Abstract

GeoMine Geospatial Information Products
Track: Mining and Geosciences
Authors: Christopher Benson

The US Office of Surface Mining is engaged in a project to geo-enable data related to its mission to protect the environment and the public from the adverse effects of both present and past coal mining operations. The GeoMine project is a nascent multi-faceted collection of geospatial information products designed to allow practitioners to access real-time GIS data that will ultimately lead to better decision-making, greater efficiency, and increased transparency. Based on recommendations from the Coal Mining Spatial Data Standards ASTM task group, specific geospatial information products were selected and schemas were developed to derive consistently attributed products from a variety of data sources. Several key data products (e.g. active coal mine permit boundaries) have been built for a four state pilot project area. Direct feeds from other federal agencies provide supplemental information for on-line GIS analysis. Four additional national data products have been compiled and are operational.