Eglin Air Force Base, United States

Eglin Air Force Base implements geospatial infrastructure management solution

air force The Challenge:

One of the largest air force bases in the world, Eglin employs approximately 20,000 people. The vision shared by GIS personnel was to implement a geospatial database that military and civilian employees could use across all functional areas and missions.

The Project Objectives:

Integrate electronic base and range maps, images, and attribute data
Support daily operations
Provide tools for informed decision making

The Solution:

Factors such as ease-of-use, open architecture, and interoperability influenced Eglin AFB to choose Intergraph’s GeoMedia as the primary technology for the Eglin Enterprise Spatial Database (EESD). In addition, Intergraph offered fast installment, customer support, and competitive cost. All of these factors contribute to the expected return on investment.

A centralized spatial database, EESD contains all data needed for Eglin’s geospatial infrastructure management needs. Tiers of users have been identified, each requiring various applications and levels of use, from development, to analysis, to simple map making and review. GeoMedia Professional is the development and maintenance software for the high-end users in the Environmental Management and Test Wing offices, and GeoMedia WebMap publishes the GIS data throughout the base. Intergraph provides on- and off-site development and implementation services for the Environmental Management Directorate.

With the new system, Eglin AFB can provide its constituents with the tools and information to reduce production time when preparing reports, establishing mission plans, performing spatial analyses, and building and delivering required map and GIS products. Costs are also reduced by automating procedures, such as obtaining environmental assessments and permits to dig, and by publishing geospatial and graphical information via the Web.

The EESD manages vector, raster, and attribute data. Eglin has been portrayed as a data-rich organization, developing thousands of individual features (vector), hundreds of Gigabytes of aerial photography and satellite imagery (raster), and volumes of tables in the Oracle Spatial database (attributes). The Air Force community perceives Eglin as a leader in using GIS applications, and the EESD is a benchmark for other bases that are establishing GIS projects.

The 46th Test Wing, the Environmental Management Directorate, and the Civil Engineering organization are the primary contributors of geospatial data to the EESD. They are also the primary consumers of the data; however, GeoMedia WebMap Professional gives the entire base population access to the enterprise spatial database.

Several units on Eglin AFB are stewards of the GIS application. The Environmental Management, Civil Engineering, Natural Resources, and Range Environmental Planning offices share the strategic focus to sustain the Eglin cantonment (billeting) areas and test ranges by balancing the long-term needs of the mission, the environment, and the region. The new system enables them to meet these goals by integrating electronic base and range maps, images, and attribute data; supporting daily operations; and assisting in informed decision making.

The Eglin Geographic Information Office includes representatives from each unit that has a stake in managing geospatial data and information. All of the 20,000 people employed at the base have access to the geospatial data via the Web-based system, and several hundred are actively using the information on a daily basis. In addition, other Air Force and Department of Defense units across the country have special permission to tunnel through the Eglin network and firewall to use the Web Mapping application.

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