Hello CA GIS users,

As you may be aware, the California Ocean Protection Council, in partnership with USGS and NOAA Coastal Services Center, funded a LiDAR data collection effort along the California coast and San Francisco Bay, between 2009-2011. The data were made available last year through the NOAA Coastal Service Center’s Digital Coast Data Access Viewer.

The entire LiDAR dataset is now available for download via an ftp/http directory from the NOAA Coastal Service Center’s Digital Coast Data Registry. The data are packaged as .laz files. Please read the 0README file in the directory for instructions on how to download. For technical questions, please contact NOAA CSC staff, Keil Schmid at keil.schmid@noaa.gov.

The Ocean Protection Council is looking for illustrated examples of how the LiDAR data are being used. This can be an image, map, figure, etc you developed based on the LiDAR or DEMs.  We would like to use these illustrated examples in future presentations about how the LiDAR and derived products are applied. If you are able, please email me a screen capture or small jpeg for use in presentations, with your permission.

Thank you,

Clare
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Clare O’Reilly
Project Manager, Ocean Protection Council
State Coastal Conservancy
1330 Broadway, Floor 13; Oakland, CA 94612-2530
phone 510-286-0332 / fax 510-286-0470
coreilly@scc.ca.gov

OceanSpaces is live! Join the online community that brings people together who care about California’s oceans. www.oceanspaces.org

NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has some current images of the Springs Fire.

As a companion tool to assist in 2016 RTP/SCS local input and scenario planning, SCAG is developing a Scenario Planning Model (SPM) based on the UrbanFootprint software platform developed by Calthorpe Associates. We believe that SCAG SPM can significantly contribute to the regional and local planning process by expanding land use scenario planning and analysis capacities while maintaining consistency across the region. SCAG plans to rollout SPM and data around October, 2013. More information can be found at: http://www.scag.ca.gov/modeling/scenarioplanning.htm.

For the model to be most useful to local jurisdictions, we would like to form a SPM working group consisting of one (or more) designated staff from selected jurisdictions. The role of the SPM working group is to provide guidance in developing a more efficient model that better serves the needs of end users such as local and regional planners. We envision that the SPM working group will be a forum for sharing ideas and expectations about the model’s functions and operations through collaborative interaction. It is also an opportunity for members to gain first-hand experience with SPM tools and data.

We are reaching out to your jurisdiction based on past participation in the SCAG 2012 RTP/SCS local input process and GIS services program as well as the status of the General Plan land use element update. Participation in the SPM working group may require approximately 10-15 staff working hours per month and 20-25 hours per month if your jurisdiction would like to participate in pilot testing (which is anticipated to begin July, 2013). We anticipate the majority of SPM working group activities to occur between May, 2013 and August, 2013.

If you are interested in joining the SPM working group, please respond by May 3, 2013 – we would greatly appreciate your participation. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Amy Volz at volz@scag.ca.gov or (213) 236-1919 or Guoxiong Huang at huang@scag.ca.gov or (213) 236-1948. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Guoxiong Huang
Manager, Modeling & Forecasting