Geospatial data, science and technologies are seeing wide application in WUSTL research and operations.
In particular, geographic information systems (GIS), software tools for processing, analyzing and visualizing spatial data (map-making is the simplest example), are becoming increasingly popular across science and technology disciplines.
The University recently acquired a campus-wide license for GIS software, ArcGIS, from the California-based ESRI company. The license makes GIS available to all faculty, staff and students.
Among other features, ArcGIS allows data to be displayed graphically as layers applied to familiar tools such as maps and globes and includes tools to examine spatial relationships among data.
For example, ArcGIS can be used to track such critical information as storm surge patterns, or display up-to-the minute election results while analyzing their demographic distributions.
A technical implementation committee is working to install the software in labs across campus and to provide faculty, student and staff access, according to Stefan R. Falke, D.Sc., research assistant professor in the Environmental Engineering Science Program and Center for Air Pollution Trends, Impact and Analysis (CAPITA).
“GIS is a common tool in our data analysis research at CAPITA, and many other faculty in every school at the University use it in different ways,” Falke said.
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GIS symposium Nov. 19 A planning group is organizing the University’s first GIS symposium, called “You Can Get There From Here: Mapping the Future of Geospatial Information Science at Washington University,” from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 19 in Lopata Hall. The program will include a keynote address by Joseph Berry of the University of Denver and Berry & Associates, GIS workshops, a poster session and a student poster competition. For information on the symposium, go online to gis.wustl.edu/symposium.html, or contact Falke at 935-6099 or stefan@wustl.edu. Registration is requested, as seating is limited. — Tony Fitzpatrick |
“While GIS has been around for well over 30 years, recent advances in information science and technology have made it more practical, allowing someone who is not necessarily a GIS guru to successfully apply it in their work.”
In this initial year, Arts & Sciences, the School of Engineering & Applied Science and University Libraries have collaborated to purchase the software and are beginning to develop a model for faculty and student use of GIS in both teaching and research activities.
A GIS advisory committee — co-chaired by Raymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences; and Dennis J. Martin, associate vice chancellor and associate dean of Arts & Sciences — has been formed to examine GIS use at the University.
The GIS committee will develop longer-range recommendations for an effective and sustainable way to support the use of GIS in teaching and research, and to promote faculty interactions and the sharing of ideas and methods.
In addition to Arvidson and Martin, committee members are: Falke; Shirley K. Baker, vice chancellor for information technology and dean of University Libraries; T.R. Kidder, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences; Maxine Lipeles, senior lecturer in law;
David E. Pollio, Ph.D., associate professor in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work; Jennifer R. Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences; Jacqueline Tatom, D.Des., assistant professor of architecture; and Jan M. Weller, assistant vice chancellor for network and library technology.
For more information about the advisory committee, contact Martin at 935-6820 or djm@wustl.edu.
For more information about GIS and ArcGIS, go online to gis.wustl.edu.