Case Studies on Geodatabase Design
Mobile Data Collection Application using Android

Challenge
A Bay Area city needed a comprehensive and accurate storm drain geodatabase and geometric network to support their stormwater infrastructure planning, operations, and maintenance. They wanted it efficient for field crew data collection of 12000+ storm drain features, and real-time trackable by office managers.
Solution
Farallon developed an Android-based workflow-driven mobile data collection application to streamline the process of data collection and synchronize with the City's central database in both network connected (3G or Wi-Fi) and disconnected environments. Managers in the office track real-time progress using a simple Google Earth interface. Read more details...
Categories: GIS/IT Integration, Asset Management Systems, Geodatabase Design, GPS Field Data Collection
GIS Web Application to Identify and Manage Critical Geological Hazard Data

Challenge
Geological Hazard Abatement Districts (GHADs) are charged with managing geological hazards within their district. They needed an efficient, easy-to-use tool for managing hazard report / monitoring information and a way to quickly visualize this data.
Solution
Farallon developed a high performance web application using Farallon's flexible and cost effective framework. The application allows the GHADs to more effectively protect homeowners from geologic hazards occurring within their community by providing an intuitive and powerful decision support system with low cost, high speed, and easy scalability. Read more details...
Categories: Web Applications, Enterprise Mashups, Geodatabase Design
Farallon builds Emergency Operations Center (EOC) incident management application for MTC

Challenge
In order to effectively manage unpredictable events in real time, MTC's Emergency Operations Center needed an incident management application with a clean, intuitive interface optimized to streamline the collection of incident data, as well as the display of incident locations relative to other critical data sets.
Solution
Farallon created a robust web-based incident management application that enables users to register and flag emergencies on a map, report routine incidents such as service delays, add emergency routing and response information and generate summary reports. EOC can now effectively manage and assess large volumes of continuously generated data in real time, and to distribute this data to all relevant personnel. Read more details...
Categories: Web Applications, GIS/IT Integration, Geodatabase Design, Transportation & Linear Networks
Contra Costa Economic Development website integrates spatially-aware database and MS Virtual Earth

Challenge
To promote economic development, Contra Costa County Community Development Department wanted a website to help real estate professionals and business owners search for properties available for development or new business locations.
Solution
Farallon developed an easy-to-use "GIS Site Locator" website that lets users enter parameters such as price range and square footage, then view matching properties on a map in MS Virtual Earth. Click on a property to display additional information, including photographs, driving directions and current traffic conditions. An RSS feed automatically keeps users updated of relevant new properties. Read more details...
Categories: Web Applications, Enterprise Mashups, Property Review, GIS/IT Integration, Business Intelligence Systems, Geodatabase Design, Open Standards Solutions
City of Santa Rosa: Utilities Geodatabase Deployment and Integration

Challenge
The City of Santa Rosa needed to automate the process of populating the asset inventory in its Asset Management System based on information in the utility maps generated with AutoCAD.
Solution
Farallon developed a GIS data model in an ESRI geodatabase that is populated from AutoCAD and uploads it to the City's Hansen Asset Management Software.
Read more details...
Categories: GIS/IT Integration, Asset Management Systems, Geodatabase Design, Utility System Data Modeling
City of Oakland, CA Enterprise GIS and Master Address Database Development

Challenge
The City of Oakland wanted to improve the efficiency, automation and integration of its location-based data, improve the usefulness and accuracy of its existing parcel data, and develop an enterprise geodatabase to expand city services.
Solution
Farallon built an enterprise-scale parcel database using spatially accurate orthophotographs and then implemented a master address database (MAD), providing the City with a comprehensive inventory of the City's addresses. The system also tied in other outside data sources including the Alameda Assessor's property database and Oakland permit tracking database. Read more details...
Categories: Web Applications, Notification, Property Review, GIS/IT Integration, Master Address Database, Geodatabase Design
Getty Conservation Institute Web-Based GIS for Managing Jordanian Antiquities

Challenge
The Getty Conservation Institute working with the World Monuments Fund and the Jordanian Department of Antiquities wanted to develop a new national GIS to assist in inventorying, monitoring, and managing the thousands of archaeological sites in Jordan
Solution
Farallon is developing a Web-based, bilingual (Arabic-English) system that will be used by inspectors, archaeologists, scholars, and government planners involved in cultural heritage management and research. The scalable solution using open source software, will subsequently be adapted for use in Iraq and possibly other countries in the region. Read more details...
Categories: Web Applications, GIS/IT Integration, Asset Management Systems, Geodatabase Design, Open Standards Solutions, Planning & Training, GIS Needs Asssessment
Farallon Helps Caltrans Improve Accuracy of States County Route Postmile System

Challenge
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) wanted to improve the accuracy of the county route postmile system by accurately determining locations where highways cross county lines.
Solution
Farallon helped Caltrans to determine locations of the intersection of highway centerline and county boundary crossings for selected sites, within 5 meters of true, using three different technical approaches to determining highway centerlines. Read more details...
Categories: Geodatabase Design, Transportation & Linear Networks, GPS Field Data Collection
Integrating MDOT’s business data with its geographic data using Oracle Spatial

Challenge
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is responsible for planning, designing, building and operating the state's transportation network. MDOT's existing LRS implementation was not geographically referenced . This limited their ability to automate data validation or perform real-time spatial analyses of their network.
Solution
Farallon developed a data model to support MDOT's transportation system workflows and integrated the data with Oracle Spatial. Farallon also developed dynamic segmentation procedures to link tabular data (e.g. traffic reports) to on-the-fly to visualization of road segments. MDOT can now access mapping and business data dynamically. Read more details...
Categories: Geodatabase Design, Transportation & Linear Networks, Planning & Training, GIS Needs Asssessment
Town of Hillsborough Enterprise Geodatabase Development

Challenge
The Town of Hillsborough had devoted time and resources to initiating a GIS on a departmental desktop-level basis. To minimize data duplicities, increase data accessibility, and make data manageable by Town staff, they needed an enterprise GIS implementation.
Solution
Farallon devised a three-part solution that included building a RDBMS- based enterprise GIS, developing two web-based GIS applications (property review and notification) and training Town staff to manage their data and applications. Read more details...
Categories: Web Applications, Notification, Geodatabase Design, Planning & Training, Training & Technology Transfer