The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) selected DJ&A and a teaming partner to build a massive geodatabase of interment sites for 86 National Cemeteries across 46 U.S. states. DJ&A is responsible for all surveying, mapping, and geospatial data integration for this four-year project.

Feature attributes are being documented as ESRI ArcGIS Shapefiles, Feature Classes and Feature Tables, and are being organized within multiple Geodatabases. Images are then linked to features through ESRI map documents. Microsoft Access Databases are also built, storing attribute information with links to imagery. Extensive QA/QC systems were developed to meet the VA’s requirement to certify 100% accuracy for all delivered data.

Key Services

• Performed terrestrial based LIDAR and GPS surveys to locate headstones, flat marker, niche cover, and cemetery infrastructure hard points to determine latitude/longitude/elevation
• Documented feature attributes as an Environment Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS shapefile (.shp) and Geodatabase files (.gdb) and creating ESRI map documents
• Produced Microsoft Access 2010 and Excel 2010 interment databases of headstones, markers, and niches with linked photos of headstones
• Cross-referenced all field headstone and flat marker inscription data collected under this contract against the existing VA provided Burial Operations Support System (BOSS) database to determine and flag all discrepancies between the two databases
• Provided a plan and reported progress weekly
• Provided a letter certifying the accuracy of the survey upon completion of each cemetery
• Converted AutoCAD cemetery gravesite map drawings into ArcGIS Geodatabase format

Value Added

Over the past two years, the project team has spent more than 400 hours developing multiple project-specific quality assurance procedures to deliver this massive project with 100% accuracy.