GIS project maps lights, buildings, more
When Dave Cowen turns on a digital map of USC Columbia, obscure facts about the campus begin to emerge.
How many trees? 3,600. How many linear feet of sidewalks? A little more than 1.05 million. How many acres of turf? 100.
David Cowen
How many outdoor lights? OK, that one has him stumped, but not for long. When Cowen, a retired geography professor, and his two undergraduate assistants finish surveying campus exterior lighting, the location and type of every outdoor lamp will be precisely plotted. The lighting project has implications for campus safety, of course, as well as maintenance and energy efficiency.
"But the lighting survey is just one piece of a much bigger picture," said Cowen, who taught at Carolina for more than 35 years and developed a national reputation for his expertise in developing geographic information systems (GIS)—digital maps that contain multiple layers of data about any given place.
"Over the years, we've digitally mapped the locations of all the manhole covers on campus, the locations and types of trees, and so on. Now we're creating a comprehensive GIS that will include everything above ground, on the ground, and underground."