Computer Science Student Software Project 1 For: Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities

Contact Information: Patrick Cotter, GIS Coordinator

Phone: 456-1802 E-mail: [email protected]

Submitted by: Patrick Cotter Date: October 20, 2008 Project: Summary The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (ADOT) is expanding its Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database and has a need for a tool allowing geographic querying of data. The current system is inefficient and leads to duplication of work efforts. An interface based on a virtual earth platform such as Google Earth is ideal. Background The ADOT Northern Region has a large and expanding inventory of GIS datasets from in-house projects, consultants and other agencies. These data are stored on a server in a basic file-folder directory structure. GIS data are generally in ESRI shapefile or Geodatabase format. Access to the data is available through an intranet connection within the ADOT, with most end users utilizing ArcGIS or AutoCAD software to display and manipulate the data.

Various disciplines within ADOT utilize the data in their day-to-day operations. This includes the right-of-way, engineering, planning, surveying, geotechnical, and environmental sections. Unfortunately, no single folder structure has been identified that is acceptable to all the different sections. Often times, data are stored according to project.

UAF Department of Computer Science File: Student Computer Science Software Project [Sales Team Name] Strategic Account Business Plan Therefore, locating data in the current directory structure can be difficult and time consuming for users not familiar with a project or the database.

End users want to query existing datasets by geographic location. This would ensure that any existing dataset for a particular area could be found regardless of the underlying directory structure. Likewise, querying by geographic location would allow users to locate data from disparate projects quickly and efficiently. Most data users are familiar with Google Earth, making it an ideal platform to utilize. Additionally, the Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard.

Benefits to UAF students This project will give computer science students experience in several programming languages and OGC standards. Students will also be exposed to data storage and retrieval problems common among large organizations.

Approved: Yes No Date: Committee Members & Students

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