James W. Wilson, Ph.D. Old Dominion University June 20, 2006 Geospatial CyberInfrastructure for the Shenandoah Valley: The VertICeS Project James W. Wilson, Ph.D. Old Dominion University June 20, 2006

Outline What is VertICeS? Shenandoah Valley Region & Pilot Status

VertICeS Vertically Integrating Cyberinfrastructure for Sustainability Education Research Applications Envisioned as part of a larger national effort: Cyber4SPACE: Cyberinfrastructure for Sustainable Programs And Community Empowerment The Shenandoah Valley is the first pilot

Sustainability ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS Many environmental, social, and economic issues concerning the world in which we live SYSTEMS information systems must be maintainable and useable through time

Shenandoah Valley A long history of the area being considered a region by residents and others. Strong GIS programs and professionals throughout the region who have developed good working relationships through their own efforts and through nearly fourteen years of meetings of the Shenandoah Valley GIS Users Group.

Shenandoah Valley Regional sustainability issues with geospatial aspects: Shenandoah River listed as the 5th most endangered river in the U.S. (American Rivers) I-81 corridor being examined for expansion and declared an endangered property (APVA Pres.Va.) The SHENandoah Valley AIR Quality Initiative (SHENAIR) Great Valley Water-Resources Science Forum South River Science Study

Shenandoah Valley Like many geographic areas and many agencies, GIS being developed to meet internal needs of local governments, state & federal agencies, or regional applications Duplication of effort and data Little to no horizontal or vertical integration

Distributed GIS The biggest problem impeding the progress of the development and utilization of distributed geographic information systems (GIS) is the “difficulty of imagining the full potential of distributed GIS” Longley, Paul A., Michael F. Goodchild, David J. Maguire, David W. Rhind. 2005. Geographic Information Systems and Science (West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd), p.259

Education Goal: Try to harness some of the activities taking place at the national and international level to address local issues Outreach Efforts: What is Distributed GIS? How can local producers and users of geospatial information build and take advantage of the evolving geospatial cyberinfrastructure?

Research A lot of effort at defining details of: Data models, Architectural interfaces, Etc. Not as much effort in defining and describing: Users of distributed GIS Analytical Requirements Data Requirements And where the data needs to reside

2nd Map Of The Valley Campaign Build on the region’s rich geographic history On March 26, 1862, Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson requested Jedediah Hotchkiss to “make me a map of the Valley … showing all the points of offence and defense in those places” Hotchkiss, Jedediah, and Archie P. McDonald. 1973. Make Me a Map of the Valley; the Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson's Topographer (Dallas,: Southern Methodist University Press) Jackson needed information on the Valley’s infrastructure, and Hotchkiss and his map became a regional information portal that was vital to Jackson’s campaign.

2nd MOTV Components ShenMAP: Shenandoah Maps And Programs ShenVIEW: Shenandoah Valley Information Exchange Web ShenTEAM: Shenandoah Training, Education, Advancement, and Mentoring

ShenMAP Web & map interfaces to existing mapping applications and analytical programs A new map interface that integrates data from various sources using open standards for interoperability (e.g. OGC WMS, WFS, etc.) Including local, regional, state & federal systems A searchable catalog of mapping applications, analytical capabilities, and data (built on existing metadata standards & search protocols) A geospatial data library of regional data

ShenVIEW A portal to information archives and online collaboration tools Utilize Shenandoah Valley-VA-WV-Mid-Atlantic Region Pilot Project Wiki http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ShenandoahValleyVAWVMidAtlantic

ShenTEAM Town-hall meetings to bring community together Professional development workshops University curriculum enhancements K-12 teacher workshops

Status Informal collaboration expanding CI-TEAM proposal to the NSF Commitments from local governments, regional planning groups, state agencies, private non-profits Looking for additional partners and support

Contact Information James W. Wilson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Geography Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA 23529 757-683-3852 jwwilson@odu.edu