GIS Technician (2 positions available)

You will develop a time-series GIS land use dataset that shows how parcels of land have subdivided and been built on since 1973. The two main tasks are 1) to digitize historical plat maps for Dane County and combine them with the existing GIS parcel datasets, and 2) to digitize aerial photographs in order to record whether a structure was actually built on the subdivided land. Additional land use information such as vegetation cover and permeable surface area can be added to these datasets if there is time this summer, or in the fall.

Digitizing parcel maps – First, you’ll locate and scan historical plat maps and aerial photos for Dane County . Then you’ll start with the oldest available GIS parcel dataset for Dane County (2000) and create data for the earlier years from the scanned historical plat maps. To do this, you make a copy of the 2000 GIS dataset, rename it to 1998, and then hand-delete the subdivision boundaries that are not present in the 1998 scanned plat map to reflect the pre-subdivision parcel boundaries. This process is repeated for each historical year that plat maps are available.

Digitizing aerial photos – Adding to the parcel dataset, you will use historical aerial photos to record subdivided plots where a residence was constructed. Aerial photographs for Dane County are available at scales of 1:20,000 to 1:40,000 for 1978, 1987, 1995, 2000, and 2005.

Details
Number of positions: 2
Start date: May 22, 2009 (flexible)
End date: August 21, 2009 (flexible)

Qualifications
Proficiency with ArcGIS
Innovative and creative problem solver
Attention to detail
Efficient worker (this is a lot to do in one summer !!)

Location:
UW-Madison campus, Agricultural and Applied Economics Dept. Computer Lab