Managers Corner Figure 5 Data from the National Elevation Dataset displayed against a hillshade of lidar bare earth at 1:2,400. Notice many errors, discrepancies, and omissions. a road from the BLM database that does not follow the roadbed as indicated by the lidar information.) Hardware and Software High-resolution GIS data is expensive to store, use, and manage. For example, a 1-meter resolution elevation model is 100 times larger than the equivalent area of a 10-meter elevation model. One-half-meter color imagery from the National High Altitude Photography program is actually 12 times larger than the equivalent area in 1-meter black-and-white images. Vector data collected at 1 meter between points could be 10 times larger than when collected using the 1:24,000 standard of 40 feet. For land management agencies, where GIS data represents broad expanses of administrative territory, the increased need for disk storage is huge. Core processing memory and hardware capabilities requirements have also greatly increased. Increased requirements create problems when the size of the data exceeds the size of the maximum addressable memory space. You may have noticed this problem in vector functions such as overlay, dissolve, and union. Increased coordinate and pixel density also slows down response time and clogs up networks. Obviously, computer capabilities will need to keep pace! There may be a rise in data service providers and the technology to support them: you may get your data from a third party via the Internet. New equipment and data management strategies will be needed to process such intense data. New technologies can help us make the transition to the "new GIS data." We should be looking to cloud computing services. In simple www.esri.com terms, cloud computing is nothing more than Internet-based data or computer services that provide specific products to GIS. When you use ArcGIS Online, you are using cloud computing. However, services could provide lidar data or processing services to large groups of people, and this would allow smaller companies and groups to leverage the data while avoiding the expense of maintaining the in-house functionality. Conclusion As a GIS professional, I have spent most of my career striving to build and improve the accuracy and precision of GIS databases as well as the overall data quality of the BLM's information. The advent of higher accuracy and precision data is great news! For new GIS professionals, a tremendous and exciting time lies ahead as they begin building a new geographic foundation for the world. Do not despair over small details and technical problems; they have a way of solving themselves over time. The bigger issue, of course, is how to use this new and better data to meet customers' needs. The current saying among GIS folks is to use the "best available" data. I am thinking a new mantra would be to use the "most appropriate" data. About the Author Jeffery S. Nighbert has been a geographer with the Bureau of Land Management for more than 30 years and is currently the senior technical specialist for GIS at the Oregon State office, located in Portland, Oregon. He has extensive experience in GIS and holds a master's degree in geography from the University of New Mexico. ArcUser Winter 2010 37