Programs and Services

Digital Geologic Mapping and GIS Lab 

Hardware and Software

Working Platforms

The Idaho Geological Survey’s mapping lab is primarily PC based. AutoCAD r14 is run in Windows NT 4.0 on Pentium machines with 128-384 megs of RAM. Files are served locally to the digitizing stations with a Windows NT server. Digitizing is done on three large format, high accuracy tablets. The survey has an antique Hewlett-Packard DraftMaster pen plotter which is used to plot line work for visual inspection. A HP 2500 InkJet plotter is available through the campus network and is used for color plots and plot-on-demand publications.

Software

The Idaho Geological Survey collects and publishes new geologic mapping data digitally. The survey’s Digital Mapping and GIS Lab digitizes geologic maps using large format digitizing tablets and Pentium PCs loaded with AutoCAD r14 and CADMAPPR, a third party geologic mapping utility. The data capture (digitizing) process is controlled and semi-automated by CADMAPPR.  When capture is complete, a copy of this database version of the map is reduced to publication scale from the Idaho State Plane Coordinate System in which it was digitized.   The map is then colorized and imported into FREEHAND as an EPS file where layout is finished.  Metadata is collected during the entire map-making process. Geologic map themes digitized in CADMAPPR/AutoCAD can be exported as SHAPE files or as ARC/INFO coverages.

Post-processing of  map data for Geographic Information Systems is accomplished with ARC/INFO (7.x for NT)   and ArcView 3.2 software.