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Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access

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Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA) is Pennsylvania's official public access geospatial information clearinghouse.[1] PASDA serves as Pennsylvania's node on the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) PASDA is a cooperative effort of the Pennsylvania Geospatial Technologies Office of the Office of Information Technology and the Pennsylvania State University Institutes of Energy and the Environment.[2]

Early history

Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA—http://www.pasda.psu.edu), the official public geospatial data clearinghouse for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania marked its 18th year in 2014. PASDA, which has grown from a small website offering 35 data sets in 1996 to the expansive user-centered data clearinghouse that it is today, has become a staple of the GIS community in Pennsylvania. PASDA provides access to thousands of data files, terabytes of data, and hundreds of Internet Map Services, Google Earth KML files, metadata, mapping applications, and other information like guides and tutorials. [3]

PASDA was developed by the Pennsylvania State University as a service to the citizens, governments, and businesses of the Commonwealth. PASDA is a cooperative project of the Governor's Office of Administration, Office for Information Technology, Geospatial Technologies Office and Penn State Institutes for Energy and the Environment of the Pennsylvania State University. Funding is provided by the Pennsylvania Office for Information Technology, Geospatial Technologies Office. The Pennsylvania State University provides additional substantial support to PASDA for system administration, database technologies administration, and infrastructure. The High Performance Computing Center at Penn State is also providing significant resources and support for PASDA.[4] PASDA is housed at Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment (PSIEE). The purpose of Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA) is to serve as a comprehensive geospatial data digital library by providing free, universal access to geospatial data and information by, for, and about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. PASDA has served for the past sixteen years as the Commonwealth's node on the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), Geospatial One Stop, and the National Biological Information Infrastructure.[5]

Data & Metadata creation

The data made available through PASDA is provided by our data partners to encourage the widespread sharing of geospatial data, eliminate the creation of redundant data sets, and to further build an inventory (through the development and hosting of metadata) of available data relevant to the Commonwealth. PASDA serves as a resource for locating data throughout the Commonwealth through its data storage, interactive mapping/webgis applications, and metadata/documentation efforts. PASDA services are provided free of charge to all users and data providers. The data on PASDA is provided by federal, state, local and regional government agencies, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions throughout the region. [6]

Data updates to existing datasets come to PASDA at different intervals and are based on the update frequency of our data partners. Monthly, quarterly, and annual updates are the norm and include PennDOT, PA Department of Environmental Protection, PA Fish and Boat Commission, PA Department of Health, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Chester County, Allegheny County, Lancaster County, City of Philadelphia, Southeast PA Transportation Authority, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, PA DCNR Rivers Conservation Program, and the Natural Lands Trust.[7]

The development of metadata on PASDA is one of the most important functions. The background of PASDA's metadata development has its origins in the development of the ANSI Z39.50 standard (also known as the ISO 23950 Search and Retrieval Protocol. [8]) This protocol was originally designed for libraries to search and retrieve records from remote library catalogs.[9] PASDA's goal is not only to meet the existing metadata standards but also to create metadata in a format that supports easy search and retrieval of data. In the early stages of PASDA's development the metadata was either in HTML or text format and was subsequently parsed with a metadata parser. PASDA was one of the first clearinghouses to implement the use of XML(Extensible Markup Language). [10]

Services & Applications

PASDA provides direct access to download data via FTP. Currently, PASDA has approximately 60 terabytes of data for download including vector data, imagery, elevation and lidar.In addition to direct download, PASDA has developed multiple ways to access data. In 2000, PASDA was one of the first clearinghouses to address issues related to what is known as "clip, ship, and reproject"--a process by which large data sets can be clipped to a user specified geography, reprojected, and zipped for quick download. [11] [12]. Subsequent advances, in particular the development of Internet Map Services, have, in part, eliminated the need for these specialized services. [13]

One of the most important developments in GIS in the past decade has been the ability to create Internet Map Services--also known simply as map services. [14]. Map services allow users to consume or pull in data to their GIS software without actually having to download it thereby saving download time and storage space. [15] Map services have been some of the most heavily used features on PASDA and support multiple types of web based GIS applications. [16]

In addition to downloading data and creating map services, many GIS clearinghouses also have created web based GIS applications.[17] The applications available through PASDA include the Pennsylvania Atlas--a data visualization and download app[18], the Pennsylvania Imagery Navigator--a data visualization, search and retrieval app for imagery and LIDAR[19], and the Pennsylvania Mine Map Atlas.[20]

The Pennsylvania Mine Map Atlas is a joint project of PASDA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.[21] This Mine Map Atlas provides access to thousands of scanned, georeferenced underground mine maps in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[22] It allows users to view their homes and see if any mines are beneath those homes.[23] The purpose of this effort is to identify houses and other structures at risk of mine subsidence, ground movement caused by the collapse of old, abandoned mines.[24] The final number of mine maps that will be provided through this application is expected to near 100,000 individual maps. [25]

Geography Network

PASDA was an original member of the ESRI Geography Network, participates in Geospatial One Stop, and serves as a node on the National Biological Information Infrastructure.

References

  1. ^ http://www.directionsmag.com/entry/the-road-taken-the-evolution-of-gis-data-clearinghouses-from-ftp-to-map-ser/123378
  2. ^ http://www.directionsmag.com/entry/the-road-taken-the-evolution-of-gis-data-clearinghouses-from-ftp-to-map-ser/123378
  3. ^ http://www.pasda.psu.edu/about/publications/PASDAFinal201314.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.pasda.psu.edu/about/publications/PASDAFinal201314.pdf
  5. ^ http://www.pasda.psu.edu/about/publications/PASDAFinal201314.pdf
  6. ^ http://www.directionsmag.com/entry/the-road-taken-the-evolution-of-gis-data-clearinghouses-from-ftp-to-map-ser/123378
  7. ^ http://www.pasda.psu.edu/about/publications/PASDAFinal201314.pdf
  8. ^ Kelly, M.C., Baxter, R.E., & Haupt, B.J. (2008). The evolution of spatial data infrastructure (SDI) geospatial data clearinghouses: Architecture and services. In Encyclopedia of Data Warehousing and Mining, (2nd ed.). Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group, Inc.
  9. ^ Nebert, D. (Ed.) (2004). Developing spatial data infrastructures: The SDI cookbook (v.2). Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association. http://www.gsdi.org.
  10. ^ Kelly, M.C. & Stauffer, B.E. (2000). User needs and operations requirements for the Pennsylvania Geospatial Data Clearinghouse. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University, Environmental Resources Research Institute.
  11. ^ Kelly, M.C. & Stauffer, B.E. (2000). User needs and operations requirements for the Pennsylvania Geospatial Data Clearinghouse. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University, Environmental Resources Research Institute.
  12. ^ http://www.directionsmag.com/entry/the-road-taken-the-evolution-of-gis-data-clearinghouses-from-ftp-to-map-ser/123378
  13. ^ Kelly, M.C., Haupt, B.J., & Baxter, R.E. (2009). Internet map services and Web GIS: The new paradigm in spatial and temporal data integration over the Web. In Encyclopedia of Database Technologies and Applications, (2nd ed.). Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group, Inc.
  14. ^ Kelly, M.C., Haupt, B.J., & Baxter, R.E. (2009). Internet map services and Web GIS: The new paradigm in spatial and temporal data integration over the Web. In Encyclopedia of Database Technologies and Applications, (2nd ed.). Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group, Inc.
  15. ^ Kelly, M.C., Haupt, B.J., & Baxter, R.E. (2009). Internet map services and Web GIS: The new paradigm in spatial and temporal data integration over the Web. In Encyclopedia of Database Technologies and Applications, (2nd ed.). Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group, Inc.
  16. ^ http://www.pasda.psu.edu/about/publications/PennsylvaniaSpatialDataAccessplssnew.ppt
  17. ^ http://www.directionsmag.com/entry/the-road-taken-the-evolution-of-gis-data-clearinghouses-from-ftp-to-map-ser/123378
  18. ^ http://maps.psiee.psu.edu/paatlas/
  19. ^ http://maps.psiee.psu.edu/ImageryNavigator/
  20. ^ http://www.minemaps.psu.edu/
  21. ^ http://news.psu.edu/story/287443/2013/09/12/impact/penn-state-dep-collaborate-digital-pennsylvania-mine-map-atlas
  22. ^ http://news.psu.edu/story/287443/2013/09/12/impact/penn-state-dep-collaborate-digital-pennsylvania-mine-map-atlas
  23. ^ http://www.minemaps.psu.edu/
  24. ^ http://businessjournaldaily.com/drilling-down/pennsylvania-launches-online-mine-map-viewer-2013-5-31
  25. ^ http://news.psu.edu/story/287443/2013/09/12/impact/penn-state-dep-collaborate-digital-pennsylvania-mine-map-atlas


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