DELIVERING KENTUCKY GEOLOGIC MAP INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC: FIFTEEN YEARS OF AN EVOLVING WEB-BASED MAP SERVICE

In 2004, the Kentucky Geological Survey released the first version of the Kentucky Geologic Map Information Service. Since that time, KGS has made three major revisions of the service, with the newest version released in 2020. The application showcases geologic map layers which include features that were mapped at 1:24,000-scale across the entire state, along with other geologically related data layers including oil and gas data, water wells and springs, and geologic hazard data that users can manipulate and overlay in a web GIS format. Since the initial release, the application has only required an internet connection and web browser to use, no plugins have ever been required, and no paywall or user registration have ever been implemented. For the past 10 years, the service has also been available in a mobile version. This website has been used over an estimated 1 million times with a consistent usage year after year (average usage has approximately 65,000 users per year). Based on referral data from other KGS web services and feedback, the largest user group of the service is likely the oil and gas community, and based on user feedback and web statistics, the site has users ranging from other geologic professionals, educators and students, policy makers, and the general public.

In July 2020 a new version of the Kentucky Geologic Map Information Service was released. This is a complete redesign of this customized web application using the newest version of the Esri ArcGIS API for Javascript (v. 4.x). This version has a streamlined user interface and several of the tools on the previous version were consolidated. A major upgrade is that the new version is now responsive to mobile devices, thus eliminating the need for separate mobile and desktop applications. The service now utilizes cached layers for a faster, more reliable user experience, and users have more fine-grained control of the layers. Some new tools were developed for this new version including a custom bookmark tool which can be used to save a custom layout, and the ability to highlight individual geologic units from the legend. This presentation will give an overview about the history of the geologic map service, provide insight on how it was developed and how it has been used, and highlight the new design of the map service.