UCGIS at the University of Wyoming

As a requirement for membership, each UCGIS member institution is required to develop and maintain a portfolio which documents the institution's 'critical mass' of resources necessary for fulfilling and contributing toward the overall mission of UCGIS. The following information was first compiled in September 1995 as an element of UW's application for membership in UCGIS, and updated in September 1997. Five resource components are addressed here.

Institutional Staffing and Supporting Infrastructure
Facilities
Teaching and Curriculum
Multidisciplinary Connections
Research and Related Activities
Faculty/staff participants

Institutional Staffing
Technical expertise is critical in conducting successful basic and applied research in a field as dynamic as geographic information science. At the University of Wyoming, faculty and staff are applying GIS and related technologies across a wide range of disciplines. The appendix provides reference to more than 25 faculty, research scientists, and staff in 12+ departments or research institutes on campus who are currently employing geographic information science technology in their work (GIS, remote sensing, GPS, modeling, visualization).

Campus-wide GIS Support
In recognition of the need for University commitment to support and promote GIS activities, the Vice-President for Research appointed, in December 1994, the UW Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization Initiative (SDAVI) Committee. The Committee was charged with the following tasks:

1. Determine the status of spatial data (and analysis) activities at UW;
2. Determine deficiencies in these activities at UW;
3. Determine goals for UW relative to these areas; and
4. Develop a plan for attaining these goals.1

The scope of the report was to assess conditions and needs in the following research (and education) areas: GIS; LIS; AM/FM; GPS; digital cartography; computer-aided design; image processing; and visualization. The results of the committee's study indicated that geographic information science is being widely applied within the University, particularly in the areas of GIS, image processing and visualization. However, the committee did identify a need for better coordination among ongoing parallel efforts. As a result, the committee recommended the establishment of a University Digital Spatial Data Analysis Center, with a mission to:

"...foster and support state-of-the-art use of digital spatial data at the University of Wyoming through technologies such as ...[GIS], remote sensing, and visualization for the purposes of research and graduate education."2

The function of such a center would be to provide a full-time technical staff to coordinate and support ongoing university research involving geographic information science at the University of Wyoming. Faculty and staff currently engaged in geographic information science activities would continue to provide expertise in a wide range of topical areas, serving as a cluster of "sub-centers" in support of coordination between individual entities on campus. It is anticipated that the implementation of such a structure will go far in advancing geographic information science at the University.

Spatial Data and Visualization Center
A major accomplishment toward establishing a campus GIS facility was achieved by the creation of the UW Spatial Data and Visualization Center (WyGISC), a multidisciplinary research program funded by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Program, the Wyoming Science, Technology and Energy Authority, and the University of Wyoming. Jointly managed by the Wyoming Water Resources Center and the Institute for Energy Research, the WyGISC includes participants from five academic departments in two colleges, including eight junior faculty and several faculty mentors. The immediate objectives of the WyGISC include the following :

• to conduct basic and applied research in the areas of decision-support technologies, interoperability, spatial statistics, artificial intelligence and electronic permitting methodologies;
• to make existing spatial data readily available to the Wyoming public through the online Natural Resources Data Clearinghouse;
• to develop a Wyoming Geologic Database to assist in the management of Wyoming's oil, gas and mineral resources;
• to support partnerships with local, state, federal and private organizations in Wyoming for developing and utilizing spatial information.

1. Spatial Digital Analysis and Visualization Initiative. 1995. Report on status of digital spatial data analysis and visualization at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY: University of Wyoming, 34 p.

2. Spatial Digital Analysis and Visualization Initiative. 1995. Prospectus for the organization and costs of a digital spatial data center at the University of Wyoming. Laramie, WY: University of Wyoming. 10 p.

Existing UW GIS laboratory facilities provide a growing, state-of-the-art infrastructure for education and research. Though categorized under education and research, many of these facilities serve in both capacities.

Education Facilities

Currently, there are five primary facilities on campus serving in a GIS education capacity at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Each facility is summarized below with regard to type and amount of hardware, peripherals and resident software. Supporting external funding is also noted.

Open Laboratory for Spatial Analyses (Department of Geography and Recreation)
Originally funded under National Science Foundation Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI) Program, currently upgraded and maintained by the University through the Information and Technology Division. Open to students for spatial analysis only.

• One PC server
• 9 Windows 95 486/50 PCs (color monitors; 16 Mb ram)
• 10 desktop digitizing tablets
• color pen plotter; desktop laser printer
• LCD projector/overhead display
• high speed ethernet data line network
• software: PC-ARC/INFO, ArcView GIS, IDRISI, ERDAS Imagine, SPSS/PC+

Remote Sensing Teaching/Research Laboratory (Department of Geology and Geophysics)

• Six 486/33 PCs (color monitor; 8 Mb ram)
• 300 dpi desktop color scanner
• high speed ethernet data line network
• MIPS image processing software
• extensive digital imagery tape archive

Institute for Scientific Computation (Department of Mathematics)

• 13 Unix platform workstations, including file server with 256 Mb VGX graphics board dedicated to graphics visualization
• high resolution die sublimation printer
• video image editing system
• high speed ethernet data line network
• Silicon Graphics and custom-built visualization application software

Spatial Data and Visualization UNIX Resource Lab

• Four processor SGI Power Challenger Server, 640 MB memory
• Seven 20" monitor X-terminals
• Six desktop digitizers
• LCD projector/overhead display
• high speed ethernet data line network
• software: ARC/INFO, ArcView GIS, ER Mapper, Earthvision, Matlab, Splus, TechPlot, Oracle

Spatial Data and Visualization Center PC Teaching Lab
Originally funded by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of the Interior-Office of Surface Mining, this facility has now been incorporated under the facilities of the Spatial Data and Visualization Center, serving primarily as a facility for professional short course training.

Research Facilities

A brief synopsis follows of the five primary research facilities on campus currently engaged in basic and applied spatial analysis and visualization research. All labs operate principally in a UNIX environment. Each is summarized below with regard to human resources, applications software, research emphasis, and funding sources.

Spatial Data and Visualization Center

• Human Resources: 6 FTE; 12 students
• Applications software: ARC/INFO GIS, ArcView GIS, ArcView Internet Map Server, Oracle
• Research Emphasis: Decision-support for natural resource management applications, oil/gas exploration, industrial siting, electronic permitting of facilities, sustainable agriculture and rural development.
• Funding: University support; external grants/contracts

Wyoming Water Resources Center GIS Laboratory

• Human Resources: 4 FTE; 6 students
• Applications Software: ARC/INFO GIS, ArcView, Oracle RDBMS
• Research Emphasis: groundwater vulnerability assessment, water resource management (see research for more details)
• Funding: departmental support; external grants/contracts

Institute for Energy Research (Office of Research)

• Human Resources: 2 FTE; 2-4 students
• Applications Software: ER Mapper, EarthVision, TechPlot, ARC/INFO, ArcView GIS
• Research Emphasis: oil and gas development
• Funding: external grants/contracts

Institute for Scientific Computation (Department of Mathematics)

• Human Resources: 3 FTE; 2-4 students
• Applications Software: Silicon Graphics, customized front -end and result-generation visualization applications
• Research Emphasis: mathematical modeling and visualization
• Funding: departmental support, external grants/contracts

Department of Botany/Rocky Mountain Herbarium

• Human Resources: 3 faculty FTE; 6.5 staff FTE; 5 students
• Applications Software: ARC/INFO, ArcView GIS, MIPS, ENVI and ERDAS Imagine
• Research Emphasis: land cover and landscape classification, spatial modeling, rangeland and cropland assessments (see research for more details)
• Funding: external grants/contracts

Additional research facilities exist in the departments of Geography (GIS; ARC/INFO, GRASS), Geology and Geophysics (remote sensing; MIPS), Zoology and Physiology (GIS; ARC/INFO), and Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences (remote sensing and GIS; ERDAS).

Geographic information science coursework at the University of Wyoming is very interdisciplinary in nature, comprised of a diverse curriculum offered through a number of departments on campus. Core GIS courses are taught each semester within the Department of Geography and Recreation (typical enrollment is 35 - 50 students per course), while instruction in remote sensing is centered in the Department of Geology and Geophysics. These core elements are complemented by a wide range of courses with topics ranging from global positioning systems to surveying, spatial statistics and artificial intelligence.

Geographic Information Systems - Core Coursework (Theory/Applications)

• G&R 4200: Computer-Aided Mapping (3 cr)
• G&R 4210: Geographic Information Systems (3 cr)

Geographic Information Systems - Advanced Applications

• BOT 5180: Spatial Information Sciences (1 cr)
• G&R 5790: Research Methods - Advanced GIS (3 cr)
• G&R 5790: Research Methods - Landscape Ecology (3 cr)
• ZOOL 5850: Wildlife Ecology Topics in GIS (3 cr)

Remote Sensing

• BOT/G&R 4140: Remote Sensing and Natural Resource Management (3 cr)
• GEOL 4111/5111: Remote Sensing of the Environment (2 cr)
• BOT 4112/5112: Remote Sensing Laboratory (2 cr)
• GEOL 4500: Photogeology (3 cr)
• GEOL 4850: Principles of Digital Filtering and Time Series Analysis (3 cr)
• GEOL 5800: Quantitative Techniques in Remote Sensing (4 cr)
• GEOL 5810: Remote Sensing Seminar (1-2 cr)

Global Positioning Systems

• G&R 5000: Research Topics - Global Positioning Systems (1 cr)
• GEOL 5200: Topics in Geology - GPS Mapping for Geologists (1 cr)

Related Coursework - Mapping Fundamentals/Surveying

• G&R 2150: Maps and Mapping (3 cr)
• G&R 4150: Cartography (4 cr)
• CE 2070: Engineering Surveying (3 cr)
• CE 4710: Route Surveying (3 cr)
• CE 4720: Control Surveys (3 cr)
• CE 4730: Photogrammetry (3 cr)

Related Coursework - Computer Science (Graphics, Artificial Intelligence)

• COSC 4450: Computer Graphics (3 cr)
• COSC 4530: Digital Image Processing (3 cr)
• COSC 4550: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (3 cr)
• COSC 4020/5010: Artificial Intelligence Methods for Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (3 cr)

Related Coursework - Spatial Statistics

• G&R 4280 Quantitative Methods in Geography (4 cr)

Additional courses offered at UW which are related to GIS include CADD applications, computer programming languages, relational database management systems, geo-statistics, applied mathematical modeling.

Library Resources
The University of Wyoming Libraries have over 500 books, journals and government publications related to geographic or land information systems and more than 1,200 books, journals and government documents related to remote sensing. The University of Wyoming Libraries also have over 160,000 maps. Within various collections on campus, over 90,000 aerial photos are available for students, faculty and staff use. Finally, the Libraries also house more than 100 CD-ROMs containing digital spatial data acquired through the Depository Library Program.

Outreach
A final aspect of GIS education at UW is the role the university plays in terms of outreach toward advancing spatially-based science. Examples include university involvement in the Wyoming Geographic Information Advisory Council (WGIAC) and the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC); incorporation of GIS technology in the WWRC's Water Institute for Teachers and the Wyoming Geographic Alliance's Summer Institute; and the development of short course professional training workshops through the WyGISC.

GIS activities at UW have evolved in the last ten years into a broad, multidisciplinary organization. With roots in digital cartography and remote sensing dating since the late 1970s, GIS has grown from a small cluster of four departmental nodes in 1990 (Geography, Geology, Botany, and Zoology) to encompass research and teaching in 12+ departments and research institutes across campus. An example of the interdisciplinary nature of these activities is the Wyoming Initiative Technical Assistance and Training Laboratory, a jointly sponsored research and teaching facility involving the Wyoming Water Resources Center, the Department of Geology and Geophysics, the State of Wyoming, and the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management and Office of Surface Mining.

UW GIS Users Group
Today, faculty, staff and students alike have the opportunity to communicate, debate and exchange data and information via the UW GIS Users Group. Established in May 1995, this organization provides an informal forum for discussion and sharing of ideas and data via a communication network centered around a university-maintained listserv, WYGIS-L. WYGIS-L has also been made available to other entities engaged in GIS within the state, providing a means for interaction between the University, state agencies and county and city government.

Interagency Cooperation
Recognizing the need for interaction not only within the university, but also between the university and other government and non-government agencies, the University of Wyoming has established a number of memorandums of understanding and cooperative agreements with several state and federal entities in order to better facilitate cooperative research, training and data sharing. Groups with which the university is currently cooperating include the Snake River Corridor Project (Teton County, WY), the Wyoming Geological Survey, the USDI Bureau of Land Management and the USFS Fish Habitat Relationships Program.

Research and Related Activities

A wide range of basic and applied academic research is currently ongoing at the University of Wyoming which either relates directly or indirectly to geographic information science. The majority of this work is funded by external grant and contract awards through a variety of state and federal sources. Examples include:

Statewide Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment
Wyoming Water Resources Center. Sponsored by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Scope of work involves assessing risk for non-point source based contamination of aquifers within the state.

Wyoming Gap Analysis Project
Wyoming Cooperative Fishery and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, Department of Botany, Wyoming Water Resources Center. Sponsored by the National Biological Service. Scope of work involves development of relative indices for biodiversity and species richness for terrestrial vertebrates in Wyoming, and the establishment of a Wyoming Biological Data Center and National Biological Information Infrastructure Node.

Landtype Association Delineations, Great Plains Physiographic Province of Wyoming
Department of Botany. Sponsored by the USDI Bureau of Land Management. Scope of work involves delineation of landtype associations for purposes of ecosystem management.

Modeling ecological interactions across landscapes with transport models applied to GIS databases Department of Botany; funded by Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Additional research recently completed, ongoing or proposed includes:

• Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences: spatial analysis of grasshopper populations and associated pest management concerns across the state
• Department of Geography: analysis of floodplain disturbance landscapes in southwestern Colorado
• Department of Geography: delineation of tundra-alpine ecotones in Rocky Mountain National Park
• joint investigations by the Department of Botany and Computer Science regarding the application of expert systems in conducting cumulative impact assessments
• Institute for Energy Research: creation of a statewide geology and minerals GIS databases in support of resource development and environmental decision making associated with petroleum and minerals exploration in Wyoming.

Myron B. Allen III
Institute for Scientific Computation and Mathematics

William Baker
Geography and Recreation

L. Karl Branting
Computer Science

Kenneth L. Driese
Botany

Kenneth G. Gerow
Statistics

William J. Gribb
Geography and Recreation

Jeffrey D. Hamerlinck
Wyoming Water Resources Center GIS

Ronald L. Hartman
Rocky Mountain Herbarium, and Botany

Henry P. Heasler
Institute for Energy Research

Margo Berendsen
Spatial Data and Visualization Center

Earle Raymond Hunt, Jr.
Botany

Cheryl Jaworowski
Institute for Energy Research

David E. Legg
Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences

Jeffrey A. Lockwood
Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences

Ronald W. Marrs
Geology and Geophysics

John D. Marwitz
Atmospheric Sciences

Derek Montague
Atmospheric Sciences

Larry C. Munn
Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences

Lawrence M. Ostresh
Geography and Recreation

Barry L. Perryman
Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management

William A. Reiners
Botany

Earl J. Spillar
Physics and Astronomy

John E. Spitler
Institute for Scientific Computation

Robert C. Thurston
Botany

Jeff van Baalen
Computer Science