|
Name |
Phone/Fax |
Organization |
|
Sherry Amundson |
961-0061/969-3933 |
MapTech Inc. |
|
Rodney Asada |
586-3888/3835 |
DHHL |
|
Bob Boesch |
973-9404/9418 |
DOA |
|
Vicki Chmill |
(415)329-5049/0496 |
USGS |
|
Jon Chun |
531-4611x382/539-3810 |
Geo Insight |
|
Randall Hashimoto |
586-0382/0384 |
DAGS |
|
Royce Jones |
539-3773/3775 |
GDSI |
|
Ivy Kawakami |
587-2897/2899 |
OSP |
|
Eric Komori |
587-0036/0018 |
Historic Preservation |
|
Ron Matsumura |
961-8327/969-7138 |
DPW/County of Hawaii |
|
Bill Medeiros |
243-7735/7634 |
Maui Planning Dept. |
|
Ken Miyazono |
587-1838/1787 |
DOT-Highway Division |
|
Douglas Mukai |
842-1133/1937 |
R.M. Towill Corporation |
|
Ann Park |
539-3829/3833 |
UH Office of Tech Transfer |
|
Pat Shade |
522-8292/8298 |
USGS-WRD |
|
Chris Smith |
541-2605/1335 |
NRCS |
|
Craig Tasaka |
587-2894/2899 |
OSP |
|
Bob Teytaud |
956-3927 |
RCUH/CPSU |
|
Philip Thomas |
572-9306x3233/1304 |
RCUH/CPSU |
|
Nicole Vollrath |
541-3417/1335 |
USDA NRCS |
|
Ev Wingert |
956-7672/955-3528 |
Geography - UHM |
Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Craig Tasaka at 1:40 PM.
Approval of Minutes:
The chairman asked if any changes were necessary for the minutes of November 16, 1994. Since no changes were necessary, the minutes were approved as circulated.
USGS REPORT:
Vicki Chmill was introduced as the USGS National Mapping Division representative. She works with Tom Sturm and has been assigned to Hawaii. Ms. Chmill's background includes cartographic and geographic experience, and she previously worked within the Geologic Division of USGS.
The mapping division's goals have changed over time. Currently, the division's primary mission is to ensure data availability. In this regard, the division is concentrating on the sharing of data, the promotion of standards, and the development of several data programs.
The USGS plans to increase use of the Internet as a means of distributing information to its clients. Due to the expense of writing digital data to CD-ROM and distributing the CD's, the USGS will make its data available from homepages and anonymous ftp sites. Clients will then have the opportunity to download information from the homepages.
The two homepages in existence are:
The NAPP contract was canceled after non-delivery of acceptable photography to the USGS. USGS prepared a new call for bids, but failed to receive acceptable proposals. As a result, the project was terminated by the NAPP steering committee on November 7, 1995. Several other solutions for the required digital orthoquads were suggested. These suggestions include the use of radar-collected data or the use of SPOT photography. However, radar collected data was considered by the NAPP Steering Committee to be non-viable due to the system's inability to distinguish agricultural differences.
Department of Interior agencies are encouraged to submit requests for new products through the A-16 process. If there is high demand for specific data production, the more likely those requests will be approved. Due to requests made by agencies such as the National Park Service and USGS Water Resources Division, Hawaii and Kauai have been given high priority in the production of tagged vector contour data. Vector contour data already exist for four quads of Oahu (Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Koko Head, and Kaneohe), Molokai, Kahoolawe, and East Maui.
Digital Raster Graphics - another A-16 request resulted in the approval of production of scanned 1:24,000 topographic quadrangles in TIFF format for the entire State. The DRGs of all the state capitols are already available. The USGS has scanned their paper quadrangles and processed the data using a standardized 12 color palette. The size of the DRGs average from 5-15 megabytes. The Honolulu DRG, for example, is a 10 megabyte file in TIFF format. The Hawaii DRGs will be available sometime in 1996 as a CD-ROM, however, the Internet is also being considered. The DRGs will be scanned at 500 dpi, then resampled down to 250 dpi.
South-East Oahu, Molokai, East Maui, and Kilauea, Hawaii have available DEM level II coverage. Under a workshare agreement between USGS and the State of Hawaii, the rest of Oahu, Lanai, and West Maui will be completed.
GDSI, which started producing Level II DEMs for Oahu and Maui as part of a watershed study for OSP, has committed to complete the State's portion of the workshare agreement. The State's commitment under the workshare was to produce Level II DEMs which would be added to USGS's database. With DOI's A-16, Hawaii and Kauai Level II DEMs will be produced this fiscal year. Niihau and Kahoolawe are not scheduled and therefore, will have only level I DEM.
A private industry association called MAPPS has been lobbying for the abolishment of the USGS due to the belief that the USGS National Mapping Division (NMD) takes away money and work opportunities from private industries. However, a large percentage of USGS's budget is given to contract independent work each fiscal year. While there was discussion by the Congress to abolish NMD, there are no plans to do so at this time.
COUNTY AND STATE STATUS REPORTS - Priorities and Needs:
The Chairman asked the committee members from the various counties and state agencies to speak about their activities, needs or concerns.
Historic Preservation - DLNR
Eric Komori reported that DLNR's Historical Sites division is producing data on the West Coast of the Big Island. Hillshades derived from DEMs have been used in this process.
Department of Land Utilization - City & County of Honolulu
Mark of DLU expressed their intent to add easement information on their parcel layer by next year.
Maui County
According to Bill Medeiros, a planned RFP was canceled because the Planning Department was denied authority to expend funds. Funding for their planned computer upgrades were cut last year, thus, Maui's countywide file server was the only component to receive an upgrade. Maui currently has three staffers assigned to digital tracking and GIS. They are verifying and editing the existing coverages. Specifically, the Hana TMK parcels are being updated. One of the difficulties they are experiencing is the downloading of large real property files onto their PC. The County will be acquiring 50 megabytes of memory shortly.
Department of Transportation
Ken Miyazono described DOT's prototype GIS for Oahu and Kauai. Vectorized USGS data is being used as a base for the GIS. The goal is to construct the state highway system with an attached database that will consist of 6 management systems and 1 monitoring system. Intergraph will sign a contract with them for this project, which will need approval from DAGS and the Attorney General. This project will begin in January of 1996. It will hopefully be expanded to the other islands with more information to be added. This highway system is 80% federally funded.
County of Hawaii
The Mayor of Hawaii has appointed Richard Onishi to head the GIS effort for their county. Their specific interest lies in the use of GIS for their police and fire dispatch system.
Office of State Planning
OSP has absorbed large cuts in the new state budget. The result was a loss of four out of eight staff persons being rifted or laid off. It is uncertain whether or not the GIS program will continue to remain in the planning office. Both the administration and legislature have considered a move to DLNR. The justification for GIS remaining in OSP, however, is to support the broader and more diversified planning function . As a result of the lack of manpower and budget cuts, co-op agreements are being sought.
OLD BUSINESS:
NASA Grant
The Landsat land use/land cover classification project funded by a NASA grant is being finalized. A land use/land cover map coverage is being developed for the Island of Hawaii to show the potential of using satellite data as a viable source of land cover information, particularly different vegetation coverages.
SPOT Co-op
A Statewide cooperative purchase of SPOT satellite data is in progress. The price is 42¢ per square mile. There are 25 charter members who are each paying $2,185.00 for statewide geocoded panchromatic and multispectral satellite imagery. New entities interested in purchasing the data would pay $5,246 for the two sets of data.
So far, the entire island of Niihau; most of Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai; areas west of the Koolau Range on Oahu; and 70% of the Island of Hawaii have been successfully captured. Unfortunately, SPOT has experienced difficulty capturing cloud free imagery of Mount Waialeale; the Windward coast of Oahu; the Hamakua coast; and the south Kona coast of Hawaii. SPOT is hoping for clear weather during December and January. They also plan to increase "hits" on Maui County by sacrificing "hits" on the Big Island.
A deadline meeting with the co-op members is scheduled for March 31st to review the captured images and to decide on its acceptability. The earliest date to receive the complete set would be June 1996. One CD containing the six combinations of map projections and other requested datums will be given to each co-op member with flexible licensing.
Digital Data Archive
Bill Medeiros of Maui County described a proposal that could have enhanced the interconnectivity between the mainland and the state through the Maui Research and Technology Center. MRTC applied for funding from USGS to establish an archive of digital data available in the State of Hawaii. The USGS is interested in finding a private company or public agency to act as a clearinghouse of Hawaii data. One of the requirements is that this clearinghouse organization manage the infrastructure for maintaining and distributing data. Unfortunately, the MRTC proposal was not funded.
Geographic Information Council (GIC)
It is essential that the Governor be educated on the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of GIS. However, before GIS can be adequately promoted, OSP must first be stabilized. The establishment of a GIC is also important; the existing SMAC would be a natural starting point for establishing a GIC. Ms. Chmill encouraged the Hawaii SMAC to research the backgrounds of other state GICs.
Soils
The USDA's NRCS primary project was to recompile soil data to an orthophoto base. The digitizing has been completed, and they are currently reviewing the digitized and attribute data. The previous version of the soil data was unable to import directly into INFO. Rod Low of GDSI has volunteered to reformat the attribute data for all users. The USDA plans to distribute the data through the Internet's WWW. In addition, because the current ArcView version won't be able to support the DLGs, the ArcView Data Publisher was suggested as a possible alternative.
NOAA Photography 1993
The Hawaii CZM program under OSP, obtained copies of natural color aerial photography of the coastal areas at a scale of 1:35,000. A complete set of 9"x9" photos is available at the Office of State Planning.
Maui's Bill Medeiros expressed interest in Kihei-area photos for their 2000 plan.
NEW BUSINESS:
The UH Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development is coordinating with NASA for the use of their ER-2 aircraft on the plane's down days. NASA currently takes atmospheric samples 3-4 times a year over the state of Hawaii. On days of their plane's non-use, aerial photos may be taken for a cost of approximately $4,000/hour. A meeting will be arranged with John Arveson, NASA administrator.
A GPS Mobile Differential unit is available for use at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Geography Department. It is a one-second base station tied to the Internet. Data can be ftp-ed. Contact Ev Wingert at 956-7672 to request the unit.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned by the Chairman at 3:20 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ivy T. Kawakami