Louisiana coastal GIS network: Graphical user interface for access to spatial data

Louisiana's coastal wetlands support a large percentage of the nation's seafood and fur industries, vast deposits of oil and natural gas, habitat for thousands of species of plants and animals, winter nesting grounds and migratory paths for numerous waterfowl, and many recreational resources enjoyed by residents and tourists. Louisiana's wetlands also have the highest rates of coastal erosion and wetland loss in the nation. While numerous studies across many disciplines have been conducted on both local and regional scales, no complete inventory exists for this information. The Louisiana Coastal Geographic Information System Network (LCGISN) is currently being developed to facilitate access to existing data for coastal zone planners, managers, and researchers. The Louisiana Geological Survey (LGS), in cooperation with the LSU Department of Geography and Anthropology, the Computer Aided Design and Geographic Information Systems Research Laboratory (CADGIS), and others, is pursuing this project under the terms of a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey. LCGISN is an automated system for searching and retrieving geographic, cartographic, and bibliographic data. By linking original programming with an existing GIS software package and an industry standard relational database management system, LCGISN will provide the capability for users to search for data references by interactively defining the area of interest on a displayed map/image reference background. Several agencies will be networked to provide easy access to a wide variety of information. LCGISN, with its headquarters at LGS, will serve as the central node on the network, providing data format conversions, projection and datum transformations, and storage of several of the most commonly used data sets. Thematic mapper data, USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle map boundaries, political and legal boundaries, major transportation routes, and other digital data will provide a base map to aid the user in selecting the exact area of interest. Then, the user will set search criteria by proceeding through a series of menu-driven options. The system will then return any or all of the following: a list of digital maps or imagery that can be displayed immediately and visually overlayed, a list of maps/remotely sensed data and information on their availability, and a list of bibliographic references concerning the area and subject defined.