The ORNL Basemapping and Imagery Project: Data collection, processing and dissemination

Over the past three years, the GIS and Computer Modeling (GCM) Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has been engaged in creating a very comprehensive geospatial data base for Department of Energy (DOE) installations managed by the DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office (DOE-ORO). This effort encompasses topographic, planimetric, land use/land cover, flood plain, digital elevation, and digital imagery data for the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) and surrounding areas. The ORR covers approximately 34,800 acres and includes ORNL, the K-25 Site and the Y-12 Plant. The geographic extent of the Base Mapping and Imagery Project covers the ORR and surrounding area and two other DOE plants (Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Kentucky) for a total of 166,000 acres. The resulting data represent a major improvement in the spatial accuracy and currency of data which are used as a foundation for environmental restoration, facility studies, and other GIS data applications. A GIS data server was also created in order to store and disseminate the new basemapping data. This paper describes the history of the Base Mapping and Imagery Project with emphasis on the logistical aspects of data quality assessment. data tracking, and data product work flow for a large comprehensive spatial data base. The paper then describes the evolution of the GIS data server including its design from an FTP server to a NetScape-based World Wide Web interface. This combination of data and data access provides the ORR environmental community with a carefully configured and managed GIS dataset.