The Data Process That Powers Elections in Utah (3 min)

With the cool winds blowing in and the birds flying south, fall is officially upon us. That means a few things: warm sweaters, yellow aspen leaves, and everyone's favorite method of getting a free sti

Mapping Utah's Housing Affordability (4 min)

Utahns are feeling the squeeze, and there's data to back it up. Housing affordability has become the top concern for residents, according to a recent 2024 Utah Foundation survey.That’s not surprising,

Version 7 of the UGRC website is here (3 min)

After months of hard work, we're thrilled to deploy version 7 of our UGRC website! We streamlined navigation making it easier than ever to find the information, data, and services you need. All of our

Results Update: Detecting Cooling Towers with Computer Vision Tools (4 min)

If you were at the 2023 Utah Geographic Information Council (UGIC) Conference in May, you remember that I presented on Generating Useful Data with Computer Vision Tools. But my second use case, detec

Trailheads, a Collaborative Approach (4 min)

At UGRC, we serve up datasets from a vast array of sources. Some, like municipal boundaries, are created in-house. Others are pulled from a single steward, like the land ownership data maintained by S

Utah Crushes Broadband Challenge through Collaboration (5 min)

Among the many lessons the Covid-19 pandemic taught us, we learned two things about high-speed internet. First, high download upload speeds are necessities in the modern world. Second, figuring out w

Is Your Home Close Enough to the Nearest Fire Station? (3 min)

Living close to a fire station can be noisy, but on the other hand, not living close enough can result in delayed, or even worse, inadequate fire service. The National Fire Protection Association (NFP

Weaving the Fabric - Building Authoritative Geospatial Datasets through Collaboration, Relationships, and Data Standards (6 min)

Many Hands Make Light WorkIt’s been said that it took about 100,000 humans to build the Pyramids of Giza and a similar number to build the Panama Canal. Prior to the internet, large-scale collaboratio

Choosing the Right Transformation (8 min)

Modern GIS software goes to great lengths to automate the mundane tasks and hide the boring stuff from us. As a relative newcomer to the field, I've heard the old-timers talk about how spoiled we are

AGRC Name Change to Utah Geospatial Resource Center (UGRC) (2 min)

During the 2021 General Session, the Utah Legislature agreed to change the name of AGRC to the Utah Geospatial Resource Center (UGRC), as passed in House Bill 261, “Geographic Reference Center Amendme

GIS as a Tool for Addressing Intergenerational Poverty (3 min)

Poverty and PlaceWe now know that poverty and place are connected. Numerous studies point to evidence showing that place matters a great deal to an individual’s economic outlook. This is particularly

GIS - Thinking Beyond the Map (8 min)

If you’re reading this post, you’re already aware that geospatial technology (a.k.a. GIS) has become an essential part of our daily lives. Its capabilities extend from small-scale phone applications a

Cognitive Maps - The Science Behind our Brain’s Internal Mapping and Navigation System (14 min)

I bet you remember where you were on the morning of September 11th, 2001 when you heard the news. I’d venture to say that you also remember the city, state, and room that you were standing in. But why

Digital Maps - How Chance, Timing, and Heritage Shaped Modern GIS (24 min)

When you dig into the history of mapping, it's remarkable how certain things come about. If you zoom in far enough, you discover seemingly coincidental occurrences that ended up playing pivotal roles

Meet Jake Adams - New UGRC Staff (4 min)

UGRC would like to welcome Jake Adams to the team! Jake will be using his GIS experience working with Cache County and Taylorsville City, as well as his Master of Urban and Regional Planning Degree, t

GIS Wisdom - Exploring the Reverse Approach (7 min)

Those of us working in GIS know that it's really powerful and that it's utilized in just about every industry. If you aren’t yet a true believer, you should check out this impressive list of uses.GIS

Meet Nathan Kota - New UGRC Staff (6 min)

UGRC would like to welcome Nathan Kota, the new Information Technology Manager. Nathan is going to help build and manage the development team as well as take our project management skills to the next

Mapping Utah’s Wireless Emergency Call Routing System (4 min)

UGRC recently assisted the Utah Communications Authority (UCA) on a project to map and analyze wireless 911 call delivery across Utah. The goal of the project was to provide local 911 communication ce

Now You Know: About the gis.utah.gov v6.0 Refresh (4 min)

Four years is a long time for anything, and that certainly applies to website releases. For a number of reasons, gis.utah.gov, has been overdue for a refresh.In releasing the new, updated gis.utah.gov