Story from the Lawrence Journal-World
Friday, January 10, 2003

KU project puts Lawrence on 3-D map
Detailed, scale images could give emergency personnel a leg up in disasters

After the World Trade Center towers collapsed, researchers with three-dimensional, computerized maps were on the scene to help locate areas where people might be trapped or where fires were burning.

If the mapping system worked for New York City, Jerry Dobson figured it would work for Lawrence.

"It proved its worth so much," said Dobson, a Kansas University research professor. "We decided every community would benefit from this sort of thing."

So he directed six graduate students in creating "Larry," a 3-D version of downtown Lawrence based on geographic information systems, known as GIS.

The maps include to-scale buildings along Massachusetts Street between Sixth and 10th streets. They also include information on types of use for each floor of the buildings, which gives an estimate for how many people are downtown during the day and night...

(View the rest of the story at the Lawrence Journal World site)