Building National Spatial Data Infrastructures

National Geodatabase Replication at the Bureau of Land Management

—Jeffrey Safran, Northrop Grumman Technical Services

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is comprised of twelve states, each of which has deployed distinct methodologies for maintenance of spatial databases oftentimes including differing database models for similar datasets. With advancements in infrastructure technologies, a strategy for centralization of National datasets was developed called the Geospatial Services Strategic Plan (GSSP). In support of GSSP, the BLM's National Operations Center (NOC) is now deploying ESRI Geodatabase Replication technology to support the development of a true Enterprise GIS environment for National spatial datasets. In order to support National Geodatabase replication, National data standards have been adopted to standardize data collection across the BLM. Directly coupled with the Geodatabase replication efforts is the migration of several BLM states to thin client desktop GIS hosted at the NOC through a Citrix environment. These projects are seen as a critical element towards the development of the BLM centralization of IT service-based architecture.