Brown County online GIS
Map Update Schedules
How often is the online GIS map updated?
A GIS is comprised of map layers & information from many different sources. A common question we receive is: How often are the individual map layers updated? Here are some general update schedules:
Base Map layers
Our “Standard Base Map” is updated weekly. This default base map includes many layers including roads, parks, schools, parcel outlines, addresses, and other information. The map updates run weekly but there are some caveats:
Address numbers are assigned by the municipality (not the county) in most cases. The County makes every effort to collect addressing information from
each municipality so that information is up-to-date. Every address in the county should be in our system. If you find any that are missing, please contact the Land Information Office at 920-448-6295 and we will work with the addressing administrator to update the county address database.
Building outlines (building ‘footprints’) are NOT complete county wide. Building outlines are mapped by the municipality on an irregular schedule; The County will collect and building outlines as they become available from these other organizations. Note that in most cases, we will have the address number up-to-date in our system, but the building outline may not be mapped graphically because the address map layer is separate from the building outline map layer.
Most of the aerial photo base maps are named with the year taken (for example, Aerials-Summer 1938). In years past there has been no consistent schedule as far as when flights were completed, although since 2000 we have been collecting photos at least every 5 years.
The “Landscape” base map shows terrain with a hillshade effect. This was created using topographic data shot from the 2010 LiDAR flight (same source as the 2010 contour overlay). We hope to obtain new LiDAR data in 2020 or sooner.
Overlay Map Layers
The overlay layers are updated approximately on the following schedule:
Municipal Boundaries: Updated as needed (annexations, etc are generally put into the GIS within a week of the time they are recorded by the Register of Deeds)
Airport Zoning: As needed (very infrequenly)
POWTS (Private Onsite Waste Treatment Systems) are updated approximately weekly
Flood Mapping is updated on FEMA’s schedule (which is very infrequent; last countywide update was in 2009). However:
We do track changes known as “LOMAs or LOMRs” (Letters of Map Amendment and Letters of Map Revision). These changed areas show as red outlined areas in our Flood Mapping layer. We will update these as often as we receive the information from FEMA. Use the “Identify Drilldown” tool, click on the map, click the “LOMA/LOMR” from the list and then you can view the date the LOMA or LOMR was approved and view the associated PDF maps and letter from FEMA.
PLSS (Public Land Survey System) section lines, section corners, forty lines, etc: Updated as needed. Corner tie sheets (PDFs available using Identify Drilldown) are input by our County Surveyor as they are updated.
Districts & Wards: Updated soon after redistricting is completed every 10 years (last redistricting process was in 2011).
Schools/School Districts: Updated as needed
Parks: Updated as needed
Outdoor Warning Sirens: Updated as needed
Addresses: Address numbers should be no more than one week old (see Base Map information above)
Parcels: Updated daily, though there may be some delays from the time the document is recorded by the Register of Deeds to the time the map is updated.
Parcel Ownership: Updated daily, same as above
Survey Index: Not complete in the City of Green Bay; updates are being put in as time permits
Transportation: Roads, railroads, etc are updated as needed. We will generally show “proposed” streets as soon as plats are recorded by the Register of Deeds, and then we will change them from “Proposed” as they are built, when we are made aware that construction is complete.
Elevation Contours have a date on them. The 2010 contours were produced using our April 2010 LiDAR flight. We hope to do another LiDAR flight (which will produce contours) by 2020 or sooner if budgets allow.
Wetlands: The DNR WWI (Wisconsin Wetland Inventory) map layer is maintained by the Wisconsin DNR. The County will collect updated data and update this map layer whenever we are aware of changes.
Lakes & Rivers: Updated as needed
ESAs & Shoreland Zones: Updated as needed
Soils: This map layer is maintained by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The County will collect this data from the NRCS and update this map layer whenever we are aware of changes.
