GIS, which stands for Graphic Information System, is a business tool proving itself to be indispensable for many industries. First, though, GIS is not the same as GPS (Global Positioning Systems). GPS and GIS are from the same family and they both tell you where something is, but there are few similarities after that.
GPS receivers sit in millions of vehicles worldwide, or in the pockets of outdoor folks, and get their information from satellites circling the planet. GIS combines existing data sets (sometimes including GPS) to let you examine your world in a variety of ways to make critical business decisions.
GIS used to be the province of data labs, but now you can get systems that work on your PC at a variety of pricepoints. Ben Koostra, a local GIS consultant, works with R. J. Corman in Nicholasville to help them manage the 650 miles of short-line railroads they own. When they are considering a property to buy, they use GIS technology to make their decision. According to Koostra, GIS allows them to see "all things along the lines - easements, bridges and anything that goes into the purchase and maintenance." Koostra's GIS expertise allows Corman to creatively apply the data and make rock-solid decisions.
GIS offers maps of landscapes and neighborhoods combined with existing data such as county maps, land surveys and other baseline data. It allows you to examine your world using data beyond street addresses. For example, if you go to the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government's Web site (www.lfucg.com), you can see the city's GIS pages. Under the heading "Chief Information Office" is a menu selection for "GIS/Maps," and clicking it takes you to a Web-based GIS system.
The GIS pages have interactive aerial photographs of the city plus different maps. You can access a list of all streets and see a color photo of your neighborhood. You can zoom in and see your house and yard with reasonably good detail. You might be thinking, "Well, I can do that with Google Maps - so what?"
The city's GIS system lets you add transparent layers on top of the photos that show water lines, voting precincts, fire stations, zoning info, parks, census tracts and a variety of other information. The online GIS tools are free and the city offers a lot of other more detailed data for your use if you have software that can utilize it, but some has a price attached.
How is GIS used? Emergency dispatch and 911 services use GIS data to direct first responders to the right address. Want to advertise? You can get the U.S. Census data, including block groups and the census tracts, then use that information to tailor a direct mail campaign to certain geographic areas based on population density and economic information. You can also mail only to gated communities and see the school districts and historic properties. If you'd like the aerial photographs taken in 2007 for a door-to-door campaign, the city will sell you that data, too.
GIS is rapidly integrating into farming, and the U.K. agriculture department is moving fast with it, too. One hot topic is "reducing inputs," which means to use fewer herbicides (i.e. weed killers), pesticides and fertilizers. Until recently, a tractor and sprayer would cover a field and spread chemicals somewhat imprecisely. You could say how much per acre or decide on a flow rate, but all areas of a field got the same amount regardless of the amount actually needed.
Tractors are being built today that are automatically steered by systems using a combination of GPS and GIS information. A field can be analyzed using USDA soil maps and aerial photographs to see which areas do or don't grow well. That data is input into a GIS system, and the GPS data is coupled with it to provide precise information about the level of inputs the farmer uses on the field. This data is tracked year-to-year to improve precision.
Next, a guidance system on the tractor gets an upload of the data and uses it to steer the tractor. This keeps it on a track, which varies in many cases by only one foot. The tractor has a "boom sprayer" that has long arms with nozzles to spray the chemicals. The guidance system ensures little or no overlap and can vary or stop the spray to get a precise amount just where it's needed.
This guidance system also lets them till and plant 10-inch-wide strips; land between the strips lies undisturbed, which reduces erosion and inputs. This saves fuel and time and means fewer chemicals that run off into the surrounding water systems.
There are myriad other uses for GIS in commerce, construction, land planning, not including the many ways that haven't even been thought of yet. Want more information? Contact LFUCG, the University of Kentucky's biosciences and engineering group in agriculture, or James Wisenhunt with the Bluegrass Area Development District here in Lexington. Any of these agencies have a wealth of information for you.
Frank Goad is president of Goad & Associates, a communications, learning and behavioral services company. He can be reached at 859-619-5050.