The great thing about recreation is that depending on how you define it, recreation can mean a lot of different things and a lot of different sports. That wonderful variety can present a challenge when you try to inventory all of the physical resources that are commonly considered recreational resources. The data behind the www.goPLAYkansas.com website is generally split into three formats of GIS data: polygons, points, and lines. The type of format used depends on the resource.

Parks are represented in the GIS data as polygons. Polygons are the best way to show parks because they represent the boundaries of the site and can include resources located within them. In can get a little tricky if parks cross political boundaries, or if two parks are located adjacent to each other (think of Pawnee Prairie Park and Tex Consolver Golf Course in Wichita).

Points GIS data represents the recreation resources (i.e. playgrounds, fields, picnic tables, etc.). the points data is utilized for this category of features because the features vary in size from very small to very large and it would be time consuming to draw the boundaries of each one out. The points work well to illustrate single items out in the field in a quick and easy format.

Trails and paths are represented in the GIS data as lines. The line data can be broken up into segments that have individual attributes (i.e. type of material, width, etc.). This is how the website is able to display multiple types of trails.

One of the difficulties that came to light as the team was working with the data was the ability to represent the nearest access to trails on a map. The problem was that sometimes the nearest way to a path is down a cliff or across a busy roadway. The team came up with the solution of plotting access points for trails using the point data. This way, the distances to trails are accurately represented on the map. This feature is not available yet, but the team is working on it – so keep an eye open for those updates.

In the next post we can take a look at the challenges behind the use descriptions.

Tags: GIS, GPS, Kansas, Technology, Visioneering, Wichita