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PUBLICATIONS
Case Study
IDEAL / Contex Scanners and WiseImage Software Helps IGIS Technologies Speed the Conversion of Paper Maps into GIS Systems |
Background:
IGIS Technologies, San Diego, CA, is a high-level GIS firm that has close ties to San Diego State University. IGIS works on major GIS projects with many government agencies, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Defense Intelligence Agency, Cal Trans, and Clark County, Nevada. IGIS has professional alignments with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) industry leaders and acts as an integrator of technology produced by leading GIS manufacturers.
Despite the digital revolution, government agencies continue to hold large quantities of legacy data in paper format. These data have great value to their GIS. This may include such material as an historic 1940 USFS map for Union Pacific railroad, a 1980 Assessor's Map, a master title plat from the BLM, or a 9 by 9 inch color aerial photograph. No matter the media type or how old, it is critical to preserve paper data before it is lost. Scanning this source material into an electronic format is the first step in safeguarding it and making it usable in a GIS.
IGIS Technologies teams with Graphic Imaging Services to scan and convert agencies' paper assets into GIS-ready electronic datasets. Once the maps are scanned, they are geo-referenced and the raster data is converted into intelligent vector data for use in the GIS.
Problem:
IGIS needed to find a way to speed the scanning and conversion process and minimize the need for error correction in the digitized files, so that they could quickly provide their clients with accurate, GIS-ready digital files.
Solution:
The first step was to use IDEAL / Contex large format scanners to scan the legacy maps. IDEAL / Contex scanners provide a scanned accuracy of 0.1% +/- 1 pixel when measured at any place on the scanned document, thus ensuring the accuracy standards required by a GIS.
In addition, IDEAL provided WiseImage Pro Geo Intelligent Raster Software to assist with the conversion process. WiseImage is automated raster-to-vector conversion software that speeds up the digitizing process significantly. IGIS uses the Geo-focused interface, custom coordinate systems and automatic and semi-automatic recognition of polygons and contours, as well as many of the other GIS-specific tools in WiseImage GEO to increase productivity and get jobs back to their clients more quickly. The resulting deliverable to the client is highly accurate digital data that has undergone rigorous quality checking.
Information on IGIS Technologies is available at www.igist.com; Graphic Imaging Services information can be accessed at www.graphicimaging.net; IDEAL products can be viewed at www.ideal.com.
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