[TriLUG] Open Source GIS - GRASS

[Doug_Newcomb at fws.gov]

Lee,
      GRASS uses the GDAL/OGR libraries , http://www.gdal.org, to import
data, so it can pull data from a lot of sources,
http://www.gdal.org/formats_list.html,
http://www.gdal.org/ogr/ogr_formats.html . The tricky part is setting up
your locations( regions) first.  You have to set up the locations
(regions)with projection/extent/resolution information before you can put
data in.

      The good thing is that you can now use a tool to create a location
from a shapefile .prj file.  You can then import the shapefile and set your
regions's extens and resolution based on the shapefile and tweak it from
there.

      From there you can pull in data from any well documented, or
resonably reverse-engineered spatial data format like a shapefile, geotiff,
or ERDAS Imagine.  You can download vector data for North Carolina from
nconemap, http://www.nconemap.com/Default.aspx?tabid=286 .  Lidar data is
also downloadable from the usgs click site, http://lidar.cr.usgs.gov/.

Doug





>I work for a civil engineering firm in Chapel Hill so I'd be *very*
>interested in such a presentation.I've looked at GRASS before, but never
>quite figured out where to get the data from to run on it.
>-Lee

Doug Newcomb
USFWS
Raleigh, NC
919-856-4520 ext. 14 doug_newcomb at fws.gov
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The opinions I express are my own and are not representative of the
official policy of the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service or Dept. of Interior.
Life is too short for undocumented, proprietary data formats.