*Proposed* 2019 Statewide Orthoimagery for Connecticut & Massachusetts A collaborative project among the State of Connecticut State of Massachusetts U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service November 14, 2018 GIS Day Update Eric Lindquist, CT Office of Policy and Management

Project Background March 2018: NRCS reached out to CT, MA, and RI to assess interest in a southern New England regional orthoimagery project for spring 2019. NRCS announced that funding was available to offset the costs of each participating state. MA’s critical need for new orthoimagery drove the project forward. RI ultimately backed out; its share of NRCS funds were re-apportioned to MA and CT.

Why is CT participating? An informal poll of users at a recent CT GIS Network meeting indicated that most orthoimagery users would prefer to have updated leaf-off imagery at least every 4 years. MA and CT are able to leverage a combined $255,000 of NRCS funding towards the multi-state project. USGS would manage the contract and ensure all deliverables are met per task order specification, taking much of the administrative burden off of the State. Participating CT state agencies (DOT, DESPP, DEEP) have funds in their FY 2019 budgets to cover the *estimated* cost of the project, but future funding sources are uncertain.

*Proposed* Orthoimagery Specifications Connecticut: 3-inch resolution; 4-band Leaf-off Tidal coordination (1 hour either side of low tide) Acquisition area and tile grid/schema identical to 2016 flight Delivery as GeoTIFF, MrSID Gen. 4 Massachusetts 6-inch resolution; 4-band No tidal coordination

Current Status OPM, DOT, DESPP, and DEEP are executing a Memorandum of Understanding to transfer funds to OPM. OPM and partner agencies are working with USGS to finalize a scope of work/task order. The task order may need to be amended or cancelled if the cost is too high. OPM will execute a final contract with USGS upon approval by the AG’s Office and Secretary Barnes

Data Access & Availability Buy-Up Opportunities Buy-ups may or may not be available. More information will be released once there is greater certainty that the project will move forward. Data Access & Availability Anticipate that CT ECO will host the final data products; final deliverables and data services will depend upon available resources.