Portfolio for UCGIS Membership

Geographic Information Science at the University of Delaware is highly multi-disciplinary. Faculty and staff from many academic units and research centers use geographic information systems in various domain-specific research projects. The University supports a broad-based education in GIS. A range of undergraduate courses and facilities support masters and doctoral students using GIS to manage, display and analyze spatial data. The following sections highlight the University's major research and teaching units involved with GIS.

Academic Departments:

• Applied Ocean Science Program , College of Marine Studies
• Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Agricultural Sciences
• Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences
• Department of Food and Resource Economics, College of Agricultural Sciences
• Department of Geography, College of Arts and Sciences
• Department of Geology, College of Arts and Sciences
• Department of Political Science and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences
• Department of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences
• Oceanography Program, College of Marine Studies
• Operations Research Program, College of Agricultural Sciences

Research Centers:

• Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research, College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy
• Center for Climatic Research, College of Arts and Sciences
• Center for Remote Sensing, College of Marine Studies
• Delaware Geological Survey
• Disaster Research Center, College of Arts and Sciences
• OCEANIC: The Ocean Information Center, College of Marine Studies
• Research Data Management Services, Office of Information Technologies
• The University of Delaware Library

GIS Research at the University of Delaware

A wide variety of applied research using geographic information science and technology is carried out at the University of Delaware. Most faculty and graduate student interests are in the use of GIS for research and data management. A sampling of specific projects within the physical sciences and the human/social/policy sciences is given below. There is considerable overlap among department interests which is fostered by organization structures.

Physical Sciences

• The College of Marine Studies integrates geographic information systems with remote sensing analyses of the physical, geological, and biological properties of the oceans and the coastal zone. Basic and applied research address such issues as air-sea interaction, monitoring wetland/estuarine health and coastal management, and drift and dispersion of ocean-dumped wastes. Some specific examples include the development of a GIS model of salt marsh evolution, detection and monitoring by satellite imagery of phragmite intrusion in Delaware's coastal wetlands, and GAP analysis of terrestrial vertebrates.
  
• The Department of Geography makes extensive use of GIS for creating and maintaining spatial databases on regional and global scales. Many of its research programs emphasize the integration of remote sensing and geographic information systems and deal with climatological change and environmental concerns. Examples of current projects include studies on the effects of deforestation on the moisture budget in the Amazon Basin, the role of land surface change in climatic change, Arctic glacial, energy and mass budgets, and natural and anthropogenic influences on climate.
  
• The Department of Geology routinely engages in geological mapping activities closely related to on-going GIS-based data management and mapping being conducted at the Delaware Geological Survey. This research includes studies in hydrogeology, groundwater modeling and contaminant transport systems; spatial and temporal changes in coastal, estuarine, and marsh stratigraphy and environments; geographical distribution and properties of tektites and microtektites; and various subsurface geophysical studies. Additionally, we are actively involved in the development of a GIS-based data repository for information related to the Quaternary geology of the Atlantic coastal plain.

Human/Social/Policy Sciences

• The Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research employs GIS in its many State-based public policy analysis projects, such as population and employment allocation estimation, health statistics estimation, and transportation modelling and forecasting. This is complemented by recent projects enhancing GIS metadata standards for digital transportation network data and current work to promote and promulgate FGDC metadata standards within Delaware agencies.
  
• The Department of Food and Resources Economics conducts research programs integrating GIS, remote sensing, and spatial statistics for natural resource management. Current GIS research includes growth projections of southern New Castle County, controlling nitrate contamination in ground water, and assessing damage from toxic waste sites.
  
• The Disaster Research Center incorporates GIS in a variety of social science research projects on group and organizational preparations for and recovery from community-wide emergencies, particularly natural and technological disasters. Recent studies focus on social and organizational aspects of mental health service delivery in disasters, community response to acute chemical hazards, and problems involved in mass evacuation and sheltering.

GIS Education and Curricula at the University of Delaware

The University of Delaware is rapidly developing Geographic Information Science coursework ranging from basic to advanced classes, particularly in GIS, remote sensing and spatial analysis. Specific coursework in Geographic Information Science and related subjects is primarily offered in the Department of Food and Resource Economics (FREC), Department of Geography (GEOG), and College of Marine Studies (MAST). Basic courses are structured so that students require minimal prior experience. These courses are the major prerequisites for the intermediate and advanced coursework. The courses stress the relevance of GIS within each department's areas of focus. For example, FREC courses stress natural resource management applications; and MAST courses stress remote sensing and satellite oceanography, GEOG courses stress cartography, photo interpretation, advanced GIS technologies, spatial analysis techniques, remote sensing, and climatology. Courses in units such as the Departments of Sociology, Political Science and International Relations, and the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy teach students how GIS technology improves their understanding of spatially referenced demographic and economic data. Finally, the Department of Geography's Delaware Geographic Alliance develops curricular materials and in-service training on GIS techniques. The breadth and cross-listing of courses offered across the colleges provide students with a unique opportunity for cross-disciplinary enrichment in this rapidly growing field.

Geographic  Information Science courses

Seminars and Other Training

• Department of Food and Resource Economics offer short courses on GRASS, Atlas*GIS and IDRISI.
• Research Data Management Services create ArcView projects on central UNIX servers for general University research and teaching use. These socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental data layers are available for research and teaching activities at the University. The staff also offer short courses on ArcView, SAS and SPSS.
• University Library staff have developed a Digital Mapping System (Pentium-based) using ArcView to provide access and display of digital spatial data collections consisting of U.S. Bureau of Census STF data and TIGER/Line files. In addition, the University Library has a collection of more than 100,000 paper maps. A resource librarian assists patrons access the maps and digital data received as part of the Federal Depository Program.

Research Facilities and Infrastructure

• University-wide support: Information Technologies supports GIS needs at the University with an extensive hardware, software and digital data environment, accompanied by specialized consulting. IT maintains six major systems: two 12-processor Sun UltraSPARC Enterprise 4000s, two RS6000/990s, one SGI Power Challenge and one Cray Research J916, all accessible from over 500 public X terminals and microcomputers. The campus 100Mbit/sec TCP/IP network links all labs, classrooms, offices, and residence halls. GIS-related software on these systems includes GRASS; the campus-wide licensed ARC/INFO, ArcView, NCAR Graphics, PV~Wave Advantage, and IMSL libraries; NAG subroutine libraries; S-Plus, S+SpatialStats, SAS and SAS/GIS, SPSS, and SYSTAT; Maple, Mathematica, Matlab, and many associated specialized toolboxes. Microcomputer-based software includes ArcView, ARC/INFO, Atlas*GIS, MapInfo, and several data format conversion utilities. I/O devices include high-resolution monochrome and color scanners, a 24"x36" flatbed digitizer, tape units for a wide range of media and formats, a 36" HP650C inkjet printer, standard-format inkjet and dye-sublimation color printers, a 35mm film recorder, CD-Recordable devices, self-service super-VHS video production, and a for-fee service unit for high-quality video production.

In addition, Research Data Management Services provides no-charge access to the ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) data archives, is an active State Data Center Affiliate, and assists researchers to locate, access and use other networked data sources. Most data sets and digital data layers are stored online on a hierarchical storage manager system having 100 Gbytes of on-line storage and more than 600 Gbytes of near-line storage.

• GIS Computer and Cartography Laboratory: The Geography Department's research lab contains a 2-processor SGI Challenge, two SPARCserver 20 systems, twelve X terminals and high-end PCs, a 36"x48" Numonics digitizer, and HP laser printers. Software includes ARC/INFO, ArcView, GRASS, IDRISI, and McIDAS. Concentrating largely on supporting GIS and climatological research, these systems are complemented by faculty desktop Sun workstations and Pentiums.

• Center for Remote Sensing Computing Facility: These resources for image and data processing and GIS are the most elaborate within University departments. The primary compute servers include a 2-processor SPARCstation 20/614, two SPARCstation 5/110, a DECstation 5000/200, and several special-purpose PC systems. Disk storage capacity exceeds 30 Gbytes and tape and CD units support many media and format types. Software includes ERDAS/Imagine, ARC/INFO, ArcView, GRASS, PV~Wave, and other image-processing packages.

The Center's Satellite Receiving Station directly downloads NOAA AVHRR data. Its Space Shuttle Data Analysis Laboratory has a film interpretative system and a 36-bit 600x1200 dpi color scanner. Field equipment includes Trimble GPS units, research vessels (at the Lewes, Delaware campus), mapping cameras (e.g., LICOR LI-1800 spectroradiometer system), and access to multispectral scanners, solid-state video cameras and experimental LIDAR systems through its research associates.

• Spatial Analysis Laboratory: This lab, in the Department of Food and Resource Economics, supports teaching and research programs integrating GIS, remote sensing and spatial statistics for natural resource management, with an emphasis on the mid-Atlantic region. The main servers are two SPARCstation 10s and LINUX-based PCs. I/O devices include a color- and monochrome HP laser printers, an 11"x14" flatbed color scanner, a 24"x36" digitizer, and various tape units. GRASS, IDRISI and Atlas*GIS are the three primary GIS packages.

• Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research (CADSR) Advanced GIS Lab: CADSR's computing facilities support parts of the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy. Its specialized Advanced GIS Laboratory's software collection includes ARC/INFO, Atlas*GIS, MapInfo, AutoCAD, and Intergraph. The Lab's computer system equipment includes a Sun SPARC ULTRA 1, SPARCserver 10/51, and several DEC workstations, tape and CD-ROM units, a VIDAS trueScan large-format scanner, an Altek scanner, and a 36" HP650C color inkjet printer. The Lab also has a large collection of digital map layers and demographic and economic data for Delaware and its environs that support its consulting relationship with local and regional organizations and agencies.

• Ocean Information Center: The Ocean Information Center, in the College of Marine Studies, maintains an on-line information system "OCEANIC" for two large-scale international research programs: The World  Ocean Circulation Experiment and the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE). The Center uses a variety of Sun SPARCservers and Vax systems for the collection, archiving, and delivery of the data.

Multidisciplinary Activities

Multidisciplinary GIS activity at the University has three major components: formal University GIS-centered events; multidisciplinary academic units and joint appointments and their resulting research; and interaction with local, state, regional and national agencies involved in GIS.

• Formal University Events: Periodically, mini-symposia are held on campus to bring together University researchers. For example, the Associate Provost for Research organized the Feb 95 one-day symposium on GIS activities at the University. The College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy's Delaware Public Administration Institute held a day-long GIS Policy Forum in 1994. Furthermore, an annual Space Grant Day is held by scientists from the University's Bartol Research Institute, Geography Department, and the Center for Remote Sensing.
  
• Multidisciplinary Programs and Joint Appointments: Many of the departments previously mentioned foster joint research through joint academic appointments. For example, a spatial statistician from Mathematical Sciences has a joint appointment in Geology and Geography; climatologists and remote sensing faculty in Geography share appointments in the Center for Remote Sensing and vice versa; urban and social geographers also hold appointments in the College of Human Resources, Education and Urban Affairs; resource economists in the College of Agricultural Science are also members of the Geography Department.

The Operations Research Program at the University of Delaware is an interdisciplinary graduate program, drawing its faculty from the College of Agriculture (Agricultural Engineering, Food and Resource Economics ), College of Business and Economics (Business Administration and Economics), College of Engineering (Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering), College of Arts and Science (Computer and Information Sciences, Mathematical Sciences and Statistics), the College of Marine Studies and the College of Human Resources, Education and Urban Affairs.

• Interactions with Government Agencies: GIS faculty and staff at the University participate in the State of Delaware GIS Forum, a broad confederation that includes local, state, and regional planning and resource management agencies staff. The Forum's goals are to systematically enhance GIS capabilities in the State and to increase data and expertise sharing. Many University research projects have been made possible by access to data resulting from the informal contacts the Forum creates. For example, the Delaware Geological Survey and the College of Human Resources, Education and Urban Affairs are jointly developing ARC/INFO-formatted mapping layers for New Castle County, Delaware planners. Another recent benefit is the agencies' offer of support to the University with the FGDC Framework Grant awarded to CADSR and RDMS to develop a prototype NSDI node for Delaware-based map layers conforming to the FGDC Metadata Standard.

Proposed UCGIS Delegates and Alternates

URL of this document: http://www.udel.edu/dsacher/gis/ucgis/index.html
Last modified: September 26, 1996
This page maintained by Richard S. Sacher
Copyright © University of Delaware, 1996.