Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Services

Service Managers

TIPS Service Managers are the primary contacts between TIPS and its customers. All Service Managers are members of the TIPS Service Manager Team and the National TIPS Team. The goals of the Service Managers are to communicate the TIPS mission; maintain relationships with the TIPS user community; and provide value added services to meet those needs.

Software

TIPS provides a core suite of off-the-shelf software to assist with the implementation of SMCRA requirements. This ensures that all SMCRA offices and industries can use and share the same software tools to administer the SMCRA. This software also allows state and tribal offices to use advanced scientific software, without the expensive cost of maintaining their own individual licenses and maintenance agreements.

For support on TIPS software, contact the following support teams:

  • CAD Team: Computer Aided Design software for mapping and reclamation design
  • GIS Team: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software for geographically referenced maps and information
  • Hydrology Team: software tools for modeling and analyzing surface and ground-water impacts on the environment
  • Mobile Computing Team: Global Positioning System (GPS), and tablet computing systems and software suitable for field use
  • Remote Sensing Team: imagery collected from satellites and aerial cameras for use in analyzing environmental impacts on the ground

TIPS uses KeyServer, FlexLM, and Sentinel to manage its software licenses.

Regardless of which license management product is in use for individual software, all TIPS software users must install the latest KeyServer Client/Access on their machine prior to installing new software versions. This is a requirement from the TIPS program to allow for adequate collection of license and server usage statistics.

Please contact your Service Manager for installation instructions and the latest KeyClient/Access version.

 

Field Equipment

TIPS has been instrumental in seeding scientific field equipment to the State and Tribes responsible for the implementation of SMCRA requirements. The TIPS "seed" program provides field equipment to these offices for use and testing. TIPS will also loan high-end scientific field equipment to SMCRA programs for use on a project-by-project basis to eliminate unnecessary costs and inefficiencies. 

The goal of this exchange is to allow these offices the ability to make informed decisions on their needs for additional field equipment. This program ensures SMCRA personnel stay on the forefront of scientific technology. 

Disclaimer: Reference in this site to any specific commercial product, process or service or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is solely to provide  information to the public and does not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement or the U.S. Department of Interior. 

For more information on any of the equipment listed above, please contact your Service Manager.

**Equipment requires OSMRE operators/experts to travel with and operate it on your project. 

The UAS' are currently grounded. 

For more information on any of the equipment listed above, please contact your Service Manager.

Geospatial

Geospatial data provides a “place-based” perspective. This data illustrates the geographic impacts of mining operations on the environment and the surrounding communities. As the mining industry transitions to digitizing its permitting and performance information, OSMRE remains committed to the use of geospatial technologies to uphold SMCRA requirements.

OSMRE and SMCRA partners are able to engage in better decision-making and inform the public more effectively by implementing geospatial technologies, processes and data analysis. A GIS-based analysis capability allows OSMRE to more effectively examine national and local coal-mining and environmental implications.

Access GeoMine at https://geomine.osmre.gov

GeoMine is an interactive web-based mapping application of coal mining and reclamation activities within the United States. It is an ongoing effort to provide the best available data for surface coal mining operations across the country, merging data from numerous sources to create standardized, seamless layers that cross state boundaries. The application also includes associated authoritative data from other federal agencies and is capable of ingesting other geospatial data users may require.

This application incorporates recent satellite imagery and allows users to download geospatial data for offline use. GeoMine does not serve as the sole source of the host of data needed by state and federal agencies tasked with making SMCRA or ESA determinations or other decisions; however, it does support decision-making processes associated with surface coal mining activities by improving accessibility to geospatial data and enhancing understanding of individual data layers by visualizing their geographic relationships to one another. The map is updated as state program data are created and made available.

Initial participants included OSMRE, US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), coal mining regulatory authorities in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, and the Interstate Mining Compact Commission. Geospatial layers were designed using approved American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Coal Mining and Reclamation Data Standards.

GeoMine Data Dictionary : GeoMine Data Dictionary.pdf

Surface Coal Mining Information in GeoMine (as of August 2024):

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Cherokee Nation
  • Choctaw Nation
  • Colorado
  • Crow Tribe
  • Hopi Tribe
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • Montana
  • Muskogee (Creek) Nation
  • Navajo Nation
  • New Mexico
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wyoming

OSMRE ArcMap End of Life (EOL) took effect July 31, 2024.

All OSMRE offices, States & Tribes need to transition from ArcMap to ArcPro. TIPS has created an OSMRE Esri Training and Support Hub to aid in the transition.

This geospatial satellite data is accessible to OSMRE employees and our SMCRA partners. Contact us for a quick needs assessment, access, or if you just have questions at gis@osmre.gov.  Three of the Planet Labs products are described below: 

Monthly Surface Reflectance 8 band Basemaps (currently 13 WR Areas of Interest)  

This product is a mosaic created from the best daily image collects and has been atmospherically corrected. Inspectors can use different band combinations to highlight specific features such as vegetation, impoundments, and geologic features. 

PlanetScope Daily Scenes and Monthly Global Basemaps (2-10m resolution)  

PlanetScope scenes are collected daily and in some cases, multiple times in a day. The images can be used to monitor mining or reclamation activity over short periods of time, or to view the site after events such as a highwall failure that occurred in a specific day. The monthly and global basemaps can be used to view changes over longer periods of time. 

SkySat Flexible Tasking (<2m resolution)  

These higher resolution images can be used to see features on the ground in greater detail. The collects can be scheduled for a specific time of interest. A stereo collect can be tasked; this will allow for the creation of a surface elevation model. 

Want to submit an imagery request? Follow this link: OSMRE WRGISB Support Request * 

*Be advised, emergency AML projects are prioritized over any other requests.  For more details on this or any of our products please e-mail us at: gis@osmre.gov  

For Geospatial Inquiries please email a request to GIS@osmre.gov

For More Information

DISCLAIMER
Reference in this site to any specific commercial product, process, or service, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is solely to provide information to the public, and does not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement or the U.S. Department of the Interior.