Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is Oregon Explorer?
Oregon Explorer is a comprehensive digital library of Oregon’s natural resources. This state-of-the-art, Web-based resource uses advanced information technology to access and integrate data from state and federal agencies, local governments, university scientists and citizens. It supports informed decisions and actions by people concerned with Oregon’s natural resources and environment.
Through a series of geographic, data and topic-based Web portals, Oregon Explorer helps users to quickly find, retrieve, integrate and synthesize well-organized information. The portals provide access to maps, charts, tables, data collections, photos, videos, reports and publications in highly interactive and visually engaging formats.
Who can use Oregon Explorer?
The site can be used by anyone with access to the Internet and there is no requirement to establish a user account or log in. It is a valuable tool for a broad range of users, from policy makers and analysts to reporters, academic researchers, educators, school children and private individuals.
Why was Oregon Explorer created?
The team that produced Oregon Explorer envisions it as Oregon’s “go-to” place for natural resources information. Users can develop customized data products and tools to support informed decision-making. The data can be used to streamline environmental permitting and target investments in order to improve natural resource and environmental management in the public and private sectors. Oregon Explorer empowers users to share their information with others, which will create shared understanding about Oregon’s natural resource and environmental issues, problems and opportunities and build community networks.
Who is responsible for Oregon Explorer?
Oregon Explorer is a collaborative effort between the Oregon University System's Institute for Natural Resources and Oregon State University Libraries. Click here to learn more about this partnership. Additional partners assist in maintaining individual portals on an ongoing basis.
When was it launched?
Phase one of the Oregon Explorer Web site was launched in June 2007. The next phase will be launched in April 2010.
What's planned for the next phase?
Oregon Explorer content is developed from an unlimited, ever-expanding collection. Each portal is developed based on demand and current issues. Oregon Explorer will eventually encompass all of the state’s 15 major water basins and additional topic areas, including wetlands, sustainable agriculture and possibly climate change.
How can Oregon Explorer benefit journalists?
In addition to serving as a comprehensive database, Oregon Explorer is a toolbox. Interactive maps let you zoom in and out as you explore a watershed or an ecosystem. GIS tools allow you to create customized maps by layering multiple sets of data. A statistics-reporting tool helps you generate charts, graphs and tables. Photos, videos and satellite images are available. Oregon Explorer also provides access to an archive of scholarly works.
At Oregon Explorer, reporters can also research trends and newsworthy topics of interest to all Oregonians. For example, at the Land Use Explorer site, users can view Measure 37 claims compiled by the Portland State University Institute for Portland Metropolitan Studies in 15 Oregon counties.
While this information is free for use in publications and online, we request that source of information is acknowledged, e.g., “Source: www.OregonExplorer.info”
How are individuals using Oregon Explorer?
Here are a few examples:
• Faye Stewart, a Lane County commissioner, says he’s impressed by the quality and quantity of demographic information he’s able to access on the Rural Communities Explorer. He’s able to glean valuable socioeconomic data for his district, as well as maps and geographic information. He says he especially appreciates the feature that allows him to hone in on areas of his district using aerial photos and apply overlays of land use designations and natural resources such as wetlands. “This is a powerful tool that will help me track trends in my district,” he says. “It also will be useful as we apply for block grants for facility upgrades.”
• As a former member of the Corvallis Planning Commission and a courtesy faculty member in the geosciences department at OSU, Denis White has an interest in land use planning issues. He says that when he went to the Land Use Explorer site to check on Measure 37 claims near his home, he made some startling discoveries. “To my knowledge, the Measure 37 viewer on the site is the only place on the Web to get detailed maps and information about individual claims,” he says. “It’s a very useful resource.”
• Jim Proctor is a professor and director of environmental studies at Lewis & Clark College. He is also board president of the Alder Creek Children’s Forest (ACCF), a nonprofit educational organization in Douglas County that provides environmental education to school-age children. He says Oregon Explorer has been a valuable learning tool for K-12 students in Douglas County who are exploring the Umpqua Basin and examining the watersheds within that region. ACCF uses Umpqua Basin Explorer to help students understand the ecosystems near their homes, and the Oregon Wildlife Explorer to see lists of wildlife that live there, as well as view wildlife habitats and photographs. “Oregon Explorer gives our students the opportunity to gain an understanding of the region so they have a deeper appreciation of it when we take them in the field to visit,” Proctor says. He adds that by using Oregon Explorer, students build skills in several disciplines, including science, social sciences, math and English.
• Carolyn Bales of Corvallis is a backpacker and bird watcher. She says she’s used the Willamette Basin Explorer a dozen times to plan outings and to locate access points to water where birds abound. “Oregon Explorer saves me from having to buy maps, and acquaints me with areas I might not have discovered otherwise,” she says.
When will the 2009 half-meter Orthoimagery be available?
We will have it online and accessible through the Imagery Explorer by summer 2010.
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is an organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display all forms of geographically referenced information.
A GIS combines layers of information about a place to give you a better understanding of that place. What layers of information you combine depends on your purpose—finding where wildfire fuel loadings are the highest, analyzing salmon habitat in relation to current locations of city limits, and so on.
