Geographic Information Systems Laboratory

The Natural Resources Geographic Informational Systems (NRGIS) laboratory was established in 1988 through a National Science Foundation grant and matching funds from the University of Minnesota.

The NRGIS laboratory's goals are to:

1. provide NRRI and other university researchers with access to advanced GIS methods for applied and basic natural resources research,
2. derive new research methods in spatial analyses, and
3. to serve data to public and private agencies to fulfill public research and education needs.

The lab uses Windows 2000 and Windows XP Pro based PC's to run GIS, remote sensing, and statistical software, including ArcGIS Arc/INFO, ARCView, Erdas IMAGINE, GRASS, and S-Plus. Input devices include digitizing tables, color scanner, film recorder, and GPS receivers. Output devices include large format (13"x19") inkjet and standard size color laser printers. The GIS lab also has the capability to print to NRRI's large format (54" wide carriage) Hewlett Packard Design Jet 3500 Color Inkjet printer. The facility is fully networked, both internally with fast ethernet connections and worldwide via the University of Minnesota's computing network. The facility maintains and servs a broad range of spatial databases for the Great Lakes region, including land use, rivers and lakes, forest cover, soils and geology.