12/03/07 Getting the Full Picture

Getting the Full Picture. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. One picture is worth a thousand words for those who deal with Oregon agriculture, especially when that picture is a map: With the help of the computer and special software, a technique known as geographic information systems, or GIS for short, is helping the Oregon Department of Agriculture analyze data and plot the future of many of its programs. ODA's Diana Walker says more and more department staff are relying on GIS to take raw data and make a map out of it. WALKER: People are really catching on like, wow- I could use this. This would work. They've learned about it, they can appreciate it, they see its benefit, and that we need more of it. It's just trying to figure out how can we do it. GIS allows Walker and others to create multiple maps of the same geographic area, and layer those maps into what she calls a spatial picture. WALKER: Whereas before, you would have individual pieces of paper that would show you the soils, show you the aspect, show you the slope, the zoning- now in GIS, you can put all of those together as one. Thanks to GIS, many ODA programs are now getting a better read on things, whether it's identifying sensitive streams located near farms, mapping where water samples have been taken along the coast for the Shellfish Program, or being able to see where 19-thousand gypsy moth traps are placed around the state. Walker says more recent applications of GIS to ODA programs include land use, the weather, and field burning. WALKER: I think we're still looking heavily into the land use and dealing with what effect Measure 37 and 49 will have. We're starting to look at a project in dealing with the climate and making, with our meteorologist, making the maps, putting that out on the Web. We've had some stuff with field burning, where the plumes are going. A lot of it just tracking where some of our facilities are. Walker says GIS can be a critical tool in identifying farms affected by an animal disease outbreak. WALKER: If we had an outbreak, who is nearby? What farms do I have to worry about? If Joe Blow down the road has chickens and suddenly he's got the disease, avian flu, will it affect me? Am I far enough way I don't have to worry about it? That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.