MISSION The mission of the Center for Geospatial Data Analysis is to provide scientifically-based decision-support systems to a wide variety of technical and non-technical users, in order to promote the environmentally sound use of land, water, and mineral resources. This mission is accomplished by employing state-of-the-art technology in geographic information systems (GIS), statistical and numerical analysis, and field instrumentation to develop and (or) apply: GIS database applications to resource evaluation and environmental issues; statistical and numerical modeling - particularly pertaining to issues of ground- and surface-water hydrology; real-time monitoring of hydrological conditions; non-traditional training via internships and apprenticeships.
		COOPERATING AGENCIES Personnel of the CGDA are currently working with regulators and scientists from federal agencies, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. EPA, the U.S. Geological Survey Biologic Research Division, and the National Park Service. A variety of cooperative efforts are also underway with state agencies and local water-user groups. These include the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Reclamation (IDOR), the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water (IDOW), the Office of the Indiana State Chemist (OISC), and others.
		COMPUTATIONAL SETTING User-friendly applications are needed for a wide range of environmental and resource assessments, such as prospecting for low-sulfur coal, restoration of wetlands, evaluating aquifer sensitivities and vulnerabilities, and so forth. Solution of such difficult problems requires integration of theoretically based numerical and statistical models, complex multi-parameter databases, geographic information system (GIS) layers, and visualization tools. In order to make the power of these technologies accessible to the widest possible range of users, a great variety of existing software packages that are not usually compatible (e.g., numerical hydrologic simulation applications, GIS packages, 3-D visualization software, etc.) must be interfaced. Specially talented and broadly trained individuals are required to work effectively in such a complex computer programming/computational setting. Applications that allow users to conduct truly interactive mapping and modeling over the Web (as opposed to merely viewing graphic images of maps) are very recent, and the software that allows such dynamic usage is evolving very rapidly. Typically, effective use of such technology requires knowledge of many different software packages, as well as several different programming languages. Examples of the software that is used by personnel of the CGDA to take GIS projects from inception to final product include GIS packages (ESRI ArcGIS, TIN, GRID, ArcScan, ArcView, MapObjects, and Internet Map Server), graphics and visualization packages (Corel, Adobe, Flash, and EVS), and spreadsheet and database software (Access, Excel). Programming knowledge that is utilized includes Visual Basic, Avenue, Fortran, C++, HTML, and Java.
sletsing@indiana.edu

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