Bellingham GIS

Overview of GIS

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) started being developed in the late 1960s and is the digital version of cartography. Cartography, the art of map making and surveying combined, has been traditionally used to make a physical map. This was often labor intensive and encompasses many hours if not days to generate. Now with GIS, we can update maps daily and with better accuracy. By using tools of aerial imagery, Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), our phones, and accurate survey equipment, we can collect more real-world assets with greater accuracy and precision. For instance, items you see in everyday life such as streets, fire hydrants, and houses, can be mapped in layers and styled or displayed on maps for print, web, and cloud. Together these asset types can be used to better serve residents and communities.

What is GIS?

GIS is a system of hardware, software, data, analysis, and maps. The computer, phone, tablet, GPS, or remote sensor to collect and manage GIS. Software comprises the mapping software, for example ArcGIS or AutoCAD, to use the data and store it. The data is everything in the built world collected per its type, like points for hydrants and signs, polygons for parcel boundaries and building footprints, and lines for street centerlines,  water / sewer pipes, and other items. Data can also be in tabular format and linked or joined to these layers for further enhancing information. This enhanced data helps where analysis is used, you can overlay water main pipes with parcels and perform a buffer analysis (an area around the asset by a set distance) to see if water is near your property. You can also select parcels on a street and use a nearest function to find water and sewer nearby. These can all be mapped for display or pushed to a web map.

History of GIS use in Bellingham

GIS has been used since the late 1990s here in Town. Many real-world items can be mapped and displayed on maps or used in analysis. Massachusetts GIS data has been developed for state and municipal use since the 1980s. There have also been "fly-overs" to digitally collect data from the air. Typically, data collected are

• edge of pavement (road asphalt width) (NOT the road right-of-way)
• driveways
• building footprints
• water bodies 
• important structures and assets around town

There are printed maps around town hall and on our website that have been produced with Bellingham's GIS or data. We also use MA State GIS, and Federal Data (where required) as well.

How Bellingham uses GIS

GIS has been an integral part of the town since 1998 and is widely used by the Department of Public Works, Assessing, Planning / Zoning, and Conservation Commission. We use GIS to create large-scale full-color maps, for powerful database management capabilities, for engineering, planning, and analysis, and to keep our water / sewer / stormwater assets up to date. Up to the present, we've been building the data layers and ensuring accuracy based on the layer type. In other words, some layers need more accuracy than others. For instance, water pipes and water gates need a higher level of precision and accuracy than zoning boundaries (which generally follow your property line). The Fire Department uses an App to show fire hydrants within a certain distance, when going to a call. Police department uses and integrated CAD (computer aided dispatch) system for calls and locations.

We are the data editors for the MapsOnline link on this page. We are continually editing the data for location and attribute accuracy. Each town department will own their data and is integrated into this system, but it can be viewed / shared by all departments and the public. See here.