Just a few years ago, having data for your GIS was considered ahead of the curve and data quality was only a minor consideration. Now that GIS is an integral part of the enterprise, data quality has become an essential database responsibility. Ensuring data quality is critical with fast paced advances in GIS technology that allow for inter-departmental data sharing. Because of this unprecedented data access, Information Technology and GIS departments must embrace GIS data quality as another database responsibility just as they have embraced corporate security, disaster management, intrusion prevention and off-site data replication. Scheduled validation procedures must be implemented to ensure ongoing data quality, as these database are continually being updated. As the enterprise grows and data is obtained through mergers and acquisitions, data must also be audited to ensure that it meets the enterprise data quality standards.
This presentation will introduce the fundamentals of geodesy, and the important role these concepts should play in the collection, storage, and consumption of your spatial data.
In order to properly integrate high-accuracy data into its GIS, the City of Safford embarked on a journey to learn the not-so-subtle differences between survey-grade and mapping-grade GPS equipment.
During this expedition valuable lessons were learned concerning the limitations of existing coordinate systems, the importance of horizontal and vertical datums, the truth about elevations, the significance of the geoid and the ellipsoid, and what professional land surveyors are referring to when mentioning Grid vs. Ground coordinates. Our exploration also uncovered exceedingly valuable resources in the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), Height Modernization, and in Low Distortion Projections (LDP).
Please join us and contemplate the path you will take in achieving the full potential of your spatial geodesy.
An effective GIS Help Desk is a key component in maximizing user efficiency and data quality. Setting up an effective GIS Help Desk is also a critical task in implementing GIS at your organization.
This presentation will discuss the key factors in setting up and maintaining an effective help desk. Topics will include troubleshooting issues, preventative maintenance, identifying enhancements, training, developing power users, and performance tuning.
In April of 2007, DTE went live with a large utility transformation project which included a consolidation of our GIS platform into one corporate standard. The primary driver for this consolidation was design and integration with our new work management system but we discovered far more ways to leverage the technology. This presentation will cover who and how we are using the technology, how we got there, and our vision of what is next.
In July 2008 Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) recently completed the implementation of a risk analysis solution for their natural gas distribution system. The primary business drivers were (1) management of their 1,624 miles of cast iron and 994 miles of steel and (2) preparation for the pending regulations with respect to Distribution Integrity Management.
This paper will focus on PGW's implementation of an ArcGIS based solution that provides the necessary tools to manage their metallic mains with respect to risk and prepare them for the pending regulations.
This presentation will describe the process Georgia Power Company went through to incorporate their Network Underground Organization into their GIS. The Business Case developed for this project showed more benefits than risks for completing this project; however it was not a “one size fits all” approach. The project incorporated a blended approach between the GIS and the engineering processes to provide for the effective use of the GIS for Network Underground. This presentation details the following efforts of the project: The Business Case, a description of the Network Underground model, consideration of existing CAD drawings, Business processes and how they blended with the GIS, and the benefits of using GIS for Network Underground. The presentation will provide a good overview of the project and considerations for other utilities that are pondering how to implement GIS for their Network Underground Organizations.
The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has developed a communication tool within the GIS system designed specifically for the purpose of strengthening relationships between groups responsible for management of both land and transmission assets. When developing scope for transmission construction or simply resolving existing maintenance issues, asking both field personnel and office personnel to meet and discuss responsibilities simply isn't sufficient. Empowering each of these teams with a visual component they can use to communicate challenges on the ground (field) or proposed maintenance solutions (office) results in two things: clear communication and accurate scope description for planned activities. The LCRA developed new business procedures to ensure successful communication is possible for any maintenance or construction activity. This work session will describe how GIS staff integrated utility right of way video and GPS data (captured via helicopter) with engineering data inside the ArcGIS 9.X platform.
For any utility company, the most critical requirement is a complete updated
inventory of its assets. Any attempt to correct the network data at a later
stage cannot result in the desired sub-foot accuracy due to an ever changing
network and ongoing maintenance activities. The main aim should be to find
a permanent sustainable solution to the problem of data updating and control
of errors at the source to improve the accuracy. A sub-meter (50 cm) accuracy
of GIS database is more than enough required for use with any OTDR and fault
locator. Use of geophysical methods like cable tracing and Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR) for locating underground utilities provide only an approximate/supposed
location of the objects and are highly prone to errors with additional operational
limitations of the equipment and ground conditions for any large project.
GIS database is an important means of visualizing the location of the network
assets quickly and presenting it in meaningful ways to assist network planning
and maintenance activities. Most of the maintenance problems and accidents
during trenching occur due to human errors in feeder identification. Problem
in utility identification happens mainly due to the use of old data/drawings
that do not show current as-is situation in the ground than the limited accuracy.
Accuracy of the top of line fault locators and OTDR available in the market
are in the sub-meter range. There is no information available about their
performance and accuracy and none of these claim sub-foot accuracy. So, a
50 cm accuracy map (or as-built drawing) is better than what is required
by any O&M staff.
Circuit Analysis
Guillermo Barraza, Imperial Irrigation District Pinon Room
Imperial Irrigation District (IID) has integrated SynerGEE’s system planning, load forecasting, contingency analysis, protective device coordination, cable rating and system reliability applications with existing geographic information system, customer billing from SAP and SCADA information from the OSIsoft® PI Server to enhance the electric distribution system’s design, maintenance and operation. This integration will allow IID’s Planning Engineers to more accurately reflect IID’s Electric Distribution Network and develop a process for building effective models in the future. The extremely warm climate of IID’s service area places it among the highest power consuming regions in the nation.
The impending Distribution Integrity Management regulations require distribution operators to show regulators how they are monitoring threats to the integrity of their network. Many operators do not have effective processes for associating leaks, leak repairs, and pipe inspection reports with the correct pipe. The reports may be paper only, or they may be captured electronically via a data entry process that is not tied to the GIS. This presentation will share experiences we have gained working with several customers to geo-code leak and inspection reports and associate them with the pipe segment in the GIS that best matches the address location and other attributes of the report. It will also discuss data modeling considerations to facilitate data capture and presentation on the map. Finally, we will review new business processes implemented at CenterPoint Energy to post on-going leak repairs into the corporate ArcGIS database for use by downstream applications.
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