Geographic Information Science
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Geographic Information Science (GIS) has changed the world of natural resource management forever. Using powerful computer-based technologies and customized applications, forestry and environmental resource professionals can now explore and map the world from virtually every perspective — capturing, storing, analyzing and managing spatial data, then examining the effects and behaviors of different factors at play within highly-defined geographic areas.
NC State was one of the first institutions in the world to apply Geographic Information Science to natural resource and wildlife management. NC State’s efforts began in the late ‘70’s with the arrival of Dr. Hugh Devine and grew quickly into a universitywide effort that now involves the participation of virtually every college at NC State, including every department within the College of Natural Resources.
The Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources (FER) now relies heavily on the powerful data-capturing abilities of computer-based GIS technologies as an integral part of our activities. GIS enhances environmental impact assessment, urban planning, forestry management, wildlife and fisheries management, conservation and restoration and, indeed, virtually every field explored by FER. Data gathered and measured in this way can be as specific in nature as individual trees in a forest or as broad as regional climate patterns.
A University-wide Program
Within FER, a core group of faculty members devoted to geographic information science specializes in applying GIS technologies to natural resource management problems and teaching students and professionals how to use GIS in their specific fields. Most of these faculty members are attached to NC State’s Center for Earth Observation and also participate in the larger GIS Research and Teaching Program at NC State. This universitywide program pools NC State resources in order to develop computer systems and applications that can integrate, store, edit, analyze and share geographic information in a variety of interactive ways, then encourages the adaptation of these innovations to the needs of specific departments.
Basic Technologies
Basic technologies used to support GIS efforts at NC State include Global Positioning Systems (GPS), a network of Earth-orbiting satellites that track and transmit precise geographic data; remote sensing systems, which are other satellite-based networks for capturing information about the Earth; and geographic information systems, which includes computer systems and software applications that allow users to store, analyze and manipulate immense amounts of data.
Current Initiatives
Currently, FER faculty and students are participating in GIS projects to:
- Continue development and evaluation of algorithms and methodologies related to use of satellite imagery in detection of spatial change.
- Expand the capability to derive wildfire fuel loads from combinations of remotely sensed vegetation data and incorporate these into the geospatial model design.
- Design a data protocol to develop predictions of local water quality impacts from high resolution remote sensing data.
- Design and test a geospatial data model structure to connect multi-format natural resource spatial data (satellite, digital photography, GPS, GIS, etc.) for use in web- based map display and analysis systems, utilizing models and data structures developed in previous and other on-going initiatives.
Broader Applications
On the forestry side, GIS is helping FER's faculty and students understand, develop and use computer-based tecnologies to:
- Keep track of timber growth.
- Plan harvesting schedules.
- Balance present and future forest needs.
- Plan the locations of roads in and out of forests to comply with regulations and protect against forest fires.
- Better manage forests to accommodate multiple uses, such as timbering, wildlife habitat preservation and recreation.
On the environmental resources side, GIS is helping FER faculty and students:
- Monitor and track the environmental health of a variety of ecosystems.
- Measure and verify changes in the environment in reaction to different forces.
- Keep track of plant, wildlife or fish populations and how human behavior affects them.
- Measure changes in geography and natural resources triggered by human behavior.
- Predict the implications of various management practices on resources.
- Translate environmental effects into photographic images and patterns that people can more easily understand.
Impact
Each semester, the GIS area teaches both undergraduates and graduate students how to uncover, monitor, analzye and track geographic and environmental data using GIS technologies. It also participates in a wide variety of extension and outreach services that educate industry professionals, private landowners and environmental volunteers on ways GIS techniques can help them better manage their forest lands or conserve and protect other natural resources. Finally, GIS plays a key role in research projects that cover the gamut of specialty areas within FER.
