NPS Submissions

Cultural Resources

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The Alaska Regional Cultural Resources program uses all available imagery to evaluate land areas for the presence of cultural sites and to assess the status of known sites. For example, an investigation to relocate Katmai Village in the Katmai  National Park and Preserve involved the use of United States land survey records, NPS GIS data and Google Earth imagery. 

http://www.nps.gov/akso/history/index.cfm

Glacier Monitoring

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Kenai Fjords National Park staff use GPS technology to map the terminus of Exit Glacier at the beginning and end of each summer. This semiannual monitoring effort allows park managers to understand changes in the perimeter of the terminus both seasonally and annually. An aerial photo map was created to illustrate Exit Glacier's dramatic retreat in a manner that is readily understood by a wide audience.

Glacier National Park

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High resolution aerial photography along the international boundary, acquired in 2009 for use by the Department of Homeland Security, provided an excellent mapping base for restoration planning by Parks Canada.

GPS Height Modernizations

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Many parks depend on surveying for activities ranging from locating boundaries and cultural resources to monitoring geomorphological change.  Assateague Island National Seashore and Cape Cod National Seashore recently completed GPS height modernizations to define precise locations and elevations of their primary survey control point markers to within a few centimeters.

Grand Canyon National Park

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Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA) makes extensive use of remotely sensed imagery and other data for planning, visualizing, mapping, analyzing, and managing resources in nearly every park program. Some of these uses include:

Grand Teton National Park

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Grand Teton National Park is currently using historic color and color-infrared aerial photography, QuickBird satellite imagery, and lidar imagery for several wide-ranging and critical projects that range from resource protection (natural and cultural) to decision support for infrastructure and emergency planning. The GIS specialists lead the acquisition and analysis of the remotely sensed images, and vegetation ecologists, wildlife specialists, and project manager experts inform the analysis methodology and evaluate the results.

Midwest Archeological Center

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The Midwest Archeological Center (MWAC) maintains archeological data sets for parks in the Midwest Region and assists parks with archeological issues. The Center’s Archeological Information Management Team makes extensive use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to maintain spatial location information on over 5000 archeological sites in the region. Remotely sensed data is an integral component of the archeological base maps and are used in data analysis. The data, maintained in attribute and spatial databases, are used to aid in the preservation and protection of those sites.

Morristown National Historical Park

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General Washington selected the Morristown, NJ area for overwintering the Continental Army because of its distinctive topographic setting and useful local resources.  The camp was protected from attack by the Watchung Mountains, the Great Swamp and a long view down toward New York City, site of the British army base from which any such attack would have come.  The site offered plenty of trees for campfire fuel and streams for drinking water.  Current maps of the vegetation and hydrography of Morristown National Historical Park were enriched with new content and field work mad

North Coast and Cascade Network

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Each year disturbance events such as avalanches, landslides, floods, fires, and clearcuts alter the landscape in and around the parks in the North Coast and Cascade Network (NCCN). These disturbances vary in duration, size, and severity, from a sudden small flood in a riparian zone to a fire that burns thousands of acres over several weeks.

Park Boundary Surveys

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The Alaska Land Resources Program Center uses orthoimagery available from the Alaska Region's GIS site. Prior to good high-resolution digital orthoimagery, the location of many parcels were drawn using the USGS quads (DRGs) or other data that were often dated or of lower resolution. By using more recent orthoimagery in combination with the survey plat or legal descriptions, we are able to update tracts and boundaries with increased accuracy.