Sam Squillante - GIS Analyst
When setting out to use GIS for Campus or Facility management, it is important to understand what type of data tracking challenges are currently present in your organization. This gets increasingly important to determine as organizations grow larger, start to create more data, and compile more historic records. These challenges typically revolve around the subject of modern-day data storage, but include the following:
Lack of access to up-to-date data
Lack of organization due to data silos
Difficulty sharing data and distributing across organizations
Time spent measuring areas to determine space needs
Financial costs associated with data storage inefficiency
In order to combat the above challenges for data management, it is necessary to set up a ‘Geospatial Strategy’. A ‘Geospatial Strategy’ is Esri terminology used to describe the process of setting up an outline for how data will be handled over a period of time. There are many components to a geospatial strategy, including the following:
Spatial Requirements
Ex. Defining coordinate systems
Accuracy Requirements
Ex. Data Formats, Naming Conventions
Tracking Authoritative Data Sources and Access
Ex. Where data will reside and who will have what type of access
Data Environment Considerations
Ex. ArcGIS Online, Hosted Enterprise, Enterprise on Premise, Hybrid
Data Architecture Diagrams
Ex. Campus Mapping Data Schema, such as the ArcGIS Indoors Information Model
Geospatial strategy also deals with non-data, project related aspects, like projecting project timelines or key stakeholders. These strategies should answer questions like the spatial accuracy of walls, what else is needed from CAD, and how elevation is planned to be dealt with in features. When developing a Geospatial Strategy for Floorplans, we highly suggest using elevation as that is what helps make the data more dynamic and come to life during visualization. In general, the term strategy is meant to imply a plan to manage geospatial data over a long period of time. Geospatial strategies should be developed whenever possible and are especially important when planning to track projects and data out over extended time periods.
It is useful to breakdown naming conventions by pieces of data used to assemble the feature. For example, one university’s file naming conventions would break down data and folders using a set up similar to ‘Type_Building_Project#_Date_Discipline_Floor#_etc…’ This allows a user to easily step up or down the file path to see where data is coming from/ where it is funneled to. In our work, we often find that Clients start organizing buildings by facility type, then focus on specific building. Data types can include an array of different objects, but include elements such as As-builts, Shop Plans, Schematic Designs, and Records. Disciplines are commonly used in CAD mapping, so they should be familiar if you have dealt with CAD data. This helps categorize the type of data information provided and is useful in the conversion to GIS data through specific Indoor tools.
When starting floorplan projects, you will eventually face two scenarios: either the building will have useable CAD/BIM data, or you will have to collect your own. If you have access to pre-existing digitized plans, all that you will need is to run a geoprocessing tool to convert them to GIS data and then georeference the data. Ground control points help in the georeferencing process, but if the aerial imagery is of poor quality, it may sometimes be better to take your own drone imagery.
When presented with no plans, another step needs to be added. Luckily, collecting data is a lot easier these days with the use of mobile scanning/data collection equipment. These units can be used to capture floorplans with a simple process of collecting the scan data, extracting the data from the device, processing the data, and then georeferencing the data. In a recent project, we were able to generate cross-sections of a building by pulling out all collected points within a 3-ft height range. After symbolizing the data by height, we could use this data to line up where floorplans should be or digitize if needed.
Once data was collected and stored in GIS formats, we used a combination of ArcGIS tools to track, distribute, and share files. ArcGIS Desktop tools (ArcGIS Pro) provides an Indoor extension that gives users the ability to load floor plans from CAD/BIM environments straight to GIS. This tool helps to convert and place the data into the ArcGIS Indoors Information Model as well, allowing for simple data standardization. Floorplan viewers are also available to spatially track floorplan information within application environments. At one point, we created a spatial plan layer that could hold attachments, symbolized by no-fill polygons with red borders. We were able to use an application to toggle floor level and then create these polygons where needed to store attachments and other plan information in them. If plans were even more specific, it is always easy to add plan links/attachments to the unit/facility layer themselves.
Overall, organizing digital floorplans and as-builts can be an efficient process if a geospatial strategy is used in combination with ArcGIS tools. Once you’ve identified the main challenges posed to your organization, design and develop a detailed geospatial strategy to gain the insight of what data you have and where you want it to go. If you need to collect new floor plan data, use a scanner, such as a SLAM based mobile walk-through unit, to optimize data collection. Finally, georeference all collected plan information to be accurately located. A combination of ArcGIS tools allows for spatial engagement of historic plan data and assists in making the plan data more accessible. If you would like to learn more about how to create a geospatial strategy for your campus or for pricing on collecting detailed floor plan information, contact our Indoors Team or call 877-377-8124.