A Land Information Management Tool For NRCS Field Offices

Background

The USDA Callaway County Service Center has been developing a digital county landuse/landcover database using Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) images. The landuse inventory is continuously updated based on information collected by field personnel. The data are also used to provide spatial and statistical land information to farmers in conjunction with other datasets such as soils, hydrography and road networks. In addition, field personnel routinely collect other information such as new fence lines and water tank locations.

Objective

The purpose of this project was to provide field personnel an easy-to-use computer tool for data collection and updating in the field.

Methods

CARES developed a computer interface based on ArcView software and its programming language, Avenue, for use on personal computers.

The tool allows the field personnel to:

• Modify farm field boundaries using DOQs as background and automatically calculate new acreage
• Update attribute information in the landuse database
• Delineate drainage areas and summarize acreage of land uses and soils
• Add or update feature locations such as pipelines, terraces, fences and water tanks
• Summarize total feet of line features or acreage of farm fields, land use categories, and soil types
• Generate route maps of selected farms
• Generate spatial GPS locations from a GPS text file
• Make maps of specified area and datasets on-the-fly

The tool is composed of pull-down menus, buttons and click tools. The user does not need extensive computer experience or knowledge. The tool is readily transferable to other NRCS county field offices for similar application.

Investigator: Yan Z. Barnett

Funding Source: Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS)

Project Duration: July 1997 - July 1997