send e-mail to pasda@psu.edu.	Centuries ago, explorers used maps to guide them on their travels. Sometimes their maps were little more than the stars in the sky, but maps aided discovery. While much of the world has been explored and mapped, revolutions in mapping and information technology are changing perceptions of the world and how data can be more efficiently and effectively used. Geographic information systems (GIS), a computer-based mapping technology, is changing the way data is analyzed. Among the pioneers using GIS to change the face of mapping are staff members of Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA). This unit created a Web-based interface that provides access to geospatial data about the state of Pennsylvania. Created by a partnership between Penn State and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the project originally intended to disseminate data within the DEP. However, the project grew, and two-and-a-half years of program development resulted in a public resource for accessing geospatial data. “We developed a system to share data over the Internet,” said Maurie Caitlin Kelly, Penn State’s PASDA coordinator and a senior research assistant at the Environmental Resources Research Institute (ERRI). PASDA focuses on giving Pennsylvania citizens free access to digital geospatial information about the Commonwealth. The goal is to catalog and document the data of Pennsylvania’s government agencies, to share information of interest to the general public and to encourage economic development through the exchange of information and the more efficient use of resources. The end result is that sharing data will save time, money and the need for additional resources. On Sept. 10, 1999, Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access became the official geospatial data clearinghouse for the state of Pennsylvania by winning a contract from the Pennsylvania Geospatial Information Council. In this new role, PASDA became the sole source for centralizing the Commonwealth’s data. The PASDA staff work with state agencies to document their data and make it accessible through a searchable database over the Internet. The new state partnership broadens the inventory of data housed at PASDA, because the relationship requires that the PASDA staff work with all of the state agencies involved with the Pennsylvania Geospatial Information Council. Now, in addition to working with the Department of Environmental Protection, PASDA works with such groups as the Historic and Museum Commission, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Penn State’s role in PASDA results from the collaboration of many faculty and staff members across the University, with the Environmental Resources Research Institute leading the team. ERRI spearheaded the project by submitting the initial proposal for creating PASDA in 1995. In addition, staff and faculty from the following units have been instrumental in making PASDA a success: the George F. Deasy GeoGraphics Laboratory in the Department of Geography in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the Land Analysis Lab in the Department of Agronomy in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the University Libraries. In addition to Kelly, PASDA team members include Chris Pfeiffer, senior programmer applications analyst with the University Libraries and metadata coordinator for PASDA; Todd Bacastow, senior research assistant at ERRI; Ryan Baxter, research assistant at ERRI; Scott Dane, research assistant and PASDA data manager at ERRI; Ralph Heidle, research assistant at ERRI; Tracey Walrath, GIS analyst at ERRI; David DiBiase, director of Deasy GeoGraphics Lab and the senior faculty coordinator of the World Campus Certificate Program in GIS; Marty Gutowski, PASDA Webmaster and information designer at Deasy GeoGraphics Lab; and David Howard, Deasy GeoGraphics Lab cartographer. In the partnership, ERRI serves as the overall manager of the project, while staff members from the Deasy GeoGraphics Lab and the Land Analysis Lab share their expertise in Web design, data access and database management. The PASDA staff members are modern-day explorers who seek out data that can be archived and made accessible via the Internet. They make contacts with organizations active with GIS and educate them about the benefits of sharing data and participating in the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). PASDA represents Pennsylvania’s node in this federal program that promotes the cooperative dissemination of geospatial data in order to save resources that are spent on data collection. The infrastructure falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Geographic Data Committee, which creates the standards for the uniform cataloging of geospatial data. More than 130 international nodes are accessible through the NSDI. Once connections are made and data is obtained, metadata is created. Pfeiffer said, “Metadata is essentially a record of what the data was created from and information about how you can access the data and what it shows. My position is to document the data.” The data and metadata are then archived into the database and coded onto the PASDA Web site. Visitors have access to more than 10,550 data sets and 8,228 metadata records. There is information about streams, watersheds, forests, soils, species of fish, surface geology, road systems, elevation models, census data and digital orthophotos—which are best defined as aerial photos that are put into a digital format for the Web. According to Kelly, a special feature of PASDA is its catalog of aerial photos of Pennsylvania. The culmination of a yearlong process to document and convert the images, professional and recreational browsers alike can target a specific area and zoom in to view an individual location, such as a landmark or house. Images can be downloaded, saved and printed for future use. The digital orthophotos are important, because they can be used in assessing the environmental impact of changes in land use. Such changes often affect the watershed and agriculture of a region; the photos can be used as tools to help measure the change and assist with future planning. In addition to the static maps, metadata and digital orthophotos, Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access also offers browsers the opportunity to work with interactive mapping. A new feature of the PASDA Web site, on-line mapping gives GIS novices the opportunity to create maps over the Internet. Besides giving browsers the opportunity to choose data and features for customizing a map, the Web site offers browsers the hands-on ability to learn about systems that once pertained only to people with a technical GIS background. As the Web site grows, PASDA is attracting the general public and K-12 audiences. The applications for classroom use are endless. “Anyone in a K–12 school district could use PASDA to go in and map streams and roads and view aerial maps,” Kelly said. “We are trying to make it fun. We are trying to make it interesting, and we want to make it educational for younger audiences.” Their educational impact reaches beyond the classroom. “We are not just a place where people get data,” Kelly said. “We get into the community, we go to schools and conferences. We try to meet people and try and understand what they need and why they would use this [PASDA’s data].” The staff of PASDA teaches the groups they work with how to better share data and reduce the amount of data that they duplicate unknowingly. In addition, PASDA teaches smaller community organizations how to use PASDA data to begin their own GIS and data-documentation activities. In the long run, the PASDA staff are not only sharing data, but also showing the organizations ways to reduce costs and more efficiently use their human and financial resources. While PASDA has multiple responsibilities to the state and Pennsylvania communities, the unit’s impact does not stop there. Among the more than 160,000 Web hits per month are curious visitors from Sweden and South Africa. Thousands of other inquisitive people call or e-mail with their questions. Kelly attributes the international interest to a common need for information and a common need for solutions to universal problems. PASDA is emerging as a leader among the geospatial data clearinghouses found on the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, because of its connection with the Pennsylvania government, the accessibility of the data available on its Web site and its use of metadata. In fact, the PASDA staff received praise from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the European Commission for their use of metadata. In its infancy, this unit was created to serve specific state needs, but PASDA has grown to help unite Penn State with the Commonwealth. It both fulfills Penn State’s mission of teaching, research and service and executes state initiatives. In the future, the staff plans to expand its attempts to educate the nontraditional GIS user and increase their work with local government groups. “It is going to get bigger in many ways,” Kelly said. While ancient explorers were guided by the stars, the PASDA team reaches for the stars. With more than 160,000 visitors per month, PASDA’s potential for impacting Pennsylvania—and the world—seems limitless.