Geographic
Information Systems
Capabilities of the Geographic Information Science & Technology Group
The Geographic Information Science and Technology group offers a
full suite of expertise in GIS and remote sensing technologies.
The breadth and depth of knowledge of our staff with diverse
backgrounds allow us to take advantage of of the expansive resources
in computer science, image processing, engineering, earth and
envioronmental sciences, and health science to utilize these
technologies in order to solve multidisciplinary and complex problems
and provide complete solutions. Some of our key capabilities
include:
(Click on the red bullets to jump to individual
sections)
Geographic
Information Systems
Remote
Sensing 
Digital
Cartography
Facility
& Natural Resource Management
Geospatial
Data Management
Geo-Visualization
& Modeling
Population
Modeling & Distribution Studies
Geographic Information Systems
The primary focus of GIST's efforts are: (1) developing GIS
technologies, (2) defining and implementing geographic and other
spatial databases, (3) solving complex real-world problems through
application of GIS, and (4) advancing the use of GIS within our
national infrastructure involving government, industry, and
academia. At present, commercial GIS products address many
technical needs but no single commercial product can handle all the
current needs for GIS. One of GIST's ongoing role is to
integrate multiple GIS products with in-house technologies to best
meet the real-world challenges. Current initiatives take
advantage of the information processing power of the 21st century
ranging from desktop PCs to supercomputer technology to address
innovative technical issues such as 3D GIS animations,
telecommunications, and real-time GPS and video linkage with GIS.
GIST is working towards the goal of knowledge-based expert systems
that will play an important role in advancing future development and
use of GIS technologies.
GIST is currently advancing remote sensing and image
processing protocols, both for detailed site-specific surveys and for
large regional assessments. GIST’s image processing
foundation is based on statistical analysis, pattern and feature
recognition, and texture analysis. Research and development of
new image registration techniques and feature extraction techniques
are currently underway. GIST’s experience in processing
and analyzing multiple remote sensing data sets has led to mechanisms
for remote sensing data integration breakthroughs. Current and
recent studies have utilized satellite and very high-resolution
airborne remote sensing data sets including, multispectral,
hyperspectral, pre-dawn thermal infrared, gamma radiological,
magnetic, electromagnetic, radar, natural color photograph, color
infrared photograph, historic aerial photograph data sets. GIST
is able to corroborate the results from remote sensing data analysis
to the actual occurrences in the environment using GPS and field
verification technologies. GIST uses remote sensing
technologies in a variety of environmental applications, including
hazardous waste site detection and mapping, unexploded ordnance
detection, land cover and land use analysis and change detection,
vegetation mapping, surface water mixing zone determination,
population modeling, and rooftop integrity assessment.
GIST has excelled in mathematical cartography and cartographic
design. GIST has developed innovative solutions for the
conversion of analog video images into a digital form that can be
integrated with other spatial databases. Conversely, GIST has
developed low-cost solutions for converting digital elevation models
and other spatial databases to a video form that can be used for
animation such as simulated flyovers. GIST has a long history of
developing and employing coordinate transformations based on a
variety of standard map projections. In particular, environmental
restoration projects have required facile conversions among Universal
Transverse Mercator (UTM), various state plane systems, planimetric
data, and topographic maps including polyconic projections.
Facility, Natural Resource, and Emergency Management
One of the earliest applications of GIS attempted by ORNL was
regional and national screening for power plant sites. In more recent
years facilities management has been a major activity and has
encouraged the integration of GIS and Computer Aided Design (CPE)
systems. One application, for example, was technical assistance to
the U.S. Army Southern Command in implementing the Panama Canal
Treaty. ORNL has assisted in resource analysis and decision
support for many Federal agencies. Examples include developing
coal production goals for DOE and supporting wetlands policy analysis
for NOAA. GIST developed and installed an emergency management
system that is currently serving in the Emergency Operations Center
in the Military Airlift Command Headquarters at Scott Air Force Base.
The GIST group is proficient in several DBMS products and in
their linkages with graphic and geographic systems. In
addition, we have excelled in the areas of data conversion
(raster/vector) and coordinate system development and
transformation. Image data from the aerial surveys are combined
with data from a variety of other sources, such as engineering data
in CPE form representing buildings and utilities, inventory data in
tabular form representing stores of materials, field sampling data,
and other environmental data. These data are maintained in a massive
central database management system for access by analysts from
government agencies, ORNL, and its contractors. Ultimately, the
data must contribute to a decision support system employed in
managing environmental restoration projects. Data quality assurance
and control are paramount because the resulting decisions must be
legally defendable.
GIST excels in a variety of techniques for displaying
geographic information. GIST was an early leader in developing
3-D perspective images and continues to enhance this capability with
additional features such as color, video, coordinate control,
integration of multiple databases, animation, and modeling.
GIST has developed special software that maintains 2-D and 3-D
coordinate relationships for visualization and analysis. GIST has
modeled 3-D airspace and air traffic data for the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) for visualization and analysis.
Population Modeling & Distribution Studies
For two decades ORNL has been the primary source responsible for estimating population densities and distributions surrounding all nuclear power plants and many other hazardous facilities in the United States. At present GIST is playing an instrumental role in developing a worldwide population database under ORNL's Global Population Project, part of a larger global database effort called LandScan. The LandScan Global Population Project has produced a global 1998 population databse at 30" X 30" (1 km X 1km) resolution for estimating ambient populations at risk from natural and anthropogenic disasters. GIST has developed special algorithms and automated procedures for allocating rural and urban population distributions using a variety of GIS and remote sensing techniques to generate, manipulate, and analyze input variables of the population model.
Email comments to:
bhaduribl@ornl.gov