CKIS—GIS in Cave and Karst ManagementBernie Szukalski

ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute)Cave Research Foundation GIS Resource Development Program

380 New York StreetRedlands CA 92373-8100

Telephone: (909) 793-2853, extension 1-1315Email: bszukalski@esri.com

Mike YocumGIS Resource Development Program

Cave Research Foundation329 East Main Street

Frankfort KY 40601-2331Telephone: (502) 227-7254Email: myocum@mis.net

AbstractAbstractAbstractAbstract

A Cave and Karst Information System (CKIS) is a specialized type ofgeographic information system (GIS). Common tasks and issues are foundin developing a CKIS when compared with other types of GISs, but devel-oping a CKIS also presents a unique set of problems, issues, and considera-tions. ArcView GIS is a popular desktop GIS software product that includestools, extensions, and customization capabilities that provide a robustframework for data management and visualization of cave survey dataand inventories, as well as a substrate for both analytic and interpretiveapplications. Several prototypes have been implemented that have demon-strated the usefulness of cave and karst information systems and ArcViewGIS. Preliminary work has yielded specialized code and techniques forvisualization and data management. This work has also identified issuesand shortcomings that future work will need to address.

In recent years the significance of karst andcaves has achieved widespread recognition. Aspointed out by the National Park Service’s Na-tional Cave Management Coordinator, RonalKerbo, cave and karst systems are important fortwo major reasons:

Firstly, most of the nation’s freshwater re-sources are groundwater. About 25% of thegroundwater is located in cave and karst re-gions. The National Geographic Society notesthat water resources are a critical concern associety enters the 21st century. The protectionand management of these vital water resourcesare critical to public health and to sustainableeconomic development.

Secondly, caves are storehouses of informa-tion on natural resources, human history, andevolution. Many avenues of research can bepursued in caves. Recent studies indicate thatcaves contain valuable data that are relevant toglobal climate change, waste disposal, ground-water supply and contamination, petroleumrecovery, and biomedical investigations. Caves

also contain data that are pertinent to anthro-pological, archaeological, geological, paleon-tological, and mineralogical discoveries andresources.

None of the components of this interlockingset of resources can be wisely managed withoutunderstanding their systemic relationshipswith the many other components. Under-standing, protecting, managing, and conserv-ing such an extraordinarily rich and complexset of resources requires tools capable of inte-grating, manipulating, and querying the infor-mation used to describe their many facets.

In 1997, recognizing that Geographic Infor-mation Systems (GIS) technology was rapidlybecoming one of the most effective approachesto cave and karst resource management, theCave Research Foundation established a GISResource Development Program under the di-rection of Mike Yocum. The goal of the pro-gram is to assist Cave Research Foundationpersonnel, federal agency staff, and other re-searchers access and utilize spatial data, GIS

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applications, and other software tools for thepurpose of cave and karst resource manage-ment. A longer-term goal is to use GIS to de-velop a collective knowledge and support basefor cave conservation, protection and manage-ment.

The importance of cave and karst researchwas also recognized at leading GIS softwarevendor Environmental Systems Research Insti-tute (ESRI), with the establishment of an ESRICave and Karst Conservation Program and anESRI Cave and Karst Special Interest Groupcoordinated by Bernie Szukalski, an Environ-mental Systems Research Institute ProductManager.

The Cave Research Foundation GIS Re-source Development Program is drawing to-gether GIS expertise to assist in thedevelopment of Cave and Karst InformationSystems (CKIS). Cave Research Foundation GISpersonnel include individuals with broad andvaried expertise, who can provide resources,support, assistance, services, and tools to aidresearchers both understand and effectivelymanage caves and karst.

Critical requirements in the CKIS develop-ment process are a survey of currently usedsoftware and methods, an inventory of existingdata and data formats, a user needs assessment,a knowledge of training needs, and the initia-tion of a core CKIS prototype that can be testedand elaborated to provide specific tools andapplications suited to the varying needs of dif-ferent users.

As a first step in developing a prototypeCKIS, the Cave Research Foundation, in coop-eration with the Kentucky Office of GeographicInformation Systems, convened a CKIS Work-shop in Frankfort, Kentucky on November 12and 13, 1998.

The workshop was devoted to discussingcommon GIS goals and problems, as well asindividual needs of the agencies represented,which were: the Cave Research Foundation,the Center for Cave and Karst Studies, EwersWater Consultants, Environmental Systems Re-search Institute, the Kentucky Division ofWater, the Kentucky Geological Survey, theKentucky Office of Geographic InformationSystems, the National Park Service, and NCADCorporation.

Meeting activities included a demonstrationof some of the possible uses of ArcView GIS formanaging, querying and analyzing data; discus-sions of methods participants currently use formanaging cave and karst data; hardware; soft-ware, and data types and formats.

This meeting highlighted the need for bothan introduction to GIS and to the potential uses

of specialized GIS applications that focus oncaves and karst.

What is GIS? GIS is a technology that incor-porates various kinds of data and relates themto spatial data, enabling visualization of rela-tionships among the various data sets. A GISdatabase is typically organized in various layersor themes that represent objects in the realworld.

The range of data that is now routinely beingintegrated into GIS applications is enormous,as its usefulness is recognized in both govern-ment and private business. But regardless ofthe content, the data is organized in similarways: layers or themes containing features thatrepresent objects in the real world. The fea-

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tures can be characterized by their attributes,which are stored in tables or databases linkedto the features. The attributes can also belinked to other data. The features and theirattributes can be displayed and queried by theirattributes.

Using the tools provided by GIS softwaresuch as ArcView GIS and its extensions, datacan be integrated, displayed, queried, and ana-lyzed in many ways, depending upon the needsof the user.

Data can also be used for modeling andvisualization.

The first steps in building a cave and karstinformation system are to collect and integrate

data. This begins with the collection of cavesurvey data in the field, adding other types ofdata as needed for the particular application.

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Data types can include such varied items asdate, time, yes/no (presence or absence of dataitem), feature type (e.g., swallet), matrix, x-ycoordinates, x-y-z coordinates, flow velocity,discharge rate, solute concentration, tempera-ture, specific conductance, pH, stage (level),relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction,evaporation rates, number (e.g., of a species),air quality indicators, or microgravity readings.In addition to cave related data, the project mayalso include many types of surface data such asbiological data for fire management or vegeta-tion studies.

The format of the data included in the pro-ject may depend upon the nature of the outputrequired for the final product. Are the featuresto be analyzed simple or complex? Does theproject need raster or vector data?

Of particular interest for cave and karst stud-ies are the various types of surface data avail-able from the U.S. Geological Survey. Theformats are DRG, DEM, DOQQ, and DLG.

The DRG (Digital Raster Graphic) is simply ascanned and georeferenced topographic sheet.The DEM (Digital Elevation Model), a sampledarray of elevation values at regular spacings, isa georeferenced raster format used for creatingsurfaces. The DOQQ (Digital Ortho QuarterQuadrangle) is a georeferenced aerial photo-graph. The DLG (Digital Line Graph) is derived

from USGS topographic quads, and displayscontour lines with their elevations as attributes.

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To integrate cave survey data into an ArcViewGIS application it needs to be converted to ashapefile format. Currently there are two waysof doing this. Walls, by David McKenzie, ex-ports shapefiles directly.

CaveTools, a free ArcView GIS extension,developed by Bernie Szukalski, converts theplot file output from Larry Fish’s Compass pro-gram to shapefile format. CaveTools also allowsregistration of any station for which the realworld coordinates are known, as well as an x,y or z shift of the shapefile.

Once the cave survey data has been con-verted to a GIS compatible format, integrationwith other data types can take place. The sim-

plest display is simply cave survey data as ashapefile line plot, which can be either two- orthree-dimensional. This can be overlaid onother data as shown below.

Uses and data types will vary with the needs ofthe project. GIS can incorporate not only tabulardata, but also graphics files and even video (AVIfiles) that can be linked to specific features.

One of the currently most popular uses forcave survey data in GIS is three-dimensionalvisualization. The examples below show Hid-den River Cave, in Horse Cave, Kentucky. Onthe left the shapefile of the cave survey data isoverlaid on a relief map of the area. On the rightthe same shapefile is overlaid on a DOQQwhich in turn is draped over the relief map.

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The images below also illustrate three-di-mensional visualization. Both show aspects ofthe Mammoth Cave system in Kentucky.

The use of GIS in cave and karst resourcemanagement is at the earliest stages. The primarychallenges facing those who would use it aregaining familiarity with GIS software and collect-ing and storing data in a format that is sufficientlystandardized for GIS application. In terms of thesoftware’s capability, it is a trivial matter to query:“Find all springs with at least 20cfm flow within500 feet of the quartzite/marble contact that arelocated within 1,000 feet of a fault and within azoning area permitting industrial usage.” Interms of data availability and compatibility, thatquery would be difficult for most researchers.

At this stage, resource managers who arecontemplating the use of GIS need to considerseveral issues:• the questions that researchers seek to an-

swer by querying data,• data layers (themes) that might be included,• existing types and formats of data,• a “candidate” list of suggested data fields,

along with their source,• metadata, and• the possible need for systems management

and support in developing cave and karstspecific GIS applications.

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