Government Computer News
Army Corps ready to build on Oracle 11g
Researchers find potentially valuable advances in Web services and working with geographic data
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Image: Photo courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers
REALIZING POTENTIAL: Researchers at the Engineer Research and Development Center's Information Technology Lab discuss the latest in computer modeling technology.
And the agency is finding a lot about Oracle Database 11g that can be put to use, said Michael Smith, a physical scientist at the corps’ Cold Regions Research Engineering Laboratory, who has been testing the software with various beta programs the facility is developing. In particular, new capabilities in Web services, developmental aids, and new sets of geospatial and 3-D-specific data structures could prove to be valuable.
The Hanover, N.H.-based laboratory is one of seven nationwide that make up the corps’ Engineer Research and Development Center, the research arm of the Army Corps of Engineers. One part of this lab houses the Water Resources and Remote Sensing GIS Center of Expertise for the Corps. Not surprisingly, the lab does a lot of work with spatial data, such as those placed in the field to report on weather conditions or other factors. And it requires databases to house the tsunami of data these sensors generate.
Smith has been running beta versions of Oracle Database 11 database software to identify new features that could be of use with such data. In particular, it has been looking at the Oracle Spatial 11g option, for some of the geospatial material.
One project that could benefit is a laboratory program that went operational in May, called ORM2. ORM2, an acronym for the “Operation and Maintenance Information Business Link Regulatory Module,” is a Web-based application with a fully integrated geographic information system that the Corps plans to expand. The ORM2 system will track the permit actions by physical locations in the landscape alongside all aquatic resources at that location and associated impacts.
Whenever anyone wants to develop on a navigable waterway — such as putting in a boat dock or filling in some wetlands — is required to apply for a corps wetlands permit. ORM can track how wetlands are being developed from year to year. ORM2 leverages database-based GIS technology developed for CorpsMap, the Corps agency-wide geospatial data portal. Within the next six months or so, the agency will transition this application to Oracle 11.
The new software also helps through enhanced Web services support. Bits of the permit information that comes through ORM are often sent to other agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, needs the information to help judge toxicity of water in a given region. The Fish and Wildlife Service keeps tabs on applications in the course of protecting endangered fish species.
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