ArcIMS – The Solution to Streamlining Data Collection, Modeling, Planning and Design.

2. Access the city’s ArcIMS web site. The figure below presents the home page.  The home page functions include:

• Zoom
• Pan
• Identify
• Query
• Find
• MapNotes (redlining and notes)
• Edit Notes (discussion tool only)
• Hyperlink to data input forms
• Measure
• Scale
• Mapextent
• Print
• Save
• Layer Control

These functions are standard ArcIMS tools and setup via the Designer wizard.

3. Input data on pipes, manholes, lift stations and pumps using the data input forms on-line. A sample of the data input forms is shown to the right.

BTCFI customized the ArcIMS application to allow the user to input data, calculate results and submit the final data to the project team for review and approval on-line.  This customized programming was written in PHP, a powerful open-source scripting language commonly used with on-line relational database applications.

The ArcIMS home page, as described above, has a customized button which allows the user to access the data input forms.  The "Pump Station Data and Drawdown Report" input form displays any available data on the pump station residing in the external database, as well as allows field staff to input new or updated data and submit it to the web server for review and approval.  One of the nice features of this form is that it shows a schematic of the pump station configuration providing valuable information to the field crews and engineers viewing the forms and information on-line.

The "Pipe Database Input Form for Hydraulic Model" and "Manhole Database Input Form for Hydraulic Model" (not shown because of similarities) has similar functionality as the "Pump Station Data and Drawdown Report" form in that it displays data on a pipe residing in the external database and excepts data input.  The data is sent to the web server for review and approval by a GIS Administrator and Engineer.

The "Pump Input Data Form" has the same functionality as the "Pump Station Data and Drawdown Report" form as described above.  A unique feature with this form is that the pump curves for each pump in the pump station is displayed.  If any data on a pump is updated , the pump curves will have to be regenerated.

Again, the web application allows the surveyor, field technician or engineer to input the survey and field investigation results into the data input form, calculate the remaining fields, and review the results on-line.  The completed data input form is submitted over the internet to the web server where the results are reviewed in the office by a GIS Administrator and Engineer.  Once the data has been reviewed and approved, the sanitary sewer database is updated by a click of a button.

Another important function of the city’s ArcIMS web site is the MapNotes or redlining tool as shown to the right. If the surveyors or field technicians are on-line looking at the collection system configuration and discover something different in the field, they can redline the piping configuration on the screen and submit the changes via the web to the project team – making it easy and timely for the GIS technician to update the pipe layer. If any questions arise about the redline changes, the project team can post notes or questions on the web site.

The ability to provide real-time field information provides the team with timely and correct data, gets the data into the database quicker, and provides the team with a permanent digital record of the field notes. For example, before the ArcIMS application went on-line, it took 2 to 4 weeks for the surveyors to submit the survey data and field notes to the project team. Once on-line, the surveyors could submit the survey data daily in a digital format. These are just a few of the benefits using ArcIMS to gather field data and share information with the project team.