URP 6270

Homework 1, DUE Date: Thursday, September 4, 2003

By Patricio Tapia

A. Find two articles that describe the use of GIS to solve a real world problem in your field of study (articles may be from on-line or print sources, see GIS publications list below). Write a 1-2 page summary of the methods and solutions presented in the articles. How did GIS facilitate a solution?

There are many applications of GIS in the Civil Engineering area. Since components of the civil engineering problems have always to do with features having a location in the surface of the earth, solutions for transportation engineering, assessment of the risk, hydrology, sanitary systems and geotechnical issues among others, can be analyzed by using a Geographical Information System.

For this homework I have selected the assessment of the risk and the transportation field as topics to discuss. Assessment of the risk can be seen from many points of view, taking into account different kind of risks or threats affecting a determined region. Whereas some regions are more susceptible to suffer earthquakes, others have to face with the threat of landslides or flooding. In the transportation field many are the topics that can be analyzed, from the operational issues represented by the movement of persons and goods on one side, to the evaluation of the physical condition of the infrastructure, on the other.

In the next pages the assessment of the risk and damage caused by earthquakes are analyzed by summarizing the procedures and results of many GIS projects at this regard. On the other hand, in the transportation field, the evaluation of the pavement condition to be used in the Pavement Management System (PMS) by using GIS is discussed.

SEISMIC VULNERABILITY IN INFRASTRUCTURE USING GIS

(Summary)

Earthquakes can occur in any seismic region of the planet and they can directly or indirectly affect people. The direct effect of earthquake is on people’s life and properties. However, ground motions may also cause utility systems failure, creating a large impact on population. Essential services such as water supply, wastewater, electricity, highway and roadway system may not function after a seismic event, causing highway congestion and health problems.

Since the infrastructure is affected by the seismic events, it is necessary to have a comprehensive plan focusing on the mitigation and the emergency evacuation. This summary presents the methodology used to develop a damage scenario under the occurrence of a great earthquake (Ms>8.0). Using GIS tools and the vulnerability of both constructions and lifeline infrastructure, it is possible to create maps for estimating potential damage areas throughout the city. These maps can be used as a base for future actions for public works managers and urban planners. The methodology includes three basic steps: seismic risk evaluation for the analyzed zone, earthquake site effects, and determination of the global vulnerability using a GIS.

Even though magnitude and depth are the major concerns for seismologists, they are not the only parameters that determine the damage caused by great earthquakes. Experience has shown that the level of damage depends not only on the characteristics of the earthquake itself, but also on the infrastructure vulnerability. Collapse in structures, as a result of a seismic event, depends on the critical combination of seismicity and vulnerability. Fortunately planners have the opportunity of improving the vulnerability of the infrastructure, so that both damage and economic impact can be reduced.

The steps followed to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of the city were:

  1. Determination of the Control Earthquake
  2. Characterization of soil condition, through geologic and geotechnical site analysis.
  3. Determination of the seismic intensities generated by the Control Earthquake in the region
  4. Production of cadastral data base for building inventory and lifeline infrastructure
  5. Determination of the seismic vulnerability curves for each type of infrastructure
  6. Establishment of the seismic scenario by determining the potential damage to be caused by the Control Earthquake in the region

Activities 1 and 5 have to do with seismic analysis and took into account the history of the considered region and the material behavior. Activities 2, 3, 4 and 6 were developed using a Geographical Information System. By knowing discrete data of the soil condition, a procedure of buffering was performed to determine a geotechnical zonation by considering radius of influence. This gave as a result the productions of maps depicting the different soils where infrastructure was founded. After determining a relationship between the Control Earthquake and the soil characterization, maps produced by a GIS representing the seismic intensity were performed.

Cadastral information to know the vulnerability of the infrastructure was carried out. Data about materials and structural types used in the construction was considered along with the intensity map to determine the expected damage in the region. This was developed by graphically intersecting of the cadastral information with the intensity map. Parcels containing information of the infrastructure provided the necessary information to determine the damage scenario.

Base map were performed primarily in AutoCAD 2000 and then translated to the GIS software format. All graphic files were based on vector images, even though some corrections of the region map ware made using aerial photography. The GIS software used was Mapinfo Professional version 6.0. Cadastral data base was developed in both Microsoft Excel and DBF format.

GIS is a very important tool in the process of producing maps for a better understanding of the phenomena occurring in the earth’s surface. It should be pointed out that GIS is capable of generating several thematic maps to represent different attributes of the features forming part of the system. In this study these thematic maps permit to establish zones with different level of risk due to earthquakes. Also, these maps can be used for redefining zoning and land use regulations. As a result this kind of maps can be used by both emergency agencies and local planners for generating comprehensive emergency plan, the former, and comprehensive land use plan, the latter.

Other characteristic of the system is the capability of rapidly being updated to generate other scenarios due to the occurrence of earthquakes of different magnitudes. This system is currently being improved by incorporating tools for automatic analysis. Applications are being developed to generate an interactive system that can be used by persons with very few knowledge about GIS.

In this projects GIS was very useful in managing the great amount of information per parcel in a graphically manner. It also allowed the data integration coming from different sources. By mean of the use of appropriate tools it was possible to integrate data from census track in order to consider demographic issues and other valuable information about construction characteristic. The quality of the graphic presentation of the solutions is not comparable with other kind of non-graphic database project.

ILLINOIS GIS-BASED PMS SYSTEM(Summary)

This article was intended to show the different phases carried out by the IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) with the purpose of developing a geographic information system (GIS) based PMS (Pavement Management System). This system uses current and historical data for both Interstate and non-Interstate pavements, employs engineering and economic analysis procedures, and runs on a personal computer.

The system deals with one of the most critical concerns of the national economy of every country. Pavement surfaces are a major component of the transportation infrastructure and greatly affect the comfort, costs, and safety of highway users. According with the article the Illinois Interstate system includes over 1400 different pavement sections, totaling over 3000 centerline kilometers. Most of these sections were built during the 1960s and 1970s and have experienced severe climatic conditions and much higher traffic loadings than those for which they were designed. These pavements have been rehabilitated or reconstructed during the past two decades, some of them having been rehabilitated several times, and nearly all of them will be rehabilitated again over the next 5 years.

In the early 1980s, systems such as the Illinois Roadway Information System (IRIS) and the Illinois Pavement Feedback System (IPFS) were developed to store roadway inventory and condition data and provide data for research studies.

The IRIS database includes inventory information for the entire 223,782 km (138,995 miles) of public owned roadways in Illinois, including those under State and local jurisdiction. The IRIS pavement data consists of the most common parameters currently used in the evaluation of the pavement condition, such as: Condition Rating Survey (CRS), International Roughness Index (IRI), rutting, faulting, distress, and surface type. Traffic data in the IRIS consists of Average Daily Traffic (ADT), volume of heavy commercial vehicles, and multiple units. Information on the number of lanes and shoulder width for both inner and outer lanes is also available.

On the other hand, a major objective of the IPFS database was to provide IDOT districts and central offices with the information needed for pavement management purposes. The IPFS project also included development of analysis routines and reporting capabilities for special studies, research in prediction models, and performance of analysis of sensibility to help improve management strategies. The database is intended to provide all the information required for the analysis routines. It contains detailed, long-term, historical information on the pavement surface, traffic loading history, construction history, and pavement condition

These two systems were the base of the first pavement management system (PMS), ILLINET, which was completed in 1994, running under a Microsoft Windows platform. The objective of the ILLINET pavement rehabilitation and management program was to provide network analysis and reporting capabilities to aid IDOT personnel in developing multiyear rehabilitation plans and in providing answers to questions regarding network-level planning of pavement rehabilitation activities. By using data from the IPFS, ILLINET identifies which projects in the pavement network should receive funding, what treatments are best for those sections and when the treatments should be applied.

With the advent of geographic information systems (GIS), IDOT decided to transfer the capabilities of ILLINET to a GIS-based PMS and started its own project in 1998. The prototype was developed using ESRI’s Arc/INFO and it was intended to manage five highway components (pavements, bridges, culverts, signs, and intersections) in a coordinated manner.

The final version of the system, the Illinois Pavement Information and Management System (ILLIPIMS), was developed in ESRI's ArcView GIS 3.2. However, the base map was developed using ESRI’s ARC/INFO. The system was built on the experience of ILLINET. The current version uses the same data as used in ILLINET, updated to the current available data and modified to suit ArcView's database format.

Many stages were considered in the development of the ILLIPIMS:

  • Data acquisition from the IPFS and the IRIS databases.
  • Implementation of prediction capabilities in the system.
  • Incorporation of analysis procedures for developing multi-year rehabilitation programs.
  • Incorporation of non-Interstate roadway network and performing data quality control.

The system can display spatial information as well as temporal information. Spatial information is related to traffic, type of pavement rehabilitation, or pavement performance (CRS, IRI, rutting). Temporal information is based on user selection on a yearly basis. Therefore thematic maps can be generated for variables such as ADT, ESAL (Equivalent Axle load), and CRS (condition ratio survey). Historical trend of the data can be depicted through graphs. The prediction models built into the system can predict 20 years in the future, and the user can change the input parameters to the prediction models.

Several improvements can be considered at the time of evaluating the application of the GIS to the PMS. The main advantage of using a GIS based PMS is the fact that almost all information is displayed either in a map, a graph, or a chart; not much is displayed in terms of numbers. By using tools of the GIS software, color-coded dynamic legends are used to display and provide information to the user. Visualization tools allow performing zoom in and out to a particular section. Database management process permits to highlight information by selecting it from an attribute table.

It seems that the spatial nature of transportation data makes GIS a logical choice on which to base systems such as PMS. GIS has largely proved to be an effective tool for integrating, managing, storing, displaying, mapping, querying, and spatially analyzing pavement condition and other transportation data. This project also showed that a GIS-based PMS provides an efficient means for identifying empirical patterns and relationships that might not be detected using standard statistical and descriptive methods. Finally graphical display of data trends is an effective method of communication between the system and user.

B. Find Five GIS related websites with these conditions:

Web:

This page provides pointers to GIS companies, associations, and government web pages as well as sources of software, data, publications, and services.

1. One website must be a site that distributes GIS data(sorry, you cannot use Geoplan, FGDL,or ESRI websites)

Web:

Satellite Imaging Corporation (SIC) provides Satellite and Airborne remote sensing services and products, including medium to high resolution Satellite Images and Digital Aerial Photography with pixel ground resolutions from 0.61m to 30m for available Satellite sensors and 0.05m to 2.5m for Airborne sensors.

Web:

2. One must be from a Federal Government website.

Web:

United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Research Conservation Service

Web:

Mission - The Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy. We honor privacy, protect confidentiality, share our expertise globally, and conduct our work openly. We are guided on this mission by our strong and capable workforce, our readiness to innovate, and our abiding commitment to our customers.

3. Two must be from a State Government website.

Web:

MassGIS is the Commonwealth's Office of Geographic and Environmental Information

Web:

Web:

Welcome to the web page of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Geographic Information System (GIS). Here you will find GIS resources, obtain information, and data to help you understand and work effectively with GIS technology. Begin exploring this site by clicking on a button below or on an item in the bar at the left.

4. One must be from a commercial website.

Web:

Web:

Web:

Sentinel USA Inc. specializes in Automated Mapping / Facilities Management Systems (AM/FM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Our core service is providing mapping solutions for the utility industry. Our continuing mission is to provide the industry with quality mapping solutions to meet the needs of each client. We work closely with other leading industry providers to make sure our clients receive the maximum benefits of today's technology forum. Our firm is committed to providing cost effective solutions for your company.