Ayman S. A. El-Swaify and Dale P. Dunham

Using ArcView to Facilitate Navy Capital Improvement Planning in Mainland Japan

This paper discusses Navy PWC Yokosuka's implementation of ArcView GIS and custom extensions to interactively query and display Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) projects on an installation's existing conditions map (ECM). The "CAFM CIP" application displays projects based on construction date, project number or other criteria. A current, full-color plot of the CIP for the installation can then be produced for planning and presentation purposes. The application links CIP project features to tabular data from the Oracle-based Regional Planning System (RPS), which PWC Yokosuka uses in support of regional shore facilities planning.

Background

The mission of PWC Yokosuka is to provide responsive, reliable, high quality and cost-effective public works, public utilities, transportation support, engineering services, shore facilities planning support, and all other logistics support of a public works nature required by the operating forces, shore establishment and other Navy customers within the Kanto Plain of the nation of Japan. In an effort to improve these services, PWC initiated a central program in 1996 to begin implementing Geographical Information System (GIS) technology throughout the Command.

The Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu are home to numerous United States military installations belonging to all the DOD services. In 1998, PWC Yokosuka began providing GIS implementation services to various U.S. Military Commands in Japan and now serves as the Regional coordinator for Navy GIS implementations Japan-wide, excluding Okinawa.

GIS Management

PWC Yokosuka's GIS management function rests within the Engineering Department. The GIS staff consists of one U.S. Civil Service employee and three Japanese national employees. The PWC Information Systems group is responsible for system procurement, configuration and end-user support for issues not related to using GIS software. Data maintenance is distributed among functional users of various departments who work with the data on a daily basis. This frees the GIS staff to focus on the implementation of the technology and resolving various data- related issues that arise.

Shared Data Model

The nature of the public works facilities management operation requires that we accommodate diverse requirements into a common system. At the core of PWC Yokosuka's GIS implementation philosophy is the shared data model. This model places the land base, or "existing conditions map" at the center. Our first priority for each installation is to develop a digital map that satisfies the following:

"Up-to-date" – The map should be no more than two years old. Old data is the biggest enemy to a successful implementation.

"Spatially accurate" – Overlay of survey-quality data onto the map is possible with reasonable results. For us, that means accuracy within plus or minus ½ meter.

"Geo-referenced" – The map is in a valid projection and coordinate system. This facilitates the addition of new data and maintenance of existing data.

"Topologically Correct" – The features that make up the map are drawn in a way that permits the GIS to recognize and use them properly. For example, buildings must be drawn as a closed polygonal boundary where all corners match exactly. Topology is the biggest barrier to using legacy CAD data in GIS.

"Spatially contiguous" – To the fullest extent possible, it is important for the land base to be seamless. All adjacent areas should be together in a single coverage. In the "old" days, areas were split up to keep file size at a minimum.

"SDS compliant" – Features should be named, broken out and/or aggregated in accordance with the latest release of the CADD/GIS Spatial Data Standards.

The PWC Real Estate group is responsible for making regular updates to the digital existing conditions data. Other functional groups (utilities, planning, telecomm, etc.) then use this map as the foundation of their respective interface to the system. For example, the utilities department overlays their water, steam, etc. distribution systems onto the Real Estate Base map. The utilities department staff is then responsible only for the updates to their subset of data. The maintenance processes are set in conjunction with their existing work procedures. A new base map appears to them every three or four months when Real Estate publishes an update.

By sharing a common foundation, separate functional groups are able to share and make use of each other's data. For example, the Planning group is able to display utilities information as they make decisions concerning the future development of the base. By leveraging our data in this manner, the value of the system increases exponentially.

CIP Application

This extension displays how the base will evolve over time if the projects in the Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) for the base are fully implemented and provides tools to examine the impact of a project or projects. The user may view the future configuration of the base within a date range of From year to To year. The date ranges default to Japanese Fiscal Year, but Calendar Year and Federal Fiscal Year are also supported. The user may also view these plans by selecting one or more Project Numbers, Project Titles or Project Phases.

Portable Design Considerations

To facilitate the sharing of technology solutions across installations and between agencies, aspects of portability must be considered as a part of the implementation. At PWC Yokosuka, the basic functionality revolves around the base map, real estate information, and photos and floor plans of the facilities. All application coding is contained within program units (termed ArcView extensions) that can be loaded and unloaded from the core project files.

Data sets that are not a part of the base map can be loaded in two ways. Casual users who need to view the data, can load "data groups" as additional overlays. Advanced users who need to analyze the data can load an ArcView extension, which in turn will load the data and provide the user with additional functions necessary to run the application.

Variables are used in all of applications in lieu of hard-coded drive paths. Thus, users with different drive mappings (or using different machines) are able to customize the variables to suit their particular setup. The concept of applying variables in lieu of drive mappings is an essential one.

By building portability into the system design, it is easier to accommodate the change and growth of the system over time.

CIP Geospatial Data

The geospatial components of the CIP data are design drawings showing the layouts of proposed projects. Minor format changes were required including enforcing topological closure and adding project numbers to the CAD layer name. As per the shared data model, the existing conditions map maintained by the Real Estate group is used as a backdrop for drawing the future development. One of the polygon feature sets, Limits of Work, is converted to an ArcView shape file. The ArcView application joins the Limits of Work shape file to the RPS tabular data and uses this combined data set to query and display the future development.

CIP Tabular Data

Tabular data describing future projects is extracted from the Oracle-based Regional Planning System (RPS). RPS is a local system used to document requirements, assets and proposed development in a manner analogous to the Navy's Shore Facility Planning System (SFPS). RPS is designed as a project management and tracking application. Each project is assigned a unique identifier, its cost and funding source are proposed, and the construction starting and ending dates are entered. The project phase item is used to track the current status of each project.

Application Data Management

To run the application, the user loads the "CAFM CIP" extension from the ArcView File…Extensions… menu dialogue. When the extension loads, it adds the following themes to the view:

Future Improvement (line)

Future Improvement (poly)

Future Landform

Future Transportation

Future Buildings (line)

Future Buildings (poly)

Limits of Work

All themes except the last are added directly from CAD data sources. The "Limits of Work" data source is the ArcView shapefile (previously mentioned) joined to the RPS tabular project data. The "Limits of Work" theme is then joined to the Future Buildings theme, allowing buildings to be queried on project information.

Application Functions

In addition to the themes, the ArcView extension also adds two buttons to the toolbar:

Display Future Facilities

Create GDP Layout

The Display Future Facilities button opens an ArcView dialogue that permits the user to form a query using the following parameters:

All projects

Projects based on program year (can be a range of years)

Projects based on Project Number, Project Title, or Phase

In addition to these standard criteria, queries can be executed from the ArcView interface, supporting ad hoc or complex queries. The user can also change the display properties of the selected limits of work, and the selected future projects are clearly labeled in the View.

The Create GDP (General Development Plan) button creates a D-size color layout for the user that can be sent to a plotter. The layout incorporates a vicinity map, the current view display and a list of selected projects.

Conclusion

In summary, PWC Yokosuka's ArcView CIP application provides a means by which planners can display future development and produce an up-to-date General Development Plan for any base. The application is built using the shared data model and portability system design concepts.

Author Information:

Ayman S.A. El-Swaify
CADD/GIS Manager
Navy PWC Yokosuka, Code 400C
PSC 473 Box 13
FPO AP 96349-1103
Phone: 011-81-311-34-7986
E-mail: elswaifya@pwcyoko.navy.mil

Dale Dunham
Principal
Geographic Information Services, Inc.
216 Aquarius Dr., Suite 319
Birmingham, AL 35209
Phone: (205) 941-0442
E-mail: ddunham@gis-services.com