Westchester County GIS staff providedcritical GIS mapping support to emer-gency responders, government agencies,utilities, and human service organizationsduring Superstorm Sandy. From Oct. 29 –Nov. 9, 2012, GIS staff were on site or oncall 24/7 at the County’s EmergencyOperations Center (EOC) in Hawthornewhere essential countywide emergencyresponse activities are coordinated.

In advance of the storm, the GIS home-page http://giswww.westchestergov.comreminded county residents to use the‘Hurricane Zone Finder’ component ofMapping Westchester County. The appli-cation locates an address relative to hurri-cane evacuation zones, encourages usersto monitor weather reports, and provides alink to the county’s emergency prepared-ness page.

In 12-hour shifts throughout the crisis,

GIS staff prepared data and maps includ-ing the locations of nursing homes andcritical care facilities operating on gener-ator power, hurricane storm surge zones,temporary shelters, evacuation popula-tion counts, American Red Cross shelters,gas station openings/closures, road clo-sures, traffic signal outages, damageassessments and power outages by munic-ipality, polling (election) places runningon generators, and the status of publicwater and wastewater treatment systems.

In the months since the storm, bothFEMA and NOAA’s Coastal ServicesCenter, in conjunction with the NYDepartment of State, have updated coastalinundation risk maps. Both agencies havemade the new data available as map ser-vices which can be used in GIS viewers.The new FEMA Advisory Base FloodElevation (ABFE) data represents updated

coastal areas at 1% and 0.2% annual riskof flooding – commonly called ‘100 and500-year flood plains.’ But for the firsttime, using direct observations of theeffects of Sandy, FEMA also delineatedareas that may be subject to moderate (1.5to 3 feet), or high velocity (over 3 feet)combined surge and wave action. Forthese potentially wave-exposed areas,FEMA provided advisories for the heightabove mean sea level for finished floors inany buildings located there. ABFE dataare provided as a guide, and communitiesmay consider adopting them, to reduceimpacts of similar events in the future.For Westchester, ABFE values rangebetween 9 and 31 feet. Analysis showsover 3,400 buildings are located in or par-tially within these advisory areas.

For more information, contact Ilir Tota atiat2@westchestergov.com.

Volume 17, Number 1 Spring 2013

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

313 Michaelian Office Building

148 Martine Avenue

White Plains, NY 10601

Articles and graphics in this newsletter prepared by: Xiaobo Cui, Paul Gisondo, Ana Hiraldo-Gomez, Connor Lynch, Deborah Parker, Dongming Tang, Ilir Tota, Sam Wear, and Zhenglu Zhang.

http://giswww.westchestergov.comWestchester County GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

is published by the Westchester County Department of Information Technology

Robert P. Astorino, County Executive

Robert P. AstorinoCounty Executive

John B. McCaffreyChief Information Officer

Sam WearAssistant Chief Information Officer (GIS)

Department of Information TechnologyGeographic Information Systems

John B. McCaffrey, Chief Information Officer

Geospatial Support for Superstorm SandyGeospatial Support for Superstorm SandyPost-Storm analysis includes development of new datasets

GIS Data Viewers for EveryoneGIS Data Viewers for Everyone

In addition to updated coastal flood risk zones (annual risk of 1% - light orange, and 0.2% - yellow),the new FEMA ABFE datasets describe areas at risk of combined surge and wave action. Greenareas may be exposed to waves between 1.5 and 3 feet (moderate wave action); dark orange areasmay experience high-velocity waves over three feet.

User Group Meeting User Group Meeting May 16, 2013May 16, 2013

SUNY PurchaseSUNY Purchase8:30 a.m.– 5 p.m.8:30 a.m.– 5 p.m.

The annual Westchester GIS UserGroup will once again be held on thecampus of SUNY Purchase . The day-long event will feature presentationsfrom government, industry, and acade-mia. The program also includesLightning Talks at lunch time andfocused workshops in the afternoon.

Join us for the largest annual meeting ofgeospatial professionals in the LowerHudson Valley.

Program and registration (which is free)information is available on our websiteat: http://giswww.westchestergov.comData viewers such as the latest version of ArcGIS Explorer (Build 2500) are excellent entry-level GIS

software programs. The latest version of desktop ArcGIS Explorer client enables users to mash-upa variety of data formats including KML files (Google), ESRI shapefiles, raster datasets, and web ser-vices.

or live web services being published any-where on the Internet.

The Google Earth viewer is popular due toits large user base, easy user interface, andperformance. There are many online exam-ples of Google Earth-based GIS mappingprograms and training exercises which canbe identified by using the Google searchengine. Google Earth users can access awide range of Westchester County GIS datalayers from the Data Warehouse found on theCounty GIS website at http://giswww.westch-estergov.com. (County datasets are availableas Google Earth KML files which have been“zipped” as KMZ files and available fordownload.) The ArcGIS Explorer client is arobust viewer with many added functionsand can also access live map services fromthe county. The latest version of the soft-ware (Build 2500) lets users switch between2D and 3D display, email maps and layersdirectly from the application, and contains apopular feature of creating and communi-cating with PowerPoint-type presentations.Before downloading any of the clients,users should check system requirements(processor, RAM, video cards, etc.) for theindividual software package.

For more information on these and othergeospatial viewing clients, contact SamWear at stw1@westchestergov.com.

The growing availability of geospatial datahas been augmented by a variety of free,easy-to-use geospatial ‘viewers’ which canbe used by individuals with limited or no GIStraining. Two of the more popular viewingclients which can easily make use of

Westchester County GIS data are ArcGISExplorer (http://www.esri.com/software/arc-gis/explorer) and the Google Earth client(http://www.google.com/earth/index.html).Both clients allow users to “mash-up” varioussources of content whether it be local datasets

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ASMI Update ASMI Update For the past several years, the CountyDepartment of Environmental Facilities(DEF) has utilized the Automated SewerManhole Inspection (ASMI) desktop appli-cation to manage sanitary sewer system dataand related inspection information. Theprogram is currently based on earlier ver-sions of ArcGIS (9.3) and must be migratedto the ArcGIS 10.X platform. County GISstaff are now working to convert the tools totwo browser-based applications: (1) a serv-er-based viewer which supports DEF Call-Before-You-Dig functions and (2) anArcGIS server application which supportsmaintenance and inspection data for bothmanhole and sewer line datasets. Theseapplications are expected to replace theexisting ASMI applications providingexpanded access to increased DEF informa-tion stored as GIS files and videos. Formore information, contact Dongming Tangat dqt3@westchestergov.com

Tax Parcel ViewerTax Parcel ViewerWestchester County GIS continues addingnew features and updating datasets to theonline Municipal Tax Parcel Viewer appli-cation. Based on the last major upgrades toboth ArcGIS Server 10 and the newJavaScript API, several enhancements havebeen made to the viewer including: 1)Integration of more than six thousand prop-erty cards to the City of Peekskill viewer,2) Optional access to County historic airphotos, and 3) adding updated 2012 taxparcel data for the City of White Plains andTown of North Castle. For a full list of theavailable municipalities and the new fea-tures, visit the tax parcel viewer link on theCounty GIS website. For more informa-tion, contact Connor Lynch at (914) 995-6532 or Zhenglu Zhang at (914) 995-5347.

Hunter College Visits GISHunter College Visits GISOn Feb. 21, graduate students from theHunter College Geography Department(http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/) visitedWestchester County GIS for a tour of theGIS office and to attend a presentation.The visit was arranged by Professor JochenAlbrecht, who is currently teaching thegraduate course titled GIS in Metro NewYork. The course includes student site vis-its to major public, non-profit and privateorganizations practicing state-of-the-art GISin the metro-NYC area. The students joineddiscussion with GIS staff on issues such asGIS operational management, educationalrequirements, and geospatial data and appli-cation development. County GIS staff gavepresentations focusing on the developmentof an enterprise program, spatial data infra-structure policies, and integrating geospatialdata into county business programs.

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Mapping Westchester County Updates Mapping Westchester County Updates Portal now includes live map services from FEMA and NOAA

Yonkers GIS Shared ServicesYonkers GIS Shared ServicesWestchester County GIS has recently enteredinto a formal agreement with the City ofYonkers supporting three strategic govern-ment programs, one of which is GeographicInformation Systems. The initiative wasspearheaded by County Executive Robert P.Astorino and Mayor Mike Spano. As part ofthe Shared Services agreement, County GISstaff will be assisting in building geospatialcapacity in the city. Specific functions willinclude overseeing a GIS SteeringCommittee, making recommendations onhardware and software products, vendor andconsultant selection support, priority applica-tions, identifying areas where the City canleverage the county’s existing GIS infrastruc-ture, and providing budgetary estimates oninitial implementation phases. For moreinformation, contact Sam Wear at (914) 995-3047 or stw1@westchestergov.com.

2013 Base Map2013 Base MapAt the completion of a lengthy competitivebid process, Westchester County has contract-ed with IIC Technologies, Inc. (www.iictech-nologies.com) for Spring 2013 aerial photog-raphy which will provide the basis for the firstcomprehensive countywide planimetricupdate since 2004. Image products to beacquired include half-foot-resolution digitalorthophotos and stereo images. The newimagery will be used to support the updatingof planimetric datasets including buildingfootprints, edge-of-pavement (includingstreet centerlines), sidewalks, parking lots,bridges, and other physical features. Basemap products form the foundation of dozensof applications in emergency response, publicsafety, public health, infrastructure manage-ment, land use planning, transportation, natur-al resource management, and tax mapping.For more information contact Deb Parker atdape@westchestergov.com or (914) 995-3888.

Municipal Zoning MapsMunicipal Zoning MapsIn cooperation with the County Departmentof Planning, GIS is working to update anddigitize current municipal zoning districtboundaries to be consistent with tax parcelboundaries and/or road centerlines. Thiseffort supports local government by provid-ing accurate and up-to-date GIS data layersof local zoning districts. Local officials aredirectly involved with reviewing draft maps,and are provided with both GIS files andhard-copy zoning maps when complete.Over the last several months, GIS updatedzoning data for Ardsley, Briarcliff Manor,Irvington, the Town of Mamaroneck, MountPleasant, the Village of Ossining, Peekskill,the City of Rye, Sleepy Hollow, andTuckahoe. The effort is expected to be com-pleted by the end of 2013. For more informa-tion, contact Paul Gisondo, Department ofPlanning at pxg3@westchestergov.com.

The Mapping Westchester County application now includes National Oceanographic and Atmospheric(NOAA) Coastal Inundation Hazards map services. These new map services can be viewed together withother relevant coastal datasets such as floodplains, wetlands, topography and hurricane evacuation zones.

Mapping Westchester County (MWC) isthe County’s primary public-facing GISapplication, providing citizens with a vari-ety of geospatially related datasets andmap services. Recent work on the applica-tion has focused on providing dynamicaccess to live map services published fromoutside sources, to the MWC viewer.

There are significant advantages of usingmap services. First, the data is consumedby an authoritative source using the pub-lishing agency’s symbology and labeling.Also, the content can be used without hav-ing to acquire and locally maintain a phys-ical copy of data.

The first two map services added to theMWC viewer are (1) Advisory Base FloodElevations (ABFEs) from the FederalEmergency Management Agency(FEMA), and (2) Coastal InundationHazards from the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA)Coastal Services Center. These new mapservices can be viewed by clicking on thenew Switch Basemap icon in the viewertoolbar.

Another new map service is a countyDigital Surface Model. This service canalso be chosen as an alternate base mapand is shown with a shadow or ‘hillshade’which renders in three dimensions. Thismap service, which is published by the

county, lets users view both natural anddeveloped terrain and is often very usefulin viewshed analysis. Though not directlyintegrated into MWC, the county also pub-lishes and makes available a DigitalElevation (‘bare earth’) Model which canalso be consumed as a map service.

Other recent updates for MWC include:

• Aerial photography from both2000 and 2010 are now available.(Note: 2000 imagery is one-half-footresolution while the 2010 imagery isone-meter resolution.)• 14 datasets from the

Environmental Protection Agency cannow be explored and/or downloadedfrom the application. • Petroleum Bulk Storage and

Septic Tank Location data layers havebeen integrated into the application aswell as the Village of Elmsford’s zon-ing district map.• Selected data layers in the

‘Livable Community’ module havebeen modified. • GIS databases supporting MWC

have been recently upgraded toArcSDE 10 with Oracle11g.

Users can access Mapping WestchesterCounty at the GIS homepage. ContactXiaobo Cui xxc1@westchestergov.com formore information.

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To date, the focus of MS4 mapping for local governments has been on outfalls, catch basins, andrelated storm water system features such as swales. The MS4 regulatory program also requires gov-ernments to inspect features on a regular basis. Westchester County government has MS4 stormwater requirements too as it relates to county roads, parks, and other facilities.

Municipal Geospatial Programs and ActivitiesMunicipal Geospatial Programs and ActivitiesCounty GIS Products and Services used in many systems

MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm SewerSystems) feature mapping and data collec-tion continues to be a major focus for sev-eral local governments. Two local govern-ment consortiums (one covering theCroton-Kensico Watershed municipalitiesand another consisting of 18 municipali-ties mostly in southern WestchesterCounty) have completed or are nearlycomplete in the mapping of outfalls, catchbasins, drainage manholes and relatedstorm water conveyance system features.

Bowne Management Systems, DolphRotfeld Engineering and Merritts GIS areleading data collection efforts for thesouthern consortium while OnsiteEngineering coordinated efforts for north-ern Westchester County communities.County GIS is leading the effort to nor-malize attributes associated with the spa-tial datasets which will help support nextstages of the MS4 regulatory programincluding in-field inspections, feature edit-ing and report generation. The businessprocess and work flow is identical for allmunicipalities, including WestchesterCounty’s own obligations under the MS4program.

GIS meetings have recently been held withseveral municipalities including NorthSalem, Somers, Yorktown, Ossining(T/V), Buchanan, Elmsford, Peekskill,Pound Ridge, and the Village of

Mamaroneck. Integration of county GISdata into a wide range of local governmentsoftware programs in the areas of inspec-tions and permit processing, assessment,building and code enforcement, and fireand police has been discussed with manymunicipalities.

County GIS staff recently completed avery successful program with the Villageof Mamaroneck providing assistance andtechnical support to a village GIS internwho was responsible for consolidated andorganizing both local and county GISdatasets. Much of the work was conduct-ed in the County’s GIS offices.

Since the fall, GIS staff has also met withthe Town of Rye, Larchmont, Croton-on-Hudson and the Mohegan Lake fire depart-ments to further the collection of firehydrants in individual districts. The loca-tion of fire hydrants are ultimately inte-grated and made available in the County’sE911 system. County GIS datasets andsupport has also been requested as part ofthe development of two municipal HazardMitigation Plans (Villages of SleepyHollow and Larchmont).

For more information on local governmentactivities, contact Sam Wear atstw1@westchestergov.com or ConnorLynch at cql3@westchestergov.com.