Visitors to Jackson County’s geographic information system website will notice several upgrades.

The biggest difference is with the images. Aerial photography taken this past summer went from 12-inch pixelation to 6-inch pixelation, making property images clearer to see.

Several of the layers, available on the toolbar at the top of the webpage, also have been updated with information.

Recorded surveys and cell tower locations also now are represented by symbols on the map.

All of the work has been done to provide as much information to the public as possible, said Conner Barnette, the county building commissioner and GIS administrator.

“You’d be surprised how many people I talk to don’t even know it’s a thing,” he said of the GIS website, jackson.in.wthgis.com. “There is so much information on there now. A lot of the (county) offices have been working to keep updating and adding information and pushing it out to the public. We’re constantly updating stuff on there.”

Jackson County GIS is an interactive web-based mapping system used for capturing, storing and displaying data related to its position on the Earth’s surface.

The website, which is maintained by WTH Technology of Indianapolis, enables the public to access land, parcel and geographic information at the click of a mouse.

Each county governmental office that uses the GIS pays an annual maintenance fee to WTH.

The aerial photography hadn’t been updated since 2011. Anyone who built something on their property between then and earlier this summer wouldn’t have been able to see it on the GIS map. With the new pictures taken, they can see the updates.

Read the full story in Thursday’s Tribune and online at tribtown.com.