FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Wednesday, Nov. 19 is Geographic Information Systems Day, an international grassroots event designed to showcase real-world applications of GIS technology.

GIS Day events on the University of Arkansas campus include the University Libraries’ GIS Open House, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Mullins Library Rooms 486 and 487, a tour of the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) facilities in Ozark Hall at 11 a.m. and a membership promotion to found a UA chapter of the American Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (ASPRS) from 1 to 3 p.m. in Mullins Library Room 104.

The open house will educate the campus and local community about the collaborative GIS program between the University Libraries and CAST and highlight the opportunities and advantages of using GIS for research and education.

GIS Open House activities include a showcase of campus and local GIS projects, presentations that demonstrate GIS applications and tours of the Government Documents’ GIS and Map Collection facilities. Light refreshments will be served.

The mission of the ASPRS - The Imaging and Geospatial Information Society, is to advance knowledge and improve understanding of mapping sciences, and to promote the responsible applications of photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information systems and supporting technologies.

The ASPRS membership promotion, organized by Assistant Professor of the Biological & Agricultural Engineering Sreekala Bajwa, will kick off with a tour of the CAST facilities in Ozark Hall at 11 a.m., and then return to the GIS Day Open House in Mullins Library. Presentations by students, ASPRS personnel, and staff of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stationed at the Mid-Continent Mapping Center (MCMC) at Rolla, Missouri will follow at 1 p.m. in Mullins Room 104.

USGS staff will present information about their geospatial projects including The National Map, which provides public access to high-quality, geospatial data and information from multiple partners to help inform decision making by resource managers and the public. The ASPRS personnel will discuss membership benefits, and door prizes will be given.

For more information on the GIS Day Open House and ASPRS Membership, please contact:

Sarah Santos, head of Government Documents, ssantos@uark.edu or (479) 575-4524; or Sreekala Bajwa, assistant professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, sgbajwa@uark.edu or (479) 575-2878.

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