Using GIS for Collaborative Land Use Compatibility Planning Near Airports (2019)

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61 Software transforms the data that has been developed (as described in Chapter 4) into useful information to be used to make land use compatibility decisions. It does so by presenting the data in a meaningful way and allowing users to view, query, and print that data in a manner that helps them make land use compatibility decisions. Those decisions may include the height to which a new structure near the approach end of a runway can be built, whether a home is eligible for federal noise-abatement funding, or whether a proposed construction route will impede local traffic. Software that effectively supports these decisions is an important contributor to effective land use compatibility planning. Choosing appropriate software and configuring it in the best way to meet a specific need can be challenging, given the vast array of options that exist and the rapid pace at which technologies change. Furthermore, GIS is not the only type of software used to work with spatial data near and around an airport. Airports have traditionally used CAD software for a variety of planning and design needs. Building Information Modeling (BIM) software is increasingly being used to support the design and construction of airport buildings and other facilities. Although these types of software provide additional capabilities, they have also introduced challenges to the exchange of data between various departments and stakeholders. In some cases, this has con- strained the use of GIS for land use compatibility and other needs airports have. Fortunately, vendors of GIS, CAD, and BIM software recognize this problem and are actively developing solutions to reduce the technical constraints to exchanging data between these software plat- forms. Other vendors are also offering ETL software that further supports data interoperability between these platforms. Table 16 identifies the capabilities software (whether it be GIS, CAD, BIM, or ETL) offered to address the land use impacts prioritized by this research. Capabilities that are mandatory for the effective use of GIS to support a land use impact are indicated with an “M.” Those that are desirable are indicated with a “D.” Capabilities that can be useful but are optional are indicated with an “O.” Capabilities that add little or no benefit are left blank. Software Selection Several vendors offer commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software products that deliver many if not all of the capabilities listed in Table 16. Some sell licenses that permit the use of their software on a specific computer or by a specific person (referred to as per seat) or to be shared among users within an organization (referred to as floating licenses). They may charge a one-time fee with optional annual maintenance changes or a periodic subscription fee. Some organizations feel that software should be free (referred to as open source) but may charge for support. Software may be downloaded and installed locally or available via the Internet (referred to as “the cloud”) as software as a service (SaaS). C H A P T E R 6 Software Specifications

62 Using GIS for Collaborative Land Use Compatibility Planning Near Airports SOFTWARE CAPABILITY LAND USE IMPACT Ai rc ra ft N oi se O bs tru ct io ns H az ar do us F au na Ai r Q ua lit y Su rfa ce T ra ns p. U tili tie s O pe ra tio na l S af et y N AV AI D In te rfe re nc e UA S Sa fe ty In va siv e Sp ec ie s So la r P an el s W in dm ills O il & G as E xt ra ct io n Basic capabilities are common to most commercial and open source GIS software products. Most of these basic capabilities are also available in CAD and BIM software although they may not necessarily be presented in the same manner or may require additional manual work. A constraint of CAD software is the varied manner and limited capabilities of querying and presenting attribute data. A challenge with BIM software is that features are often rendered differently than in GIS or CAD. For example, a single wall feature in BIM may consist of both wall faces and extend through multiple floors, whereas in GIS and CAD that same wall may be presented as a series of interconnected lines on one floor at a time. View Feature types – Data stored within a feature type can be viewed as a layer within a map and rendered by applying the desired symbology. Additional feature types can be added on top or below other layers to add meaningful content to the map. Individual layers can be turned on or off. Related layers can be grouped and turned on or off together. M M M M M M M M M M M M M M Scale Bar – A scale bar is displayed on or near the map to indicate the horizontal distance covered by the map at the current displayed extent. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Tabular Display – Attributes for features within a feature type can be displayed in a tabular format. Rows represent a specific feature and columns represent a specific attribute. Rows can be sorted based on ascending or descending values in cells within a column specified by the user. M M M M M M M M M M M M M M Pan – Users can slide the map in all directions to shift the view to a different geographic area. M M M M M M M M M M M M M M Zoom In – Users can select an area within the current map display that will enlarge to fill the M M M M M M M M M M M M M M C ul tu ra l & A rc ha eo lo gi ca l S ite s screen area available for the map. Zoom Out – Users can enlarge the map to display a broader area within the map display. M M M M M M M M M M M M M M Identify – Users can select a location on the map and attribute information and metadata that described features at that location will be displayed. The features identified should be selected from all layers visible when the selection was made. M M M M M M M M M M M M M M Table 16. Functional requirements for land use impact analysis.

Software Specifications 63 SOFTWARE CAPABILITY LAND USE IMPACT Ai rc ra ft N oi se O bs tru ct io ns H az ar do us F au na Ai r Q ua lit y Su rfa ce T ra ns p. U tili tie s O pe ra tio na l S af et y NA VA ID In te rfe re nc e UA S Sa fe ty In va siv e Sp ec ie s So la r P an el s W in dm ills O il & G as E xt ra ct io n Attribute Select – Users can specify values for one or more attributes to select features within a feature type that will be highlighted on the map and tabular attribute display. M M M M M M M M M M M M M M Print – Users can print to electronic or hard copy media the current map as displayed on their screen with the option of specifying a title. M M M M M M M M M M M M M M 3D capabilities are advantageous when the elevation of features is directly related to the land use compatibility decisions that need to be made, as is the case with obstruction and LoS analyses. To be effective, 3D views must render data quickly so that the user can navigate quickly without delayed screen refreshes. This often requires more memory and, in some cases, an advanced graphics card, although in some cases 3D viewing using a web application is sufficiently fast. Although visually pleasing, 3D data and capabilities can impose unnecessary financial and performance costs, where not required. 3D is therefore best applied when it provides a relevant visual perspective and additional analytic capabilities. The capabilities of modern computers have allowed GIS, CAD, and BIM vendors to expand upon their 3D offerings to the point where each offers many similar functions although those functions are typically presented to users in very different manners. 3D View – Vector data that contains valid elevation coordinates or raster data that is draped over a surface that represents ground elevation can be viewed in a non-planimetric (i.e., not straight down) perspective. D D D D D D D D Control Pitch and Yaw – The pitch (i.e., D D D D D D D D C ul tu ra l & A rc ha eo lo gi ca l S ite s vertical angle between the direction of view and the ground) and yaw (i.e., the horizontal direction of view) can be controlled by the user. Advanced capabilities enhance basic software capabilities to enable analyses required for land use compatibility decisions. GIS software is often best suited for the types of analysis required for land use compatibility planning, because it was originally developed to assimilate vast amounts of data about land resources (Aguirre, Jessica Camille, The Unlikely History of the Origins of Modern Maps, Smithsonian.com, June 2, 2014, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unlikely-history-origins- modern-maps-180951617, Last Viewed: August 14, 2018). CAD and BIM software evolved to support design and construction and includes analyses for these purposes. This is not to say that CAD and BIM cannot be used for land use compatibility analyses, but additional configuration and work may be required to do so. Spatial Select – Users can select features from a feature type that fall within, intersect, or are a specified distance from features the user previously selected from another feature type. M O M O M M M M M M O O Table 16. (Continued). (continued on next page)

64 Using GIS for Collaborative Land Use Compatibility Planning Near Airports SOFTWARE CAPABILITY LAND USE IMPACT Ai rc ra ft N oi se O bs tru ct io ns H az ar do us F au na Ai r Q ua lit y Su rfa ce T ra ns p. U tili tie s O pe ra tio na l S af et y NA VA ID In te rfe re nc e UA S Sa fe ty In va siv e Sp ec ie s So la r P an el s W in dm ills O il & G as E xt ra ct io n Buffer Analysis – An extension of the buffer analysis is the ability to select one or more features and add a specified buffer around them. These buffer polygons can then be used to query additional data. O O O M O O M M O O O O Map Annotation – Users can superimpose colored points, lines, polygons, arrows, and text of a specified font size on top of the map display. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Line-of-Sight – Areas that can be seen directly from a 3D location or feature selected by the user are visually highlighted. O O M O Surface Height and Penetration – Users can select an existing obstacle or another location of a potential obstacle to determine the height of all ObstructionIdSurface features at that location and the vertical distance between the surface and the elevation of that obstacle. M C ul tu ra l & A rc ha eo lo gi ca l S ite s Temporal Views - Display current, past, or future conditions on top of or next to one another or by advancing through time. O O O O O O O O O O Address Geocoding – Demographics, queries about a specific parcel, and inquiries from specific stakeholders often start with a street address. The ability to convert that street address to a coordinate allows the software to perform queries and analyses against data that is not tied to specific street addresses. M M O M O O O Data Integration – The real-world objects depicted in GIS, CAD, and BIM data are related to other objects by location, proximity, distance, and other spatial relationships. The ability for computers to relate these objects solely on geography is one of the powers of GIS. Linking these geographic features with other non-spatial data extends this capability to other information sources, which provides a great deal more information to users. The ability to integrate non-spatial data with spatially referenced GIS features is another important capability of GIS, CAD, and BIM software. Links to Photos – Photos help users see the condition, juxtaposition, and surroundings of features at a specific point in time. The ability to link photos with one or more features therefore enhances the capabilities of GIS software. In addition to when the photo was taken, additional metadata such as the location and direction can help interpret the results. O O O O O O O O O O O Table 16. (Continued).

Software Specifications 65 Some software is installed locally on the hard drive of a computer (referred to as thick-client). Other software operates within a web-browser. The selection of the best software sales model depends on many factors, most of which are specific to individual organizations. Available budget, existing user skills, procurement policy, and other factors should be considered. Software Configuration Many COTS software products and services can be configured to customize functionality to an organization’s needs. This configuration can range from the specification of user interface colors and the arrangement of tools that offer specific capabilities using a simple user interface to advanced enhancements using an application programming interface (API) or custom code development. The degree to which COTS are customized requires a comparison of the value organization specific customizations offer versus the cost of implementing (and maintaining) the customiza- tions. Over the past several years, several GIS vendors have recognized the value customization can offer and have developed tools to make it easier, and therefore less costly, to customize their software without the need for advanced programming skills. SOFTWARE CAPABILITY LAND USE IMPACT Ai rc ra ft N oi se O bs tru ct io ns H az ar do us F au na Ai r Q ua lit y Su rfa ce T ra ns p. U tili tie s O pe ra tio na l S af et y NA VA ID In te rfe re nc e UA S Sa fe ty In va siv e Sp ec ie s So la r P an el s W in dm ills O il & G as E xt ra ct io n Links to Documents – As with photos, electronic documents including scanned legal agreements, reports, and other information can provide a great deal of information about a feature. Linking one or more feature with one or more documents can provide users with a great deal of additional information. As with O O O O O O O O O O O O O O C ul tu ra l & A rc ha eo lo gi ca l S ite s photos, metadata such as the date and source of the document helps users decide how best to use the information. Data Exchange with Other Systems – Other information systems can provide a broad range of dynamic data about a feature. The ability to connect a GIS feature with information about that feature, which is stored in other systems creates a limitless opportunity to add to the power of a GIS. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Table 16. (Continued).