Serve as the legislative mechanism within Mississippi state government to provide for the systematic arrangement, availability, and use of digital natural and cultural resource information Encourage compatibility of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and data distribution within state government.
In 1982 MARIS was initially set up under an executive order by Governor William Winter. The executive order status continued year-to-year until MARIS was established by the state legislature in 1986. MARIS is proving the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to manage and apply geographic information to a wide range of natural and cultural resource programs in Mississippi.
Since 2004, MARIS has administered the IHL Software Licensing Program. It has been instituted and maintained to economically provide Geographic Information System (GIS) / Remote Sensing (RS) software resources that are critical to the research, development, and training mission of higher education in Mississippi.
The IHL site license agreement is with three (3) software vendors which are the leading companies in the GIS/remote sensing field:
The site license allows for full use of the three companies' software at all 8 universities and all 15 community and junior colleges. Use of the software is limited to purely educational and research purposes.
The Remote Sensing Council was established in the late 1990's by IHL as an effort to ensure communication among all Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning that participate in remote sensing or GIS research and/or training. The Council meets on a regular basis to discuss technical issues along with and policies that apply applying to all entities.
As part of the administration, MARIS, in coordination of the IHL Geospatial Council, generates an annual Site License Report describing activities and uses of the software along with cost-benefit analysis.
The MARIS technical center's staff is a unique resource that brings many years of experience to the Mississippi GIS Community through collaboration, expertise, cost-sharing initiatives, and service.
Director
601-432-6354
Snr GIS Project Manager
601-432-6128
GIS Operations Manager
601-432-6149
GIS Applications Specialist
601-432-6128