first published week of: 01/02/2012
New Century Software released a new product suite that streamlines the process of creating a pipeline centerline and simplifies the tasks associated with linear referencing. Centerline Design Toolkit is a robust and easy-to-implement Esri ArcMap extension that adds to the already large portfolio of software products tailored to help oil and gas operators increase the accuracy and integrity of GIS pipeline data.
Centerline Design Toolkit consists of a number of individual tools for viewing and creating linear data. These tools simplify common tasks that can be difficult to perform with complex geo-processing work flows, such as connecting GPS points to create a line, assigning 2D or 3D measures, and generating events with stationing. All of these tasks are necessary and now achievable in less time with this toolkit. This product is highly flexible, providing a robust set of tools for performing complicated operations, yet it’s easy to install and use without formal training.
One of the main features within this toolkit is the Centerline Constructor. The tool can generate the measure of a polyline from a variety of vertices sources, including survey features, ILI inspection, and existing centerline data. Vertices from existing ArcGIS feature layers can also be used. Centerline Constructor also allows users to measure by distance or attribute. This tool intersects the centerline layer with points, lines, and polygons to show the in and out stationing. This is often useful when mapping township/section/range, counties, or high consequence areas.
“We have been listening to the industry and to what operators are struggling with,” says Todd Porter, VP of Business Development at New Century Software. He continues, “there are certain tasks that Operators must be able to perform with little to no impact on their internal resources. Centerline Design Toolkit will improve the GIS analyst productivity and simplify the training process.”
Another feature of Centerline Design Toolkit is Station Locator. Station Locator is an ArcGIS-based tool that allows users to quickly identify pipeline stationing in ArcMap. Station Locator lets users easily obtain specific location information, such as measure, series, station, and x/y coordinate information, for any location along a pipeline. Station Locator works with pipeline data stored in a personal geo–database or ArcSDE. Additional features of Centerline Design Toolkit include: