Background and Mission

The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) was established at the University of Arkansas in September of 1991. CAST is an element of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences but has a campus-wide role with the active involvement of the Fulbright College Departments of Anthropology, Biological Sciences, and Geosciences; the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences Departments of Agronomy, Rural Sociology, and Entomology; the College of Architecture Department of Landscape Architecture; and the College of Engineering Departments of Civil Engineering and Industrial Engineering. A Board of Associate Directors, composed of representatives of various colleges, provides guidance to CAST. Dr. Thomas Graff represents Fulbright College, Dr. Don Scott represents Agriculture, and Professor Karen Hanna represents Architecture.

CAST focuses on research, undergraduate and graduate education, spatial data distribution, technology transfer, and professional education in geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), digital photogrammetry, remote sensing, and interoperability. Many of CAST’s research efforts involve new approaches to spatial data and the development of new methodologies for analysis of these data, thereby providing products to a variety of audiences. Cooperative programs developed by CAST bring together the benefits of academic research and development, the resources of state agencies, federal agencies, and the private sector to provide the state and region with effective spatial technologies, trained practitioners, and low-cost digital data.

This year, the National Center for Resource Innovations (NCRI) was reorganized and renamed the National Consortium for Rural Geospatial Innovations in America (RGIS). RGIS-Mid-South (formally know as NCRI-SW) has been an integral part of CAST since September of 1991. NCRI was established in 1990 as the result of a federal grant through the Cooperative State Research Services (CSRS), U.S. Department of Agriculture, to the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences. RGIS-Mid-South is one of eight regional centers located throughout the United States whose mission is to transfer GIS technology to state, county, and local governments. The association of RGIS with CAST has been beneficial to both. The RGIS-Mid-South mission has formed extensive ties with state, county, and local government agencies (an important segment of potential GIS users) and the resources available through CAST has greatly enhanced the RGIS teaching and public service programs. The benefits to RGIS include access to technical expertise from a number of fields, more coordinated support for expanded communications networks (both among campus departments and in the state and region), and formal agreements to share in the acquisition, accessing, and cataloging of new digital data for use in research.

RGIS Regional Offices

CAST has developed a series of strong relationships with many of the world’s leading software and hardware companies. These relationships are designed to be of mutual benefit to the companies and the University of Arkansas. All the companies involved in the Center’s research and development efforts receive valuable exposure, and each company has a specific set of activities in which it cooperates with the Center. University students and staff receive access to state-of-the-art systems, internships with world class companies, and the opportunity to cooperate in significant research. The following describes the specific agreements that the Center has with PCI Geomatics, Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems, MapInfo Corporation, Intergraph Corporation, Trimble Navigation Ltd., and other corporate sponsors.

PCI Geomatics. In May of this year, PCI Geomatics announced the signing of an agreement with CAST for joint cooperation in the areas of remote sensing and geomatics. PCI Geomatics has been developing industry leading geospatial software since 1982 and has continuously been a tireless supporter for the advanced study of remote sensing, digital photograpmmetry, GIS, cartography, and all earth sciences in academic institutions around the world. This agreement includes the establishment of a Center of Excellence in Geomatics and Remote Sensing by PCI at CAST. PCI Geomatics will provide CAST with a full range of its remote sensing and geomatics software and full software maintenance for the hardware platforms in use at the Center. As its primary contribution to this collaborative, CAST will provide a range of service-type deliverables, including review and beta testing of PCI Geomatics products, provision of externally sponsored research opportunities that will test PCI Geomatics technology, and the implementation of an internship program. Such a program would offer qualified students (undergraduate and graduate) from a wide range of disciplines (including geography, environmental dynamics, computer science, and business/commerce) the opportunity to work directly with PCI Geomatics personnel.

Oracle Corporation and Sun Microsystems. Early this year, a high-tech collaboration among CAST and two of the nation’s largest produces of computer software and hardware extended the reach of the University of Arkansas by enabling faculty and students to communicate much more easily with colleagues around the world. Oracle Corporation, the world’s leading supplier of software for information management, donated operating systems worth $580,335. Sun Microsystems, the world’s leading producer of network computing systems and creator of Java technologies, gave a four-processor server worth $237,930 to the University of Arkansas.

MapInfo Corporation. The Center is awaiting final signatures on an agreement with MapInfo Corporation of Troy, New York. Under this agreement, MapInfo Corporation will create a Center of Excellence in Mapping Applications for Decision Support. Under this grant, CAST will receive MapInfo’s complete suite of software products. In addition, a student internship program has been created. The internship program is currently underway with CAST researcher and Geosciences Graduate Student Shane Covington working with MapInfo to develop cutting-edge geospatial products for the Internet.

Sun Microsystems. Early this year, Sun Microsystems established a Center of Excellence in Distributed Computing for Spatial Applications at CAST. This center has been established to focus on a set of problem domains that include spatial data warehousing, natural resource management, placed-based decision support, enterprise applications, the development of distributed application services and support for public administration, public health, public safety, and disaster management. SUN Microsystems will contribute both service-type and product-type deliverables in support of this relationship.

Oracle Corporation. In January of 1998, Oracle Corporation announced its designation of CAST as its first Center of Excellence for Spatial Data Management. Oracle is the world’s largest developer of database management software, with annual revenues of more than

$14 billion. CAST is also a member of Oracle’s Academic Alliance Program and a founding member of Oracle’s Spatial Research Laboratory. Oracle Corporation continues to provide CAST software and technical support as part of an ongoing collaboration.

Intergraph Corporation. The Intergraph Corporation, a Fortune 500 firm and the world’s leading vendor of geographic information systems software, selected CAST as one of only four National Centers of Excellence in the Mapping and GeoSciences. As a result, CAST has to date received more than $5 million in hardware, software, and support services. In 1999, the Center received the latest releases of Intergraph’s GeoMedia software suite. GeoMedia is also being used by the Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) Program, and CAST and Intergraph cooperated in assisting this program.

Trimble Navigation Ltd. Trimble Navigation Ltd. is the world’s largest manufacturer of GPS hardware. Trimble selected CAST as one of two U.S. Centers of Excellence in Navigation and GPS. As a result of the selection, CAST has to date received more than $250,000 in Trimble hardware and software.

Other Corporate Support. CAST has received a combined total of nine million dollars in hardware and software support from vendors including Informix, Digital Equipment, Okidata Systems, Raster Graphics, and others.

CAST staff (from left to right; front to back): John Wilson, Paula Justus, Noah Minard, Snow Ballard, Karen Wagner, Fred Limp, Jim Farley, Debbie Harmon, Anne Gisiger, Heath Wallis, Sohayla Haymond, Brian Culpepper, Ken Kvamme, Jim Taulman, James Sullins, Malcolm Williamson, and Bob Harris (November 1999).

Facilities. CAST occupies ten offices, five labs and a library/reading room area in more than 6,000 square feet of Ozark Hall. The facilities include the Rural America 2000 Lab, the Advanced Projects and Interoperability Lab, the Mapping and GeoSciences Computer Lab, the Spatial Technologies Research Lab, the Multipurpose Computer Lab, and other areas. All facilities are carpeted, climate-controlled, and equipped with high quality furnishings through funding provided by Fulbright College.

Rural America 2000 Lab. Computer technologies are becoming key elements in rural America's county and local governments. These computer systems will be used to maintain tax records, plan community development, and respond to federal environmental regulations. They will be a critical element in almost all local governmental actions. In the same period, USDA farm service agencies (FSA, FmHA, and NRCS) will also be developing similar capabilities to aid in their missions. It is clear that local and rural governments and these farm service agencies could benefit from cooperation in the area of GIS technologies. The Rural America 2000 laboratory is a model facility that provides a working example, today, of what such a cooperative facility might look like by the end of this decade. It is designed to provide local governmental units, the Cooperative Extension Service, and USDA units an opportunity to participate in cooperative projects in a state-of-the-art facility similar to the ones that will be widely available in the next few years. The system has both UNIX and NT systems and a wide range of peripherals including two 36-inch ink-jet plotters, and color dye-sublimation and black and white printers.

Advanced Projects and Interoperability Lab. This lab features some of the highest performance computing systems currently available. These systems are used for state-of-the-art research and to provide a test-bed environment for demonstration of the Open Geodata Interoperability Specification (OGIS) software. OGIS is a developing international software specification that allows software from different vendors to easily access data from other vendors and from a variety of federal and other sources. In addition to the OGIS effort, this facility is used for a variety of other research efforts such as softbench (digital) photogrammetry. In softbench photogrammetry, aerial photography or other stereo photography is digitally converted to a digital elevation model (DEM). In a DEM, individual elevation values are computed for the entire surface of the photo. The system also allows the extraction of feature data from a stereo photo, for example, the height of a building or the route of a highway. These data can then be used in geographic information systems, for maps, other planning, and engineering purposes. In addition to the traditional uses for such photography, the photogrammetry systems are being used in other research projects to document detailed features of human bones and the characteristics of prehistoric pottery and stone tools. Other systems include digital video, extensive remote sensing capabilities, 3D visualization hardware, and large NT server.

Mapping and GeoSciences Computer Lab. The Mapping and Geosciences Laboratory provides a facility for undergraduate and graduate education as well as professional short-courses, demos, workshops, etc. The facility consists of 12 workstations in a classroom configuration. The lab also includes an NT based server, a dual-headed digitizer, a 36-inch scanner, and black and white and color output devices.

Spatial Technologies Research Lab. This facility is a general-purpose laboratory housing a number of CAST researchers and graduate students. A range of computer platforms (both UNIX and NT) are available, as are high performance graphics workstations, flat-bed color scanners, and a wide range of GIS and remote sensing software is available in the laboratory.

Multipurpose Computer Lab. This lab provides access to a number of different computer hardware and software systems for purposes of student access and professional courses. The particular configuration and systems available are flexible and dependent on current training and educational needs, but include UNIX and NT systems, digitizers, dye-sublimation, and electrostatic printers.

Equipment. The Center is equipped with 40 NT and 5 UNIX high performance workstations and 6 large multiprocessor servers on a fast (100MB/s) ethernet network. CAST has more than a terabyte of online disk storage with additional optical and tape juke-boxes and a full range of tape drives and CD-ROM systems. There is a full complement of peripherals including dual-headed digitizers, scanners, large format (up to E-sized) color and black and white plotters and printers.

Network Upgrades. The Center is one of the highest consumers of network bandwidth on campus with our remote sensing and GIS applications that often incorporate disk files that exceed one gigabyte in capacity. For several years, our aging computer network infrastructure has impeded progress in many areas. We were fortunate to receive National Science Foundation funds from the Dean of the University of Arkansas Graduate School that enabled us to completely rework the network infrastructure in all of the Center's facilities. Last year, each desktop was rewired with class-5 cabling that will enable internal transmission speeds of up to 1 gigabit. Working in conjunction with Craig Brown, Director of Network Services at the University of Arkansas Computer Services Department, we were able to obtain high capacity network cards and switches that support high speeds and the delivery of complex data (voice, video, and data) over a single connection. These new Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) capabilities open the door for video conferencing and improved distance learning from the Center's facilities. In addition, with new access to the Internet II community that has come on line this past year, Center researchers can now acquire and share data with colleagues at other Internet II sites at speeds up to 145 megabits per second.