Arctic GIS Workshop Poster Abstract22-24
January 2001 |
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US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Internet-based GIS Projects
The U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab has many years of experience developing both desktop and internet-based GIS solutions for various customers in cold environments. This poster presents two of these GIS solutions. At the Haines Fuel Terminal in Haines, Alaska, CRREL has conducted site-wide geological, hydrological, and geophysical studies to evaluate subsurface materials, aquifer configuration, and examine possible contamination pathways. A web-based GIS was developed to provide access to the large amount of data generated by these investigations. With the Haines Web-Based GIS, both the customer (U.S. Army Alaska) and the public have access to the most recent data gathered during site investigations and testing. The user can pan and zoom to different areas of the site, turn on and off map layers and background images, and query the sample database by well number. The location of each well and all chemical samples from each well are now accessible via the internet. The Elmendorf Air Force Base Environmental GIS is being developed for the Environmental Flight division of the 3rd Civil Engineer Squadron in Alaska. The large volume of spatial data from Elemdorf AFB environmental projects developed by various engineering consultants and other contractors lends itself to the use of GIS software to manage the data. High-resolution orthophotographs serve as base-maps upon which users can view and easily query all appropriate data layers. The desktop GIS currently being developed by CRREL provides project managers an easy to use, common point of access to research data via Windows personal computers. Its design embodies an intuitive interface requiring limited training and 5 or less point-and-click access to any given dataset.
Diesel Range Organics Soil Contamination Estimate, Whittier Harbor Expansion, Whittier, AK
A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to estimate the volume of contaminated soil in an area of Whittier Harbor, Whittier, AK where an expansion was planned. This soil had to be removed and treated prior to harbor construction, and a volume estimate was required to contract these services. The materials that had to be excavated were those which contained greater than 100 ppm of Diesel Range Organics (DRO). The dataset on contaminant level was based on analyses of soil borings. We created the GIS coverage using Arc/Info software. ASCII and CAD topographic data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District provided the three-dimensional TIN's, which were then converted to Raster grids. We developed separate grids representing the areas of DRO contamination at the surface and at four increasing sample depths using Arc/Info's splining method. An Arc Macro Language (AML) program was written that uses Arc/Info's map-algebra language to calculate the soil volumes based on these gridded surfaces and topography. The total Arc/Info estimate of contaminated soil was 76,133.22 m3. To confirm that the estimated volume of contaminated soil based on the GIS model was reasonable, we developed a new model using Dynamic Graphics' EarthVision software, an environmental modeling package that provides advanced three-dimensional contouring algorithms. The same dataset was then used to generate a three-dimensional property model of the DRO distribution in the soil at Whittier Harbor. With this method, a total cubic volume was calculated, rather than for the individual depth sections as in the original GIS model. Using the volume calculation modules provided in the software, we were able to directly estimate the extent of soil with DRO concentrations greater than 100ppm. This estimate was within 10% of that obtained with the original GIS model.
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