INR Projects related to Mapping and Remote Sensing:

Oregon Explorer -- Oregon Explorer is a natural resources digital library and web portal. The goal is to provide easy, rapid access to reliable, up-to-date information about natural resources, empowering citizens through information. INR is developing the Oregon Explorer in collaboration with Oregon State University Libraries and other partners including the University of Oregon's InfoGraphics Lab, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), the Oregon Department of Administrative Services and other state agencies. The Oregon Explorer family of websites brings together several projects focused on different themes. Basin-level portals include the the Willamette Basin Explorer (part of the Willamette Basin Conservation Project), the North Coast Explorer, and the Umpqua Basin Explorer. The Wildfire Risk Explorer is the first topic portal in the Explorer family. The Oregon Explorer program is in the process of developing additional topic portals hosting information about imagery, land use, and wildlife. Read more about these component projects on INR's Oregon Explorer page.

Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center -- The Institute has completed agreements with the Oregon Department of State Lands and The Nature Conservancy to assume managerial responsibility for the Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center (ORNHIC).

Oregon Orthoimagery Portal Project -- INR and the OSU Libraries are collaborating with the The Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to develop an orthoimagery portal application to allow for the distribution of digital aerial imagery for the State of Oregon. The near-term objective of this project is to develop an Imagery Portal that serves the 2005 half-meter orthoimagery that the State has obtained from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and other aerial imagery datasets. The targeted primary users for the imagery portal are Federal, State, and local agencies and institutions of higher education. Secondary users include the general public.

Orthoimagery Portal Project Reports

Pacific Northwest Regional Collaboratory -- OSU through INR is a member of the Pacific Northwest Regional Collaboratory, a regional group of universities and national laboratories dedicated to facilitating integration of geospatial technologies and data to serve the needs of resource managers and decision makers across the Pacific Northwest. Gail Achterman of INR serves on the Executive Committee. Dr. John Bolte of OSU’s Department of Bioengineering leads a key Collaboratory project, development of a Sustainability Atlas for the Northwest. The Atlas, comprised of remotely sensed and other data, will provide a basis for truly regional collaboration and decision-making on long term issues critical to regional sustainability.

SageMap -- The decision to list the western sage grouse as a threatened species is pending. ORNHIC received funding to expand the agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Boise Lab to map sage grouse habitat in the Pacific Northwest, which will be essential for evaluating the grouse’s status.