• IN-HOUSE DATA RESOURCES •
As with all flavors of geospatial technology, desktop GIS requires access to spatial databases containing the information needed for the work at hand. Finding the spatial databases needed to support coursework and research simultaneous with battling the ArcGIS learning curve can be a major challenge for a novice. The Biodiversity Center has tried to moderate this problem by facilitating access to data resources. We believe that our efforts in this regard help desktop GIS users get their projects off to a faster start than would otherwise be possible.
Local Government Data
Local governments build extensive libraries of spatial databases to
support their own operational and administrative functions - zoning, parcel mapping, street maintenece
to name just a few. We've made data sharing arrangements with local governments to
secure access to their databases for students and researchers at UW-Green Bay.
Project & Partner Data
Projects and partnerships that the Biodiversity Center
has been party to have resulted in the sharing and/or creation of project-specific spatial data.
In-House Data Archive
Desktop GIS users at UWGB have made extensive use of the resources described above to obtain spatial databases
for use in their work. To avoid the waste associated with starting from scratch for each new project, the Biodiversity
Center has archived most of the spatial data that has come our way. We've also identified some important database families
that are served up on State and Federal FTP sites. We've systematically downloaded some items anticipating that they will
be needed sooner or later. Examples include the Watershed Boundary Database aka WBD, SSURGO soil surveys and aerial imagery
from the National Agriculture Imagery Progam (NAIP). As of Summer 2011, our holdings
include more than 200 volumes containing roughly 24,000 databases. Archived data is focused
mainly on the western Great Lakes, but databases relevant to UW-Green Bay research in Panama and other
parts of the world are also included.
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Archive Location and Cataloging System
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User Access Via the Geodata Drive
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Archive History and Organization