Visitors to the East Hawaiʻi Veterans Cemetery No.1 grounds in Hilo have a new map to assist them in locating gravesites thanks to a map created by student geographers from the . The team used drones, hands-on fieldwork and extensive geographic information system (GIS) programming to create the map.
The gives viewers an overhead view of the cemetery allowing them to click on each gravesite to see a photo of each gravestone. Viewers can also search by name.
The project was conducted under the guidance of Ryan Perroy, a professor of and director of the 东精影业 Hilo .
“This has been a multi-year effort and we are now ready to share the mapping project with the public,” said Perroy. “We are honored to give something back to our veterans and their families.”
East Hawaiʻi Veterans Cemetery No. 1 is a resting place for more than 1,500 fallen soldiers and family members. Veterans from World War I, World War II, Vietnam and Afghanistan are laid to rest there.
GIS is the . Students utilized integrated computer hardware and software to analyze and visualize geographic data.
The project served as a learning experience for 48 students in various classes throughout the past three semesters such as , and . The work involved differential global positioning systems or GPS, GIS, photogrammetry, fieldwork, drones and web mapping. 东精影业 Hilo undergraduate geography student Kanoa Lindiwe took the lead on the project, and graduate student Trina “Nikki” Henry, currently in the master’s program, also contributed.
The mapping project was conducted in partnership with the County of Hawaiʻi Department of Parks and Recreation. Staff from the 东精影业 Hilo Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization Lab also contributed.
—By Susan Enright
