The releasing of the 2010 imagery has everyone excited. However, there is another big announcement that coincides with this release; the launching of the new NC OneMap Geospatial Portal.

The launching of this portal sets the stage for NC OneMap to further develop the goal of creating the state's spatial data infrastructure. The Geospatial Portal allows people to not only discover and use geospatial data, but also services, sites, tools, models, or prepared maps. This means that the portal can be the one-stop shop for users looking for the geospatial resources of North Carolina.

Admittedly, the only content currently in the portal is related to the recently released 2010 imagery. However, we are working to get all of the map services and data currently found on the Get Data page of the NC OneMap website into the Geospatial Portal.

You can find geospatial resources by entering keywords or searching on the map. Resulting information provides more details about the resource(s). You are also able to view the full metadata record and preview the data/service. Another useful feature is the ability to embed the url for the resource into your web pages, which provides a direct link to the geospatial resource.

Want to search with your browser? No problem. The Geospatial Portal can be searched by any client software the implements OpenSearch.  Most common browsers support it including MS Internet Explorer (7+), Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. For a full listing you can visit their site. By adding the Geospatial Portal to the listing of search engines in your browser, you can search the contents of the portal just like you search Google. Specific instructions will vary by browser. However, an example using Firefox would include these steps:

1. Visit the search page of the Geospatial Portal
2. In the upper-right portion of the browser click the down arrow in the search box.
3. In the list, select "add NC OneMap Search."

The NC OneMap Geospatial Portal also allows you to stay updated on the latest additions to the portal by enabling you to subscribe to a GeoRSS feed. By subscribing to this feed you no longer have to visit the site to stay apprised of recent updates. You can also receive search results in html, kml, or json for use in your website or application.

As always, we are working hard to make NC OneMap an effective and convenient resource for geospatial information. We think the Geospatial Portal allows us to take a huge step forward to fulfilling that goal. If you have suggestions or think of an area that could use some improvement then please let us know.