Abstract

The creation of an information system for various facilities is crucial as it is a vital instrument for effective urban management, especially in the areas of monitoring the state of such facilities to ensure adequate maintenance, ease of access, etc. This paper focuses on how remote sensing and other modern techniques can aid in developing a buildings’ information system (BIS) for the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus. It comprised mapping the university environment, particularly the buildings within its boundary as well as developing a database containing the attributes of these buildings. Satellite images of the campus were downloaded and a map of buildings in the campus was developed through geo-referencing and digitizing. A database for the attribute information related to these buildings was also developed and finally the database was linked to the map. This project was carried out using application packages such as Microsoft Excel, QGIS 2.4.0, PostgreSQL 9.3.1, and a Hand-held global positioning system (GPS) receiver for ground-truthing. It is recommended that the accurate identification of buildings in the campus, especially in the residential quarters be improved by placement of number tags as this was a challenge encountered during the course of this project. Beyond this project, it is also of great essence to develop an information system for all other utilities on campus so as to achieve a harmonized and complete information system inventory for the university as it will greatly aid the management and maintenance of these utilities.

Key words: Buildings’ information system (BIS), spatial data, attributes data, database management system (DBMS), geographic information system (GIS).