Warnell GIS and Spatial Analysis

GIFF is a server containing geographic information for forestry and natural resources courses. Professional natural resource managers must apply advanced spatial technologies, including geographic information systems, remotely sensed imagery, and global positioning systems, to develop plans and address complex research questions for sustainable land management. GIFF was developed to enhance the faculty's ability to teach these technologies by better integrating them across multiple courses in the forest resources curriculum through the development of a centralized spatial data archive and knowledge base. This technology infrastructure streamlines the interface between instructors, students, and the application software, allowing for a greater focus on creative application of the tools, and the development of problem-solving skills. GIFF contains spatial datasets commonly used in the natural resources profession, including vegetation maps, digital elevation models, and digital orthophotographs. However it also contains a variety of other types of data that are potentially relevant to land management, including county roads and hydrologic features. These GIS databases will range in scale from coarse regional and national datasets appropriate for large-area resource assessments, to more detailed localized datasets suitable for developing land management plans on individual properties.