Geospatial Information Office

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About the GIO

Effective January 1, 2008, the California Resources Agency established the Geospatial Information Office (GIO) in recognition of the growing importance of geospatial data and technologies to its constituent departments, conservancies, boards and commissions and their partners. The GIO works to coordinate geospatial investments among these entities so that they may efficiently deliver more effective public services.

The GIO is comprised of three positions: a Director, an Agency Geospatial Data Coordinator and an Agency Geospatial Applications Coordinator. Information technology support is provided by the CERES program.

Vision: Working together to plan, develop, acquire, maintain and share geospatial resources to conserve natural resources, protect public health, safety and property, and to promote a quality environment and a vibrant economy.

Mission: The mission of the Resources Agency's Geospatial Information Office is to lead and coordinate the development, licensing and sharing of geospatial data by Resource Agency organizations and partners. The GIO will work with the California GIS Council and the broader California geospatial community to define the data architecture, systems, standards, licensing and processes that comprise a fully integrated California Spatial Data Infrastructure.

About CERES

The California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES) is an information system developed by the California Resources Agency to facilitate access to a variety of electronic data describing California's rich and diverse environments.

The goal of CERES is to improve environmental analysis and planning by integrating natural and cultural resource information from multiple contributors and by making it available and useful to a wide variety of users. CERES collects and integrates data and information and distributes it via the World Wide Web, tapping into important information sources and contributing to advances in the science of data management and metadata cataloging by encouraging cooperation among governmental, educational, and private groups.

CERES focuses on three related components: technology, data, and community. The first, technology, includes the development of new software and network structures to accommodate the search and retrieval, organization, and accessibility demands associated with huge volumes of data in a wide range of forms. The second, data, encompasses the conversion of vast quantities of information into digital form as well as the evaluation of existing digital data sets and the development of metadata catalogs required searching and data-quality and appropriate use assessment. The third, community, contains CERES' efforts to promote the use of the network for planning and policy and to foster the growth of new users and contributors in a far-reaching web of affiliations.

CERES also coordinates focused applications to support well-defined natural resource management activities and to supply the public with critical and timely information.

About the CERES Websites

Environmental Education

http://ceres.ca.gov/education

CERES' on-line environmental education web outlines such diverse curricula areas as Natural and Social Sciences, English and Language Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, and Mathematics for students and teachers. Primary and secondary sources that focus on California environmental education present data, links to other webs, research, lessons plans, and virtual trips.

Land Use Planning Information Network(LUPIN)

http://ceres.ca.gov/planning

CERES' Land Use Planning Information Network (LUPIN) provides an aggregate view of California's land use and environmental planning information including county general plans, environmental assessment documents, and relate information. Its goal is to formulate and implement an information network to address the needs of land use planners. LUPIN seeks to facilitate better informed decisions about land use, resource conservation, and ecosystem management, and enables Californians to identify and assess the cumulative environmental impact of planning decisions.

LUPIN offers planners, local and regional governments, developers, conservationists, landowners, and others across California unprecedented access to essential land use planning information, providing planning documents, reports and publications, legal and regulatory information, and other essential data. LUPIN also designs individualized pages for each of California's 58 counties providing a single point of access to a library of information including county profiles as well as economic and demographic information, data about species, habitat and vegetation types, infrastructure, planning reports and publications from state and federal agencies, and environmental laws.

California Watershed Browser

http://cwp.resources.ca.gov/browser/

California Wetlands Information System

http://ceres.ca.gov/wetlands

The California Wetlands Information System was designed by the Resources Agency as part of the CERES program to provide comprehensive wetlands information to the general public, the educational community, and government agencies. It is a compilation of public and private sector information, including maps, environmental documents, agency roles in wetlands management, restoration and mitigation activities, regulatory permitting, and wetland policies. This addresses the Governor's wetlands policy which calls for increasing the quality and quantity of wetland habitats through cooperative partnerships with the public and private sector. The Wetlands Information System assists in this effort by providing mapping and resource information on wetlands for local planning efforts as well as providing detailed permitting information to effected land owners. In addition, this information system tracks the wetlands gains and losses along with providing details on restoration and mitigation projects that have been completed.

California Environmental Keyword Thesaurus

http://ceres.ca.gov/thesaurus

CERES, in partnership with the USGS National Biological Information Infrastructure, is developing a thematic thesaurus for use in cataloging and searching for environmental information. Browsing and searching software and a thesaurus-database networking specification are being developed which will make it possible to allow users to locate and utilize controlled vocabulary terms from mulitple networked thesaurus databases, including the USGS's Integrated Texanomic Information System of species names (ITIS). The CERES/BRD thesaurus, the software, and specifications for networking thesauri will be made available for use by other information cataloging and retrieval programs.