The City of Baltimore, Department of Public Works hired KCI to produce 0.25’ resolution digital orthophoto imagery, 1”=40’ planimetric and topographic data, and update the City’s Cadastral GIS.  The following is an outline of the specific tasks involved in the project:

Project Administration.  KCI created a project work plan, completed monthly progress and billing statements and created an efficient workflow process for the data that was transmitted between all team members and the City.  Industry standard metadata was created for all data that was delivered and numerous technical and administrative project documents were prepared.

Open Channel Database Design.  The existing open channel database design was analyzed and refined by KCI.  Many technical issues were reviewed in this process including Rosgen parameters, hydraulic analysis requirements, and open channel feature segmentation.  Culverts were integrated into the existing storm water database and KCI created an addendum to document these changes in the City's storm water data model.

Geodetic Control Survey.  A geodetic control network was created through the extensive use of GPS surveying techniques.  All procedures followed the established FGCC survey guidelines.  Existing control points were reviewed for usefulness and where appropriate new monuments were set.  Daily least squares adjustments were calculated and accuracy was held to FGGS requirements.  Orthometric Heights were estimated and existing horizontal control points were analyzed for quality control.  The City received a GPS Survey report that included all analysis and review that was done for the project as well as station diagrams for the monuments.

Aerial Photography.  KCI Technologies prepared flight plans, performed geodetic control, and aerial triangulation to produce high precision color aerial photographs of the City of Baltimore.  The photographs also covered city owned facilities outside the City limits at a scale of 1”=600’.  To provide stereoscopic coverage for compilation of planimetrics and topographic data, the photography had a 60% forward overlap and a 30% sidelap between exposures in adjacent flight lines.

Digital Orthophotography.  Orthophotography images were produced by scanning the controlled set of color aerial photographs.  Each image was resected to simulate its position in space at the time of exposure.  A digital terrain model was applied to the raster file to differentially rectify the image to eliminate distortion.  All buildings greater than 40’ were rectified to true orthophotographic standards to eliminate building lean.  Final imagery was structured and formatted into a seamless, tiled image database in GeoTIF format.

Photogrammetric Mapping.  Planimetric and topographic features were stereocompiled from the aerial photographs.  Each map feature was digitized and assigned a unique feature code.  Following compilation, automated software routines were utilized to process the data for GIS topology and edgemapping.

ESRI Data Model Conversion.  KCI translated the City's existing ArcInfo coverages into the ESRI geodatabase model.  This allowed for an Oracle SDE geodatabase to be the primary database for this project.  The conversion process was documented for the City and an updated data dictionary was created.

Street Centerline Conflation.  The linear geometry in the City’s E911 street centerline file were converted into an ArcInfo coverage and validated in ArcInfo to ensure overall topological integrity.

Cadastral Data Conversion and Updating.  KCI used planimetric evidence, along with dimensional information from source mapping to digitally adjust the linework for a subset of 300,000 parcels in the City’s GIS database.  The graphic adjustments began on a block-by-block basis to remove the largest anomalies first.  As needed, adjustments were also done on a parcel-by-parcel basis.  KCI also converted cadastral data for approximately 990 new parcels and updated linework on approximately 1,600 parcels based upon lot splits and ownership changes.

Stream Centerline Creation.  A stream centerline database was developed.  This database was segmented into 100-square foot segments as defined by the City.  Each of the segments was attributed and feature linked annotation was created.  Culvert features were also integrated into the City's existing databases.

Landfill Capacity Assessment.  KCI analyzed changes from 1999 to 2000 and calculated remaining life volume of the City's open landfill site.  The City's existing planimetric and topographic data was updated and photogrammetric mapping was performed.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control.  Numerous quality control procedures were performed throughout this project.  All mapping products were quality controlled by a stringent set of defined parameters based upon the data type.  Dog Creek software was used during this process and wherever possible industry standard guidelines were used and the baseline for any quality control efforts.