AG GISv3

Overview • Details • Q&A • Links • Downloads

AgGIS v.3 is a new application for managing agricultural restricted materials use permits. It integrates desktop GIS functionality with an SQL database and a simple user interface designed to efficiently manipulate the maps, images, data and information layers needed for the issuance and management of agricultural pesticide use permits and reports by County Agricultural Commissioners, ag-biologists and support staff.

Mike Quinn, with the Merced County Department of Agriculture, studied DPR's existing RMPP database extensively, resulting in his DbTt5 and permit6 database design which incorporates many new data types including time, allowing querying of a permit history.

Building on this existing work, Pat Way working under a PRISM grant awarded to the Glenn County Department of Agriculture, has translated this core database architecture and extended it into a GIS enabled permitting database application. AgGIS v.3 employs a variety of open source tools, allowing for customization not possible with proprietary software while simultaneously increasing value.

AgGIS v.3 is designed to help counties efficiently and reliably facilitate DPR's requirements for site-specific permit evaluation for restricted materials use in addition to tracking all locally licensed applicators, pilots, advisors, dealers, gardeners, farm labor contractors, their respective employees and supervisors in addition to providing a conduit for California's full pesticide use reporting.

Development Status...

• The Northern Region and Sacramento Valley Users Group has scheduled a hands on training session with Mike Quinn and Pat Way for their respective applications for March 14, 2007 in Yuba City.
  
  
• Beta testing is set to start in Glenn County beginning with importing data and digitizing field borders. This will introduce users to the application interface and utilities plus provide valuable feedback to be incorporated into the design and documentation of the application.
  
  
• In December we picked up our 2.5 TB hard drive loaded with the complete California set of NAIP 1m resolution aerial images, provided courtesy of the State of California Resources Agency. Even with this large hard drive it still took nearly five working days to upload the entire image set.
  
  
• December releases of both GeoTools and PostGIS provided the needed software tools needed to process the new images. These open source tools offer customized geo-spatial database performance and security combined with no license fees.
  
  
• After the receiving these new images the development work focused on image processing performance on the desktop. As a result, the images are tiled into a pyramid of resolutions so they load fast when navigating the image layer.
  
  
• The next development step, largely complete, dealt with the editing of GIS polygons needed to maintain a field borders database.
  
  
• The next principal technical goals include refining the mapping tools, building the growers/qualified persons contacts interface used for issuing and tracking permits, generating a permit, setting up a Beta test server, initially with the same configuration employed by Mike Quinn then testing automated CEDTS functionality.

For more information, questions or suggestions regarding the AgGIS v.3 application or website please contact: Kenneth Polson