GIS
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program
Program Overview
For any long-term ecological monitoring program, it is imperative to include a significant investment in data management. As part of this investment, the Klamath Network is integrating the use of GIS into all of our inventory and monitoring projects. Our GIS program is implemented through a cooperative agreement between Southern Oregon University (SOU) and the Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network. In addition to the staff provided by the SOU Geography Department, we utilize student interns and volunteers to meet the goals and objectives of the program.
In the past few years, much of our work has been focused on inventorying and collecting the most resent versions of GIS data from the parks and various other federal and private organizations. The GIS data was projected into a Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection with a North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) and organized using the GIS directory structure outlined in the National Park Service standards.
This information was used to support the development and implementation of several inventory projects funded by the Network. More recently, the Network has been utilizing this information to help develop the site selection and survey designs for several of our monitoring protocols. As we begin to implement the monitoring phase of our program, the Network will be working with the parks to develop a data transfer system to ensure the parks and the Network have the most up-to-date GIS data.
The Network is in the process of working with SOU to develop a GIS management system. This system consists of a high-power server with two terabytes of storage capacity that will become the backbone of our GIS program. The Network will implement SQL Server, ArcSDE, and Microsoft Server 2003. This setup will give us the ability to utilize GIS in-house or while in the field, provides the opportunity to distribute GIS data to individuals or organizations outside the Network's IT framework, and provides many of the versioning and organizational tools that will be imperative to implement a flexible and secure GIS program.
