VBMP 2011 Orthophotography Flights Begin

Sanborn, under contract with VGIN, has started flying missions to acquire high-resolution digital imagery for Virginia. The 2011 Virginia Base Map Program was scheduled to acquire only the western half of the state, but funding from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, allowed us to extend the area to include the urban areas of Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Hampton Roads. Thirty (30) local governments are leveraging the effort with resolution upgrades or area extensions. Flights for the Richmond area started today with the Virginia Beach area scheduled next.

GIS Professional (GISP) Certification - Proposed Changes to Certification



The GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) has an open comment period for proposed changes to GISP certification requirements, most notably the inclusion of an examination.

Note:  First heard on the NSGIC News Blog

Comment period is open February 1 - 28, 2011.

Press Release

Proposal

2010 US Census GIS Data Available for Download

The 2010 US Census TIGER/line shapefiles are now available for download - click here to download.
Data sets are both "state based" and "county based".  Be sure to read about the data sets so you understand what you are getting, as this data can be complicated at times.

New Place Name Commemorates Roanoke Physician

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names was created in 1890 to maintain uniform geographic place names. New place names can be proposed and after public review may be approved if certain criteria are met. On January 13th a new name was approved for Virginia. Hutcheson Ridge in Rockbridge County commemorates Dr. Robert S. Hutcheson, Jr. (1919-2003), a Lexington native and noted Roanoke physician. The 3,070 foot high, 1.2 mile long ridge is located at the southern end of Little North Mountain, on the north side of Goshen Pass.

Census Data - American Community Survey

Note - This is a re-post from the NSGIC News blog

Fast Online Census Maps

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 12:53 PM PST

Small area data is now available from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. A New York Times website provides instant mapping capability, nationwide for 22 demographic and housing variables. The site is called Mapping America. It is incredibly fast and easy to use.

Mountain Empire Regional GIS - MERG

The Mountain Empire Regional GIS (MERG) was officially launched yesterday Thursday, December 9, 2010 at the Southwest Higher Education Center in Abingdon, VA.  Nadine Culberson, Deputy County Administrator for Washington County welcomed everyone and introduced the keynote speaker Karen Jackson, Deputy Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virgina.  See press coverage by TriCities.com here.

The MERG project is a regional model in Virginia that demonstrates the benefits of collaboration amongst localities and state government by leveraging innovative tools in technology to improve data sharing and services. The project began when the counties of Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth and Washington along with the City of Bristol identified a need to improve emergency response to 9-1-1 calls. The focus of the project was to design a system to share current GIS data across jurisdictional boundaries to enhance emergency response for mutual aid and regional responses, something that has hampered emergency response times in the past. The project received grant funds from the Virginia Wireless E-911 Services Board through the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Grant Program.  The MERG system also shares the regionally aggregated GIS data to the Virginia Geographic Information Network, supporting VGIN's efforts to establish a statewide GIS Clearinghouse.

ESRI Technical Certification

On Tuesday ESRI announced some more steps in implementation of its Technical Certification program. The certification website lists qualifications, skills measured and training resources for a number of the planned certifications. Registration opens January 17, 2011. The cost of certification will be $225. Persons who took and passed a certification exam at the 2010 User Conference may now announce their certification.