MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va --
His own planning and engineering background made Jack
Trophia a natural for Installation Geospatial Information and Services Program.
“This is exciting stuff for me,” said Trophia, the
IGI&S program manager. “Maps are what attracted me to this job. It fits right into my background. You’re
putting together information. … It’s fun and people appreciate what we do for
them.”
Trophia’s passion for what he does has been instrumental
in the key role IGI&S has come to play at Marine Corps Base Quantico with
its accumulation of accurate, complete and readily available geospatial
information.
The intent of the data, which is usually presented in the
form of detailed maps, is to give base officials the best possible information
about the installation and its surroundings. That knowledge could figure
prominently in any decisions made about installation management practices that could
better serve Marine training while assuaging any environmental concerns. Data
contained in this system was key to developing the base Master Plan, which will
guide the future development of MCBQ through 2035.
Using the latest version of Spatial Data Standards for
Infrastructure and Environment, Trophia and his two assistants, Megan Mahoney
and Scott Haskell, readily answer when requests come in for data needed for
various environmental assessments and analytical studies. Contractors doing
work at MCB Quantico usually make up most of those seeking the information, Trophia
said, but IGI&S also works with neighboring counties on land-use programs.
“Anybody who calls us, we support them and we’re here for
them,” Trophia said.
Similar to Google Earth, the user-friendly SDSFIE 3.0 system
comes with an array of options as MCB Quantico currently lists 44 different
data sets and eight community data sets, Trophia said. There can be as many as
20 or more feature sets set for each data set, with each feature set having
thousands of features.
Its many features
allow IGI&S to provide an accurate snapshot in time of buildings, roads and
every other area within MCB Quantico with its aerial imagery. The many features allow GIS to incorporate all the various
pieces that make up the base, such as where utility lines are located, or where
historical artifacts have been found, in addition to showing where buildings,
roads, and parking lots are located, while also providing a place to store the
plethora of spatial data that exists on the base, Mahoney said. Detailed
satellite images provided by contractors chosen by the Marine Corps can entail useful
data on just about anything. The pictures are typically taken in February when
fewer leaves on trees allow for more accurate assessments, Trophia said.
The system, which went into effect in 2009, is available
to all MCB Quantico employees with CAC cards and offers access to information
to all Marine Corps duty stations. It can be found at:
https:www.geofidelis.usmc.mil/Home/Index