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1Project Objective The objective of this research was to develop guidelines for the collection and use of geospatially referenced pavement- related data for the management of airfield pavements. Geospatially referenced data is also known as geodata, geo- referenced data, geospatial data, and geographic information. It identifies the locations of features on Earth. This data can be mapped, is usually stored as coordinates or in raster format, and can be accessed through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) systems. The collection of data on pavement structure, pavement con- dition, traffic, climate, maintenance actions, testing and eval- uation, and other items is essential for effective management of airfield pavement; such data are regularly collected as part of airfield pavement management systems (PMS) by many air- ports across the country. However, the data and information collected by various agencies have often differed in definition and format, making it difficult for others to interpret and use. Also, state-of-the-art technologies and processes applicable to data collection have not been effectively used for collecting airfield management systems data. The use of global position- ing systems (GPS) in developing geospatially referenced data is one of the technologies that will greatly enhance the effec- tiveness of airfield management systems. Therefore, there was a need to develop guidelines for the collection and use of geo- spatially referenced data for use in the management of airfield pavements. Such guidelines will promote compatibility of data collected at different facilities; improve integration, sharing, and analysis of data; provide an effective means for economi- cally addressing issues of common concern; and help better manage investments in airfield pavements. Project Scope The work performed to achieve the project objective was divided into several tasks. This work included developing pre- liminary guidelines, demonstrating their application using real- world data, documenting lessons learned during the process, and recommending improved guidelines, including step-by- step procedures for using the guidelines to transfer spatial and non-spatial data from a PMS into a GIS. This work included the following tasks: ⢠Collecting and reviewing information and current practices. This work consisted of a literature review, research into cur- rent and emerging PMS and GIS technologies, and an inter- view questionnaire that was sent to various airport operators throughout the country. ⢠Identifying and categorizing PMS elements that should be included in the guidelines. This work consisted of review- ing and analyzing the survey responses and analysis of the underlying database structure of the various PMS packages used by the respondents. Categories of users were devel- oped based on how the various users interact with the PMS and GIS data. ⢠Preparing a plan for developing guidelines. ⢠Determining the technical requirements of the data elements and formats to be included in the guidelines, and developing preliminary guidelines. ⢠Creating a typical pavement management data framework using the data schema presented in the guidelines. The data framework consisted of an empty database (i.e., containing no data) that implements all data elements and relation- ships described in the guidelines. The database was imple- mented in a format in which it is easy to rapidly prototype databases, the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Personal Geodatabase. ⢠Acquiring pavement management data to test the data framework. The data was acquired for flexible and rigid pavements from two airfields using two different PMS soft- ware packages. Spatial data was requested in Autodesk Auto- CAD and ESRI GIS formats. C H A P T E R 1 Introduction
⢠Transferring the acquired PMS data into the data frame- work. The spatial data was modified as necessary to meet the spatial data criteria in the guidelines. The typical data framework was attached to the spatial data, and the attri- bute data was manually transferred from the PMS to the GIS and CAD systems. ⢠Exercising all feature class definitions in the guidelines. The GIS data set was exported into Geographic Markup Language (GML) and re-imported to verify lossless data transfer. ⢠Identifying issues and deficiencies in the guidelines, rec- ommending changes to the data schema. ⢠Preparing revised guidelines to incorporate the recom- mended changes. ⢠Preparing a final report that documents the entire research effort. Organization of the Report Chapter 2 of this report presents the state of practice in geospatial data collection methods. Chapter 3 discusses data elements, and Chapter 4 describes the development of spatial data guidelines. Application and verification of the guidelines are presented in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 provides remarks on implementation of the guidelines. The guidelines are provided as an attachment to the report. Appendix A is a survey instrument of airport operators regarding the practices used for collecting, storing, and ana- lyzing spatial and non-spatial pavement data. Appendix B contains the information obtained from this survey. Appen- dix C describes relevant PMS software data elements. Appen- dixes A, B, and C are not published herein; they are available at www.trb.org by searching for âACRP Report 39â or at http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/164102.aspx. 2
