In addition to traditional sharing of information through publications and conference presentations, research in geographic information systems at The Ohio State University has spawned multiple outreach activities, technology transfer programs, and several commercial applications.

      As part of its mission as a NASA Commercial Space Center, the Center for Mapping has forged successful ties between its research staff and private industry and governmental agencies, resulting in commercial mapping products and better decision making. One such product, the GPSVan, maps transportation systems at normal traffic speeds. An OSU spin-off company is currently using this technology to map U.S. railroads. The Center for Mapping has also developed mapping technology for use in the construction industry. Another project, the GISOM Project, in cooperation with the USGS and four state agencies, is providing the state of Ohio with complete digital cartographic coverage to support multiple public and private sector projects dependent upon spatial data. A recent project, the Airborne Integrated Mapping System (AIMS^TM), is a fully digital data acquisition system for large-scale mapping and other precise positioning applications. This system will be installed in an aerial platform and will incorporate state-of-the-art GPS/INS positioning and imaging technologies (Charge-Coupled-Device (CCD), infrared, thermal).

      Extension efforts by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science include teaching one-week training courses in photogrammetry for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1990-1992. Researchers in civil engineering also developed a real-time coastal prediction system called The Great Lakes Forecasting System (GLFS) that can been downloaded on a daily basis through an interactive computer package called GLFSView. These data products are being used by the National Weather Service, universities and commercial companies. Civil Engineering faculty also staff one-day courses for the Ohio Transportation Technology Transfer Center on Geographic Information Systems and Transportation.

      The School of Natural Resources has several databases and inventories in cooperation with several federal, state, and local agencies in support of its dual missions in natural resource management and policy development. These projects include an inventory of Ohio statutes related to land and geographic records, development of GIS in the Reclamation Division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and an analysis of land use planning in Medina County, Ohio.