Projects and Activities 2023

Executive Summary

The West Virginia GIS Technical Center, located in the Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, provides focus, direction, statewide coordination, and leadership to users of geographic information systems (GIS), digital mapping and remote sensing within the state of West Virginia. The Center was established by Executive Order 4-93 to provide coordination and technical support in the development and operation of geographic information systems (GIS) for the state. Statewide geospatial activities are coordinated through the WV Office of GIS Coordination, WV Geological and Economic Survey.

The Center plays a crucial role in not only serving critical spatial data to state users but in updating and integrating local geospatial data within state and national geospatial databases. These data layers are utilized by state agencies, communities, and the general public for applications that include emergency response, risk assessments, economic development, energy resource exploitation and management, transportation, natural resources, community planning, tax assessments, and health studies. This past year the Center focused on the development of the geospatial data layers listed below to enhance the State’s Spatial Data Infrastructure. The continued development and publishing of GIS layers through the state clearinghouse node hosted by the Center supports the Mineral Lands Mapping Program and other vital programs in the State that depend on current and accurate mapping layers.

Continued application and web programming assistance was provided for state and federal agencies in support of West Virginia and its citizens. These applications support multiple state agencies via egovernance solutions to meet their regulatory and information exchange requirements. (Table 1). This past year, for example, the Center modernized the trail inventory application which displays over 9,000 miles of land and water trials for West Virginia. Additionally, during this fiscal year, the Center modernized desktop applications for the WV Property Viewer, WV Flood Tool, WV Interagency Tool, WV Wetlands Functional Assessment Tool, WV Trail Inventory Viewer, and WV Elevation Download Tool. The Center also supported federal initiatives for the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory (www.mseel.org) and terrestrial biosphere carbon (www.carbonscapes.org).

A core mission of the WV GIS Technical Center is to provide a mechanism to distribute GIS data and products to the public. Two portals serve the means for achieving this goal – MapWV.gov and the WV GIS State Clearinghouse. The WV GIS State Clearinghouse (https://wvgis.wvu.edu) catalogs over 300 unique datasets and 120 web services valued at more than $70 million dollars. MapWV.gov (https://mapwv.gov) provides the public accessible gateway to the wealth of GIS data available in the Clearinghouse. The WVGISTC currently provides over 197 TB of storage space in a virtualized environment configured to maximize availability and access. To continue this mission, the WVGISTC has invested considerably to expand and update this environment with new equipment and capabilities.

This past year the WV GIS Technical Center continued to assist the WV Geospatial Community with advisory, training, and outreach services. These services are coordinated with the WV Office of GIS Coordination and WV Association of Geospatial Professionals.

Download Full Report Documents:

• Full 2023 Report (PDF)

Past Annual Report Documents

• FY2022 Report
• FY2021 Report
• FY2020 Report
• FY2019 Report
• FY2018 Report
• FY2017 Report
• FY2016 Report
• FY2012 Report
• FY2011 Report
• FY2010 Report
• FY2009 Report
• FY2008 Report
• FY2007 Report