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| SERVICES | COMPANY | NEWS | CONTACT US |
| PREVIOUS PRESS RELEASES |
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| NOVEMBER 24, 2003 |
NGI DEVELOPS LAND DIVISION TRACKING APPLICATION AUGUSTA, ME. Northern Geomantics completed development of a custom parcel transaction management application designed to track and evaluate lands sales through time. The Land Division Tracker (LDT), a GIS-based application developed specifically for the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC), allows planners to turn title search results into geographic parcel transaction layers that include historical parcel boundaries and attribute information such as lot numbers, deed dates, and grantor-grantee information. Historical parcel information is important to LURC's mission. When a landowner makes a request to subdivide a parcel, LURC's decision is contingent, in part, on its transaction history which, until now, has been difficult to create and maintain.The Land Division Tracker intelligently links parent and child parcels to create a "genealogy" of related parcels. In addition, it intelligently populates ownership and deed date information of a newly created parent parcel based on the attributes of its children. LURC guides land development and zoning for approximately 40,000 parcels covering over 10 million acres in Maine. An increasing rate of development over the last decade has strained the agency's ability to monitor land transfers and subdivision creation, thus prompting the need for a customized parcel management tool. The Land Division Tracking tool will help LURC staff identify unapproved land divisions, analyze development trends, and plan for future growth. "The LDT tool has received much positive feedback from our regional staff. It has proven itself very useful in our permitting process," reported Aga Pinette, LURC Senior Planner. The LDT Tool, developed with ArcObjects from ESRI, employs an Oracle database and ArcSDE from ESRI for parcel storage. LURC staff access the data layers through network connections on the state's wide area network. The LDT Tool is built upon the successes of several previous GIS projects developed by NGI for LURC. These include a GIS user needs analysis, parcel database design and clean-up project, distributed parcel viewing tools, and a parcel editing tool. |
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| OCTOBER 20, 2003 |
NGI DEVELOPS ON-LINE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM NEWTON, MA. - Planning for and responding to emergency situations requires an efficient means to communicate information among numerous decision makers. This information needs to be clear and easy to comprehend. Many existing emergency management systems effectively disseminate tabular information, but what about the critical spatial aspect of the data? When an organization needs to know where personnel, equipment, and vital infrastructure are located, the most effective means is through maps.Northern Geomantics recently completed an Internet-based mapping component for an online Homeland Security system used by organizations within the US government. The system now provides these organizations with the ability to attach spatial information to any tabular records related to a natural or manmade emergency event. The software allows users to create, modify and delete geographic features representing locations of incident activities, emergency response personnel, and various assets using an interactive map. Users have complete control of the feature symbology and labeling. The spatial data is stored in a central RDBMS and is available for viewing online by authorized users in real-time. This interactive mapping software is fully integrated with the organization's existing emergency management system and contains a documented Java API for continued development. Since its rollout in August, the application has been used in a number of real-world events and training and planning exercises. |
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| JULY, 2003 |
NGI Completes Cod-Tagging Program ArcIMS Website PORTLAND, ME - Northern Geomantics has completed work on an Internet mapping website which facilitates collaboration between more than a half-dozen US and Canadian marine research organizations involved in the Northeast Regional Cod-Tagging Program. The program is designed to document cod movements and population distribution throughout the Gulf of Maine.Using an online data entry application, scientists can input codfish capture and release information at the end of each research cruise. Program managers at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute can also log in online to check and verify newly-entered data. Once approved, the data is automatically added to an Internet mapping system, where it can be viewed and queried by scientists and the general public. Fishermen and others who find a tagged cod can report it through the website and view its initial release location on an interactive map. The site also allows researchers to download the data for further analysis. The Northeast Regional Cod-Tagging Program mapping site is powered by ArcIMS and ArcSDE technology from ESRI. Scientists involved in the study anticipate that release and recapture information on over 200,000 cod will be added to the database over the next two years. |
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| JUNE 2003 |
Northern Geomantics Develops Census of Marine Life Maps
 AUGUSTA, ME - Northern Geomantics, in partnership with the Island Institute of Maine, is producing the first series of biophysical maps in support of the Gulf of Maine Program for the Census of Marine Life. These maps are designed to clarify and highlight hypotheses and issues for marine resource managers, and are part of a larger ten-year effort to assess marine life in the world's oceans. The maps created by NGI reveal the interactions and biodiversity of marine life in the Gulf of Maine, including humpback whale migration between the Gulf of Maine and the Caribbean, the relationship between red tide and the Eastern Maine Coastal Current, and lobster larvae distribution in coastal Maine waters. Northern Geomantics is combining disparate data from state and federal sources in the US and Canada into cohesive maps to illustrate hypotheses about the state of marine life in the Gulf of Maine. Northern Geomantics' expertise in marine-based GIS, its ability to accurately process and integrate data in a variety of formats, and its high-quality cartography insure that these maps will clearly characterize some of the many Gulf of Maine issues facing marine resource managers. See the finished product. |
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| MAY 2003 |
 NGI Begins Conservation Mapping Website AUGUSTA, ME - The Maine Department of Conservation has awarded Northern Geomantics a contract to develop an ArcIMS website which will make available much information commonly requested by DOC customers. For example, owners of property in LURC jurisdiction will be able to locate their parcels on a map and determine which LURC zones it falls within, website visitors will be able to locate lumber mills throughout the state, and people interested in acquiring publications from Maine Geological Survey will be able to find all MGS publications available for any area of Maine. |
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| JANUARY 27, 2003 |
Parcel Editing Tool Lets State Agencies Work Together AUGUSTA, ME. A new digital parcel editing application developed by Northern Geomantics allows two state agencies to work collaboratively and eliminate duplication of effort. In the past, the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) and the Property Tax Division of the Maine Revenue Service (MRS) worked separately to track parcel boundary changes in Maine's 470 unorganized townships. The Parcel Editing Tool by NGI enables both agencies to access and edit a single set of digital parcel boundaries. Now, parcel boundary changes and attribute information are documented and entered only once, eliminating redundancy and reducing errors.Previously, tracking boundary changes for the approximately 44,000 parcels was a time-consuming task for both agencies. After receiving notice of a parcel split or subdivision, MRS staff used deed descriptions to manually update the parcel boundaries on a set of paper maps. Copies of these redlined parcel maps were then sent to the LURC, where the changes were digitized and incorporated into their GIS parcel layer. Some parcel attributes were entered twice into two separate databases. This protracted process was redundant and an inefficient use of state resources. The Parcel Editing Tool relies on an Oracle database and ArcSDE from ESRI for parcel storage, and ArcEditor as the backbone for the application. The agencies each access the data layers through network connections on the state WAN. The Parcel Editing Tool is built upon the successes of several previous GIS project performed by NGI for LURC. These include a GIS user needs analysis, parcel database design and cleanup, and distributed parcel viewing tools. The Parcel Editing Tool was featured in the April 2003 issue of the Maine IS Technology newsletter. |
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| NOVEMBER 14, 2002 |
Northern Geomantics Approved for MA, RI and VT ITS07 Contracts. HALLOWELL, ME. Northern Geomantics announced today it is now certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an approved Information Technology Services Contract (ITS07) vendor in Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island. With this contract in place, state agencies, municipalities and other public entities in MA, VT and RI can contract directly with Northern Geomantics for GIS services, knowing they are getting a good value with a reputable, pre-qualified company. ITS07 helps participating states contract directly with reliable, pre-selected, technically-skilled firms, minimizing bureaucratic overhead and risk.Bill Duffy, president of Northern Geomantics, stated, "We are very excited to have this opportunity to offer our Internet mapping and desktop development services to municipal and state entities in Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island. We look forward to working with the public organizations in these states and helping them develop high-quality Web-based and desktop GIS applications." |
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| OCTOBER 18, 2002 |
 Maine Selects NGI as Pre-Approved GIS Vendor.AUGUSTA, ME. The State of Maine Contract Review Committee has selected Northern Geomantics as a pre-approved vendor for its information technology service contracts. This selection means NGI is eligible to offer GIS programming, project management, Web-based development, desktop applications and technical support services to Maine state agencies directly, without the need for a lengthy RFP process. Northern Geomantics has been providing these same services to many of Maine's agencies for the past five years under the previous short-list contracting system. "Northern Geomantics' selection for this new pre-approved vendor list means we'll be able to maintain our close relationship with Maine's GIS-capable agencies. GIS technology has become increasingly integrated into many bureaus and departments over the last five years and we look forward to continuing our support of these efforts." said Tom Lynch, Vice President of Northern Geomantics. |
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| OCTOBER 10, 2002 |
Northern Geomantics Forms Partnership with Metropolis New Media. HALLOWELL, ME. Northern Geomantics , developers of custom Web-enabled GIS mapping applications, has entered into a partnership with Metropolis New Media of San Jose CA, providers of specialized GIS-based Internet hosting services. "We are very pleased to have formed this alliance with Northern Geomantics. NGI's extensive experience developing web-based GIS applications with ESRI technology, coupled with Metropolis' industry-leading Internet infrastructure and comprehensive hosting services for ESRI server products, makes it possible for organizations looking to distribute GIS data and applications on the Internet to implement a custom solution in a timely manner without having to invest in technology infrastructure, development resources and in-house expertise," said Matt Monahan, president at Metropolis. The NGI/Metropolis partnership offers clients one-stop shopping and a fast, simple, secure solution for Internet mapping application development and hosting. The partnership expands the IMS deployment options for NGI's clients, and can reduce server management costs, as well. John Armentrout, NGI Vice President, stated, "This alliance offers yet another great benefit for our clients. It allows us to develop more robust Internet applications and deploy them quickly in a consistent environment without our clients needing to invest in expensive hosting infrastructure and software licensing." |
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| SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 |
NGI Adds Security Features to Public Drinking Water ArcIMS Site. AUGUSTA, ME. Northern Geomantics has completed a comprehensive security infrastructure system for the Maine Drinking Water Program's (DWP) Public Water Resources ArcIMS site. This popular site, originally developed by NGI in 1996, was removed from public access over concerns about potential water supply threats prompted by the events of 9/11. The newly revised, secure ArcIMS site is again available online, but only to users authorized by DWP. With the database-driven security system in place, a first time visitor to the website will be automatically prompted to send an online request for access to DWP staff, who will then assign the user a specific access level via a return email.At the time the original site was taken offline, Northern Geomantics was creating an enhanced version of the Public Water Resource Map site using ArcIMS, ArcSDE, and ArcObjects. The updated site helps reduce the workload of DWP's limited staff by answering the most commonly asked questions. Other new features include a customizable map layout for printing, search dialogs to quickly locate public water systems, automatic summary reports for towns and wells, listing contact information, and other data. |
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| AUGUST 20, 2002 |
Work Begins on Enhanced Conservation Land IMS site for NH. DURHAM, NH. Northern Geomantics has begun development on several new features for the popular New Hampshire Conservation Lands Viewer mapping site. One of the main enhancements to the site is the addition of biodiversity related data, such as highly productive forest and hydric soils and prime farmland. These environments often form the nucleus of significant natural habitats or scenic locations that should be preserved. Access to these data will permit conservation groups to identify and evaluate potentially sensitive areas that are not currently conserved. Other enhancements to the site include the addition of wildlife data and detailed reports for selected conservation lands.The existing mapping website, recently written up in the Boston Globe, is hosted at GRANIT, a cooperative project of the University of New Hampshire and the NH State Planning Office. The site is one of their most popular, according to Jenn Merriam, GIS Project Manager. "The Conservation Land Viewer is getting more than 2000 hits per day. That's more than the rest of the GRANIT pages combined," Merriam reports. GRANIT is responsible for collecting, maintaining, and disseminating spatial data layers for the State of New Hampshire. The Conservation Land Viewer site, also developed by Northern Geomantics, was initially launched in February 2002. The Conservation Lands dataset used in the current site contains over 6,000 mostly undeveloped land parcels protected from future development. Thanks to the Conservation Lands Map Viewer, this parcel data is now widely available to a variety of users, including land trusts, local conservation commissions, planning agencies, conservation activists, policymakers, legislators and staff, hikers, real estate professionals, and the general public. Web visitors can locate, display, query, and print maps of any conservation parcel and view imagery such as USGS digital raster graphics (DRGs) and digital ortho-quadrangles (DOQs) to help identify local features. |
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| JULY 24, 2002 |
Department of Marine Resources Launches Whale Sighting Website
 BOOTHBAY, ME. As part of the Maine Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, the Maine Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) launched a new Recent Whale Sightings internet map site today to track sightings of all species of whales in Maine waters. The website, developed by Northern Geomantics of Hallowell, Maine, uses the latest Internet Mapping System (IMS) technology to display historical and contemporary locations of Right whales and other species on a detailed, interactive map. The site also provides coordinates and other information such as the number and behavior of whales per sighting.Whale sightings are reported to the Maine Whale Hotline (800-532-9551) or faxed to MDMR from whale watch platforms, and entered into a database maintained in Boothbay, Maine. Immediately after entry, the sightings reports are available to fishermen and the general public via the Internet mapping application. "We hope that this real-time reporting effort will play a role in 'babysitting' the whales and will ultimately help prevent whale-gear interactions from occurring," said Laura Ludwig, Program Manager for the Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. UPDATE, January 14, 2004: As the Whale Sightings page begins its third year, its usefulness is readily apparent in tracking both live and dead, floating whales. The site has catalogued 4,764 whales (in 1,184 entries), on top of the thousands of historical sightings included as a base layer. Minke, finback, humpback, sei, right, pilot, and beluga whale sightings have been reported by whale watches, aerial surveys, ships, ferries, commercial fishermen, Maine Marine Patrol, US Coast Guard, and recreational boaters. Frequent visitors to the site include Maine Dept. of Marine Resources and National Marine Fisheries Service/NOAA Fisheries staff. Future enhancements may include adding Dynamic Area Management fishing ground closures, along with shipping lanes and aerial survey grids. |
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| JUNE 10, 2002 |
| Drinking Water Agency Increases Security on Public Water Supply Mapping Site. AUGUSTA, ME The Maine Drinking Water Program (MDWP) awarded a contract to Northern Geomantics to implement security on the Public Water Resource Map site. This popular site, developed in 1996, was publicly accessible until concern over threats to public water supplies prompted its removal. The new, secure site will still be available online, but only to users authorized by MDWP. With the database-driven security now being developed, potential users will be able to send an online request for access to MDWP and receive a response by email. MDWP staff will manage user authorization and level of access. At the time the original site was taken offline, Northern Geomantics was creating an enhanced version of the Public Water Resource Map site using ArcIMS, ArcSDE, and ArcObjects. The enhanced version, along with the security system developed by Northern Geomantics, will allow this popular site to return online this summer for users authorized by MDWP. |
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| APRIL 16, 2002 |
Northern Geomantics Begins ArcIMS Whale Sighting Application BOOTHBAY HARBOR, ME - The Maine Department of Marine Resources has awarded Northern Geomantics a contract to develop an ArcIMS whale sighting report website for the Gulf of Maine. The web site will help fishermen and others keep track of current whale locations in the Gulf of Maine. It will facilitate awareness, sightings reporting, and help develop future management options to reduce conflicts between fisheries and whales. The site will also display 30 years of seasonal whale sightings collected by the New England Aquarium to give users a better understanding of whale distribution in the Gulf of Maine.
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| MARCH 21, 2002 |
Gulf of Maine Aquarium Launches Undersea Landscape Website PORTLAND, ME - The Gulf of Maine Aquarium launched a new website this week that describes the variety of habitats found around and under the Gulf of Maine using the works of National Geographic underwater photographer, Bill Curtsinger, and a series of 3D shaded-relief maps created by Northern Geomantics. Visit the site at: www.gma.org/undersea_landscapes |
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| FEBRUARY 25, 2002 |
Northern Geomantics Named ESRI Foundation Partner of Year PALM SPRINGS, CA - At ESRI's 2002 Worldwide Business Partner Conference in February, NGI was awarded Foundation Partner of the Year for ESRI's Northeast region. This award recognizes the ESRI business partner who, through hard work and dedication, has consistently built a strong, dependable relationship with ESRI. In the award presentation, Dawn Caravello of ESRI's Boston office described NGI as "an absolute pleasure to work with and comprised of some of the most experienced GIS professionals throughout the Northeast. They have been involved with setting up state and local government GIS programs and have consulted on most major GIS initiatives within the State of Maine. Northern Geomantics' dedication to GIS and commitment to ESRI represent what a foundation partner is all about. They are regarded as a model partner for how quickly they embrace new technology and how openly enthusiastic they are about ESRI's product direction."
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| FEBRUARY 11, 2002 |
GoMOOS Launches New Ocean Conditions Web Site PORTLAND, ME - GoMOOS (Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System) has launched its enhanced public information web site, www.gomoos.org. GoMOOS is a national pilot program designed to bring real-time meteorological and oceanographic data to commercial and recreational fishermen and other mariners.To create this web site, GoMOOS contracted the MIND Consortium to develop an easy to use web site that displays near real time data from a suite of thirteen buoys deployed across the Gulf of Maine. The MIND Consortium consist of three organizations: Image Works, Northern Geomantics and the Gulf of Maine Aquarium. Image Works conducted the user research for the web site including interviews and prototype site tests with 22 fisherman and other mariners from New Brunswick to eastern Massachusetts, and completed production of the graphical interface design and programming in early February. Northern Geomantics, Inc. designed and developed a series of maps for the site. The maps help users quickly locate and access information for a specific geographic area, and are designed to integrate future data as it comes online. Gulf of Maine Aquarium (GMA), the third consortium member, creates web-based marine curriculum materials used by educational organizations in all fifty states and numerous countries. GMA provided overall project management services for the Consortium. This collaboration has resulted in a convenient, easy to use site that provides timely, relevant oceanographic information. The first phase of the project focused on the needs of commercial and recreational fishermen, ship captains, and boaters. Up-to-the-hour data such as wind speed and direction, visibility, and air and water temperatures are gathered from 13 offshore buoys throughout the Gulf of Maine. Additional data available at www.gomoos.org include satellite data and weather forecasts from several observatory stations including the Mount Washington Observatory. "This project is a great example of how related skill sets can be brought together to create an effective web product" said Dana Hutchins, President of Image Works. "We think the new GoMOOS site will provide mariners and others with a uniquely valuable resource both for work and for recreation in the Gulf of Maine." |
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