Tennessee Base Mapping Program

The Tennessee Base Mapping Program is a multiyear partnership between state and local governments to generate a high-quality, statewide consistent GIS base map for Tennessee. Data products include 1:4,800- and 1:1,200-scale panchromatic orthoimagery, corresponding digital elevation model, parcels, street centerlines, edge-of-pavement, hydrography, and vegetation coverage.

The Tennessee Base Mapping Program technical specifications were developed in two pilot phases in 1997 and 1998. The program entered full production in 1999. Through early 2005, maps of 46 of Tennessee's 95 counties have been produced, with 31 counties scheduled for production in 2005 and the remaining 18 counties in 2006.

The financial foundation of the program is a partnership between the state and local government participants. The state funds 75 percent of the costs while county governments, municipal governments, and local utilities pool resources to generate the remaining 25 percent. Local governments also have the option of generating value-added data products such as high-accuracy digital elevation models and building footprints.

The Tennessee Base Mapping Program will serve as the foundation for enterprise GIS development in Tennessee state government. Data custodians will be identified for each layer, and custodians will work to develop and document work flows to focus resources on data maintenance supported by business case requirements. This will reduce redundant data maintenance efforts across the enterprise. This model will be extended to existing legacy data sets in which enterprise access to data and applications is relevant.