Contact us:
PO Box 9300
Portland, ME 04104-9300
Phone: (207) 780-4205 or
800-287-1471 (in Maine)
FAX: (207) 780-4382
4hcumb@umext.maine.edu

Office hours: weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Lisa Waters

4-H Administrative Assistant
Barbara Tibbetts

Extension 4-H Aide
 

Maine 4-H GIS/GPS Project

What is GIS?                                                                                                                                                                 

GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems.  GIS is a computer program for storing, retrieving, analyzing, and displaying data.  It combines two kinds of information or databases.  One is geographically referenced information: latitude and longitude coordinates, spatial or location information, "where things are".  The second is attribute or descriptive information: characteristics or qualities of that place, "what things are like".  Attribute data could be census information (e.g., population, housing), natural resources (e.g., trees, soil types), infrastructure (e.g., buildings, roads) or events (e.g., #of accidents).  When the geographic and attribute information are layered or put together, GIS creates a map to show you what the place is like: where accidents occur in your community, where teenagers live in your state, etc.

GPS stands for Global Positioning Systems.  GPS is a navigational system that can accurately locate your position anytime, anywhere, regardless of weather on Earth.  Developed by the United States Department of Defense, it uses 24 satellites orbiting the earth at altitudes of approximately 11,000 miles to transmit data.  The handheld GPS receiver processes data from several satellites to "triangulate" the receiver's exact location, using latitude and longitude.

Basically.......

GPS tells us where, while GIS tells us what.  Together they help us locate, organize and map our communities.

During the summer of 2004, the Maine 4-H Technology Team was created by 4-H Youth Development Staff.  We received a grant from ESRI, a major producer of Geographic Information System software, which included a 25 seat license for ArcView 3.3 GIS software and a large amount of technical support to help us teach Maine Youth how to design and implement projects using GIS/GPS technology (Approximate dollar equivalent of the grant is $40,000).  Our goal is to provide youth with the skills to investigate a community issue using the capabilities of ArcView to collect data, discover relationships, create visual maps and, if applicable, propose potential solutions.  Combine technology, project planning, community development and service learning, Maine youth and volunteers design and implement community Based projects using GIS/GPS technologies.  The information is shared with communities and interested organizations and posted on the National Community Atlas project website.

If interested in the Maine 4-H GIS/GPS project please contact our office. 780-4205