DOING MORE WITH LESS: INTEGRATION OF DIGITAL CARTOGRAPHY, DATABASES, AND THE INTERNET AT THE MAINE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

In a world of shrinking government budgets and reduced mapping staff, the simplicity, speed, and efficiencies of automated map production are essential. Over the last decade, Maine Geological Survey staff developed a custom geologic map production system using ESRI ARC/INFO Workstation. This system automates and standardizes to a great extent the creation of map series produced by MGS - surficial geology and materials, aquifers, bedrock, and bluff/landslide maps. To date, the system has produced over 1500 color open-file geologic maps.

Geologists submit field data as hand-drawn linework or shapefiles, and points with GPS coordinates and a standardized spreadsheet. Lines are digitized or imported, and menu tools used to specify line types and to label and fill polygons. Placement of feature-linked polygon annotation is speeded by point-and-click tools in the menu. Point symbology is automatically created, oriented, and annotated. Menu-based editing tools allow annotation to be easily edited and repositioned. Authors are provided with geologic cross section materials plotted from digital elevation models (DEMs) and the digital linework. The topographic bases used for all maps are black-and-white images created from USGS DRG files. Map text and images are imported from Corel Draw, reducing the time necessary for map design and allowing multiple staff to work on the map at the same time. Real time savings due to automation are evident in the map review and editing process. Coverages for quadrangle data can also be imported and compiled automatically to create 1:100,000 geologic maps.

This GIS-based system builds an ever-expanding geodatabase of geologic information and three types of products: on-demand paper maps printed on an inkjet plotter, PDF files distributed via the web, and shapefiles available on the State GIS server. Updated publication descriptions are entered into a master database which serves as the Bibliography of Maine Geology, MGS library catalog, and publication sales tool. Shapefiles containing polygons of the geographic extent of map series are combined with this database to provide the basis for a web-based search engine utilizing MapServer open-source software. The web-based application allows the public to search geographically for MGS publications which are linked to the online PDFs.