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Acquiring GIS Data: Utah |
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Finding data:
Start your Internet browser, go to www.google.com or your favorite search engine and search for the words ‘GIS’ and ‘data’, the single quotes are not necessary. You’ll find that there are multiple sites to choose from. Make a note of how many hits you get on the above search. When I ran this search there were over 1.3 million hits. Take a few minutes and try various combinations to find GIS data sources. Be sure to save bookmarks for your favorites. Narrow your search by including in your search a state name, i.e. ‘GIS data Utah’, how many hits this time?
One of the best Utah sites to get GIS data is from the Automated Geographic Reference Center (AGRC). This site is the Utah GIS resource for spatial data and should have shown up in your search for Utah GIS data. The actual URL address for this site is http://agrc.utah.gov
NOTE: The rest of this exercise will deal with the AGRC web site and Utah data resources.
Use your browser and navigate to the AGRC web site ( http://agrc.utah.gov )
Once the site has loaded, choose the ‘SGID & GIS Data' link in the upper left portion of the web page; this will load the Utah Statewide Geographic Information Database (SGID) page
Results: ( agrc_sgid_webpage )
There are multiple types of data and several ways to download and find data from this page. The interactive map and the metadata explorer are interactive methods for finding GIS data by using a spatial location method or narrowing the search by topic. We'll try these two options on later in the exercise. Be aware, that for these two methods you might need some unique computer configurations for it to work correctly. For this exercise we will be using the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) option. You will need to choose 'AGRC FTP Site' from the list. Follow the link ( ftp.agrc.state.ut.us ), you will see a file directory structure as follows:
Results: ( ftp_directory_structure )
(Depending on your computer setup your files could be displayed differently. Most of the examples in this exercise will be displayed in ‘List’ format). To change to a list view, choose the view menu and select List.
choose the directory named ‘sgid’ by double clicking on the folder.
This is the State Geographic Information Database (SGID). The following list should appear:
Results: ( sgid_directory_structure )
NOTE: The next few sections will briefly cover naming conventions and important details about the State Geographic Information Database (SGID), more specifically; metadata, file naming conventions, scale and quadrangle index files. For a comprehensive review of the Utah SGID see the following PDF document:
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