Geoinformatics

Geoinformatics is the application of computer technologies and methodologies to scientific results with spatial coordinates. Based on project definitions from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Informatics initiative of NASA, NSF, and USGS, three categories of geoinformatics research are

• acquisition and conversion of data and metadata,
• analysis and synthesis of data and metadata, and
• dissemination of data and metadata.

The Kansas Geological Survey has placed many databases online, and is beginning to move beyond the presentation of simple query results and the distribution of text files to web visualization and other aspects of geoinformatics.

A fully enabled informatics system includes

• ongoing database enhancement and availability;
• automated search and access tools for distributed databases;
• web applications, public workspace, and tutorials;
• go-anywhere access;
• 3-D and 4-D visualization and modeling.