Abstract:
The Pima Association of Governments (PAG) serves as the metropolitan planning organization for the Tucson region and its member jurisdictions (cities of Tucson and South Tucson, towns of Marana, Oro Valley and Sahuarita, and Pima County). The region is rapidly growing, with a current population over 866,000, and is located 60 miles north of Mexico and 100 miles southeast of Phoenix. This paper discusses PAG's inter-jurisdictional digital orthophoto project, highlighting the regional coordination necessary to conduct the project and to integrate Geographic Information System (GIS) data with the orthophoto products. Practical applications are discussed, along with the tool used to disseminate the information, PAG's web-based Regional Data Center. Transportation planning applications for the orthophoto data (along with GIS data) include: feature identification and inventory, change detection, preliminary design studies for intersection improvements, right-of-way mapping, and road alignment studies. Many other applications are being performed in growth management and land use planning, environmental analysis, hydrology, and floodplain mapping.
