The Water Resources Bureau along with the Facilities Maintenance Bureau contracted a consultant to gather information on all water, sanitary sewer and storm drainage features owned, operated and maintained by the city of Savannah in 1998. This project was called "Utilities GIS Conversion Project". The information on each feature was gathered using Global Positioning System (GPS) and placed within a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment.
What is Global Positioning System (GPS)?
A satellite based navigational system allowing the determination of any point on the earth's surface with a high degree of accuracy given a suitable GPS receiver. The network of satellites is owned by the US Department of Defense, and as such, the accuracy of the signal is intentionally degraded for non-US military users.
What is Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping?
A computer system for capturing, storing, checking, integrating, manipulating, analyzing and displaying data related to positions on the Earth's surface. Typically, a Geographical Information System is used for preparing maps for various purposes. These might be represented as several different layers where each layer holds data about a particular kind of feature. Each feature is linked to a position on the graphical image of a map. Layers of data are organized to be studied and to perform statistical analysis.
Examples of how GIS data is used:
- Public utility planning and management
- Town planning and record management
- Environmental assessment and resource management