Research Activities
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FER research initiatives involving GIS applications are experiencing unprecedented growth. They include a wide range of research efforts funded by federal, state, and local government programs as well as private foundations.
The GIS research program's mission is to conduct and facilitate research and instruction in the environmental application of geographic information systems, global positioning systems, remote sensing and other related computer technologies. This program is attached to the Center for Earth Observation in the College of Natural Resources and shares the Center’s extensive computer hardware and software facilities as well as its large and varied research and teaching agenda.
Past research projects have explored the applications of airborne and satellite data to land use/land cover inventory and change detection; surface water quality and groundwater contamination modeling; the application of spatial statistics to forest inventory and modeling; ecosystems analysis; forest health monitoring; wildlife habitat mapping; wetland mapping; thematic accuracy assessment; technical support for the National Park Service for regional planning and natural resource management; and instructional technology for environmental education.
Ongoing FER GIS research projects include:
- National Park Service GIS Technical Support Center.
- Geospatial Data Development for Selected National Parks.
- Spatial Modeling for Park and Recreation Planning and Management.
- GIS Technologies for Natural Resource Management.
- Instructional Technology for GIS and Environmental Science Learning.
Research Facilities
In addition to FER’s Forests & Facilties, our GIS area uses the following special facilities and laboratories when conducting research:
- An experimental teaching lab based on a POD design with hexagonal tables, large screen monitors, wireless laptops and state-of-the-art software.
- The Center for Earth Observation, a high-end teaching and research facility that includes a teaching laboratory with Windows workstations, flexible configuration and excellent multimedia instruction capabilities. The Center also maintains a high-end research laboratory with 10 powerful Windows2000/XP workstations, various mass storage devices (including 2 Terabyte servers) and a separate instructional technology development facility. These systems are integrated into the University's high-speed network. Other Center capabilities include numerous peripheral computer graphics devices, including digital cameras, digitizers, scanners, air photo interpretation and digital photogrammetry equipment, GPS units, large and small format color plotters and color printers. Cooperative arrangements with other campus units and with various state government agencies provide access to even more specialized equipment.
Additional Support Facilities
Numerous other NC State GIS facilities contribute to FER's research success, including the:
- NCSU Libraries Geospatial (GIS) Data Services,
- NCSU Information Technology Division,
- Geographic Information Systems Education Laboratory,
- Design Research & Extension Program,
- NCSU-Kenan Natural Hazards Mapping Program,
- Social Science Research and Computing Lab
- Institute for Transportation Research and Education.
