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Earth Observation essential for geohazard mitigation

More than 250 scientists from around the world gathered for a five-day workshop at ESA's Earth Observation Centre in Frascati.

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BACKGROUNDER

2004 GeoConnections Projects

1. Watersheds Information Exchange
The Watersheds InfoXchange is an on-line application that enables watershed stakeholders such as community organizations and citizen scientists, as well as all levels of government, to input, view and analyze water-quality information. This information can be used to protect the inland water resources essential to the health and well-being of Canadian communities.
Organization: Centre for Sustainable Watersheds, Portland, Ontario
Partners: GeoConnections; Centre for Sustainable Watersheds
GeoConnections funding: $200,000 (48 percent)

2. Managing Shared Watersheds - Mapping Application
GeoConnections and Pollution Probe are developing a Web-based interactive mapping application that will enable watershed managers in the Ottawa-Gatineau area to access integrated information when developing and implementing watershed-management plans, so they can plan more efficiently and avoid duplicating effort.
Organization: Pollution Probe, Ottawa, Ontario
Partners: GeoConnections; Pollution Probe; Environment Canada; Ville de Gatineau; City of Ottawa
GeoConnections funding: $80,000 (50 percent)

3. Interoperable Data Access for Ontario Farmers
The County of Oxford, Ontario, is re-engineering its "Map Your Farm" on-line application to enable farmers to access accurate and timely geospatial data on-line through the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). The farmers will use this data to manage nutrient programs and make other farm-related planning decisions.
Organization: County of Oxford, Ontario
Partners: GeoConnections; County of Oxford; Grand River Conservation Authority; Upper Thames River Conservation Authority; ESRI Canada
GeoConnections funding: $69,710 (45 percent)

4. New Brunswick Lung Association's Integrated Environmental Health Initiative
A new application will allow the New Brunswick Lung Association to merge climate change- and health-related data into a single Web interface. This project aims to increase awareness and support community-based decision making on matters related to climate change, air quality and human health in New Brunswick.
Organizations: CARIS Ltd., New Brunswick Lung Association
Partners: GeoConnections; New Brunswick Lung Association; Environment Canada; CARIS Ltd; Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network; Emergency Measures Organization - Public Safety; Government of New Brunswick (Health, Energy, Services); University of New Brunswick; National Research Council; Federation of Canadian Municipalities; City of Fredericton; City of Moncton; New Brunswick Environment Industry Association; Sustainable Development Association; Bathurst Sustainable Development; University of Moncton; Falls Brook Centre; Science East Centre; Learning for a Sustainable Future; Eastern Canada Soil and Water Conservation Centre; River Valley Health; Community Health Promotion Network Atlantic; Saint John Citizen's Coalition for Clean Air; Quebec Lung Association; Nova Scotia Climate Change Centre; Prince Edward Island Climate Change Hub; Newfoundland Climate Change Centre; American Lung Association
GeoConnections funding: $162,415 (44.75 percent)

5. West Nile Virus Monitoring and Information Management
Health Canada will amalgamate its various databases, so it can analyze the integrated data on West Nile virus. This project will provide a Web-mapping capability for surveillance of the virus in near-real time as data is reported.
Organization: GeoTango International Corp., Toronto, Ontario
Partners: GeoConnections; GeoTango International Corp.; Health Canada; York University; Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre (CCWHC); B.C. Centre for Disease Control Society; Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (Wildlife Division)
GeoConnections funding: $105,000 (25.93 percent)

6. Kativik Community GeoPortal
Kativik will create an on-line application that will permit the geospatial integration and management of information about land tenure, its use, characteristics and legal and physical constraints. The aim of the project is to improve the collective knowledge about land tenure to support the sustainable development of the territory's resources.
Organization: Kativik Regional Government, Quebec
Partners: GeoConnections; Makivik; Nunavik Landholding Corporations Association; Natural Resources Quebec; Quebec Ministry of Public Safety; Fisheries and Oceans; Holonics
GeoConnections funding: $200,000 (40 percent)

7. National Environmental Assessment Portal
The Miistakis Institute will build a national Web-based portal to provide practitioners with data and the best expertise available in support of environmental assessment. The portal will link the environmental assessment community with a variety of data providers.
Organization: Miistakis Institute for the Rockies, Calgary, Alberta
Partners: GeoConnections; Environment Canada; Ducks Unlimited; Shell Canada; University of Calgary; Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative; Manitoba Department of Conservation
GeoConnections funding: $120,874 (48 percent)

8. Winnipeg School Division Helps Migrating Children Get Better Education
This project will establish an on-line housing registry to provide private- and public-sector rental information for parents, schools and social services agencies. It is intended to reduce the negative effects of migrating families on the children's education and social well-being.
Organizations: Winnipeg School Division; DMTI Spatial Inc.
Partners: GeoConnections; Manitoba Family Services and Housing; City of Winnipeg; DMTI Spatial Inc.
GeoConnections funding: $75,809 (39 percent)

9. Enhancing YorkExplorer
Through this project, York Region will improve its Internet mapping service, YorkExplorer, to include geographic-information discovery and exchange. It will allow the public and organizations, including nine local municipalities, to access geospatial information provided by the York Region Geomatics Branch.
Organization: York Region Geomatics, Ontario
Partners: GeoConnections; York Region Geomatics; YorkInfo Partnership
GeoConnections funding: $100,000 (50 percent)

10. The Atlas of Aquatic Habitats of the St. Lawrence
Many departments and agencies hold and administer information about the St. Lawrence watershed. This project will integrate aquatic-habitat information, so researchers can more effectively understand aquatic habitats and propose solutions to a variety of environmental issues, such as pollution control and endangered-species preservation.
Organization: Holonics Data Management Group, Ltd., Gatineau, Quebec
Partners: GeoConnections; Holonics Data Management Group, Ltd.; Fisheries and Oceans; Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency; Canadian Wildlife Service; Environment Canada; St. Lawrence Centre; Stratégies St-Laurent; ZIP Committees; Société de développement de l'industrie maricole; Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski; Université du Québec à Rimouski; La Société de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec; Procéan (SNC-Lavalin)
GeoConnections funding: $133,455 (35.4 percent)

11. Conservation Areas Reporting and Tracking System (CARTS)
The CARTS application will enable users to access and analyze public information on conservation areas under provincial, territorial and federal jurisdictions in Canada. The portal will allow the conservation and resource communities to visualize, analyze and obtain geospatial conservation data for any part of Canada from a single interoperable system.
Organizations: Canadian Council on Ecological Areas, Ottawa, Ontario; AMEC Inc.
Partners: GeoConnections; Canadian Council on Ecological Areas; Environment Canada; Nature Serve Canada; World Wildlife Fund for Nature; Natural Resources Canada
GeoConnections funding: $100,000 (38.5 percent)

12. Enabling On-line Real Estate Sales
This application will show how the CGDI's Web-mapping capabilities can produce viable commercial solutions that benefit the Canadian public directly. This application will allow Canadians who are shopping for homes to search for residential properties based on neighbourhood boundaries, school districts, or proximity to schools, churches and community centres. It will be deployed initially in Winnipeg.
Organization: Linnet-The Land Systems Company, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Partners: GeoConnections; jjBarnicke Winnipeg; Linnet-The Land Systems Company
GeoConnections funding: $98,964 (37 percent)

13. Improving Forest Fire Response
The British Columbia Forest Service is building an application to register and display emergency resources such as heavy equipment and specialized personnel. This can improve situational awareness and coordination of resources among jurisdictions, ultimately leading to more effective and efficient emergency response.
Organization: Selkirk Systems Inc., British Columbia
Partners: GeoConnections; British Columbia Forest Service Protection Branch
GeoConnections funding: $162,000 (44 percent)

14. British Columbia Builds Metadata Expertise
This project will enable users to discover and access the vast land-information holdings of British Columbia's Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management. This multi-phase project will build capacity and construct a viable metadata system within the Ministry.
Organization: British Columbia Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
Partners: GeoConnections; British Columbia Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
GeoConnections Funding: 2002-2003: $47,500 (20 percent)
2003-2004: $122,500 (40 percent)
2004-2005: $100,000 (41 percent)

15. Common Web Services Enable Community-driven Applications in British Columbia
The partners will build a common core of Web service functions for three distinct projects related to geospatial data in British Columbia. People with interests in resource, coastal and marine planning and management will benefit most from this capability.
Organization: British Columbia Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
Partners: GeoConnections; British Columbia Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
GeoConnections funding: $200,000 (50 percent)

16. GeoNOVA Portal
Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations is creating a comprehensive list of all provincial geospatial data resources that will allow access through a single Internet portal. The project is intended to compile and extend the work done by individual custodians and other agencies.
Organization: Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
Partners: GeoConnections; Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
GeoConnections funding: $100,000 (44 percent)

17. GIS and Portal Software Integration in Nova Scotia
The project will create corporate portal technology by integrating several commercial Geographic Information Systems (GIS) products and portal applications that were built in different development environments. This preliminary design will set the stage for future development of the GeoNOVA Portal.
Organization: Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
Partners: GeoConnections; Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; GeoNOVA Portal Team; Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (Forestry)
GeoConnections funding: $24,340 (41 percent)

18. Nova Scotia Thematic Atlas
The Nova Scotia Thematic Atlas will consist of a dynamic set of maps that represent the people, places and history of Nova Scotia. It will use common Web services and provide an effective outlet for delivering large quantities of meaningful geographic information to citizens.
Organization: Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
Partners: GeoConnections; Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; Government of Nova Scotia (Natural Resources, Health, Finance, Community Services, Education, Environment and Labour, Office of Economic Development); GeoNOVA Portal Team
GeoConnections funding: $66,425 (49 percent)

19. Visualization of Ontario's Geospatial Information
This project will significantly expand the data available to users through the CGDI, benefit other agencies that use CGDI standards by providing access to more geospatial data, and further integrate Land Information Ontario (LIO) and the CGDI.
Organization: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Partners: GeoConnections; Land Information Ontario
GeoConnections funding: $232,950 (50 percent)

20. Map Coordinate Transformation Service
This new Web-based service will allow map-makers in Nova Scotia to convert datasets from one set of coordinates to another. This is a necessary step in integrating and overlaying maps while aligning features.
Organization: Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
Partners: GeoConnections; Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; Association of Nova Scotia Land Surveyors; GeoNOVA Portal Team
GeoConnections funding: $93,150 (49 percent)

21. GeoNOVA Warehouse
Under this project, the GeoNOVA program is building a collection of the best geospatial datasets available for all of Nova Scotia. The goal is to provide a single approach to geographic information in Nova Scotia that can be integrated with other GeoNOVA Portal projects.
Organization: Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
Partners: GeoConnections; Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; GeoNOVA Portal Team
GeoConnections funding: $37,450 (49 percent)

22. Nova Scotia Civic Address Service
This service will create dependable coding for civic address information and for plotting addresses and transportation routes for activities such as emergency services, transportation planning and bus routing. The service will use the Nova Scotia Civic Address File, which incorporates the Nova Scotia Road Network.
Organization: Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
Partners: GeoConnections; Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; Emergency Measures Organization; Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Representatives of Municipalities of Nova Scotia; Nova Scotia Emergency Health Services; GeoNOVA Portal Team
GeoConnections funding: $76,750 (49 percent)

23. GeoNOVA Portal Connectivity
This project will connect datasets to the GeoNOVA Portal, allowing the public to view such things as topographic maps, air photos and satellite imagery. It is an important step in establishing a single on-line access point where Nova Scotians can discover and access data about their province.
Organization: Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
Partners: GeoConnections; Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; Government of Nova Scotia (Transportation and Public Works, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Fisheries); Halifax Regional Municipality; Cape Breton Regional Municipality; GeoNOVA Portal Team
GeoConnections funding: $130,075 (49 percent)

24. Geographic Markup Language Application Schemas to Enable Access to Ontario's Geospatial Information
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources is deploying CGDI-endorsed standards and services as its primary solution for geospatial data discovery and access. LIO is also leveraging the results of another successful GeoConnections partnership to build advanced technology schemas. These schemas will allow LIO to use CGDI Web feature services to access, update and deliver data on-line.
Organization: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Partners: GeoConnections; Land Information Ontario
GeoConnections funding: $99,850 (50 percent)

25. Ontario's Web Feature Technology for Geospatial Information
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources is deploying CGDI-endorsed standards and services for geospatial data discovery and access. Geographic Markup Language application schemas will allow LIO to use CGDI Web feature services to access, update and deliver data on-line.
Organization: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Partners: GeoConnections; Land Information Ontario
GeoConnections funding: $108,050 (50 percent)

26. Enabling the Address Geocoder Service
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources address geocoder will allow users to convert addresses into geographic coordinates. Government agencies and private-sector Web developers can use this service to build applications that respond to specific user queries and provide on-line support for decision making or analysis.
Organization: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Partners: GeoConnections; Land Information Ontario
GeoConnections funding: $88,275 (50 percent)

27. Communication Coordination and Technical Web Site
This project will produce a technical communications Web site that will make it easier to evaluate and use Land Information Ontario services and tools. This improvement will in turn encourage many non-traditional users to take advantage of geospatial data and tools.
Organization: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Partners: GeoConnections; Land Information Ontario
GeoConnections funding: $31,450 (50 percent)

28. Accessing Saskatchewan's Designated Land Information
Saskatchewan Environment will provide industry, academia, governments and the public with on-line access to geo-referenced information about Saskatchewan land tracts that, by law or policy, face restrictions on development activities. Data custodians and users will benefit from the efficiencies of on-line distributed data delivery.
Organization: Saskatchewan Environment
Partners: GeoConnections; Saskatchewan Environment; Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
GeoConnections funding: $150,000 (36 percent)

29. Accessing Saskatchewan's Cadastral Data
Information Services Corporation Saskatchewan will provide Web services for Saskatchewan's cadastral data (data related to land boundaries and subdivisions, and parcels of land suitable for transfer of title). As Saskatchewan's geospatial data infrastructure is implemented, access will extend to other departments, industry and the public.
Organization: Information Services Corporation Saskatchewan
Partners: GeoConnections; Information Services Corporation Saskatchewan
GeoConnections funding: $37,000 (50 percent)