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About socalgovgis - Michael Carson

Michael Carson, GIS Manager (retired) for the City of Burbank and President of Southern California Government GIS User Group. Currently teaching GIS at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita.

Fireworks 2019!

July 4th is just around the corner, which means there will be fireworks again!

Use the app to view cities in LA, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, and San Bernardino County that allow the sale and discharge of fireworks.  Included are days and times when fireworks will be sold and when you can light them up, as well as links to city websites and telephone numbers.  Data was collected from municipal codes, websites, and/or contacting each city.  Some cities allow sales to start today AND allow you to discharge them today as well!  Check it out!

fireworks2019

Calculating Slope Using Python

The standard slope tool in ArcGIS Desktop only examines a 3×3 cell neighborhood (and does not include the center cell) to determine slope for each cell.  However, using Python you can create a method for calculating slope along a flow direction grid specific to your needs.  Check out this article about using Python to calculate a fire “flow direction” based on a DEM and fire lines.

slopepython

Spatial@UCSB This Thursday

Just a reminder that Spatial@UCSB will be happening this Thursday, June 6.  This year’s theme is Spatial Data for Smarter Cities.

Where: Corwin Pavilion, UCSB – 494 UCEN Rd, Isla Vista, CA
When: Thursday June 6th, 11:00 to 2:30 pm

Agenda:

11:00 Plenary Session:

  • Kurt Shellhause (Kasraie Consulting, CIRGIS) – Think Inside the Box, Outside the Box, and about what could Destroy our Box
  • Mahnoosh Alizadeh (Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCSB) –
    Opportunities and Challenges of Transportation Elecrication in Smart Cities
  • Konstadinos Goulias (Dept. of Geography, UCSB) – Activity-Travel GeoSimulation for Smart City Planning, Design, and Operations
  • Werner Kuhn (Dept. of Geography, UCSB) – Moderator

12:30 – 2:30 Lunch and Poster Exhibit

Registration has been extended to the end of Tuesday, June 4th. Please contact Karen to RSVP: kdoehner@spatial.ucsb.edu or (805) 893-8224.

Native Land Interactive Map

If you are interested in the Indigenous histories of North America and beyond you may enjoy exploring Native Land, an ongoing interactive mapping project that attempts to outline ancestral Indigenous territories. Here, you will find a colorful map multi-layered with depictions of where different Indigenous peoples historically lived. You can browse the map itself or search for a particular postal code to see whose territories that location falls within, and clicking on a given territory shows the names of the native people(s) and cession treaties associated with that place with links to sources included. Check it out!

World Reef Map

Healthy coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, leading some to call reefs the rainforests of the sea. Coral reefs are also threatened by ocean acidification caused by pollution, overfishing, and more. Check out this wonderful interactive atlas of coral reefs in remote locations around the world. You can explore the map by selecting a pin or using the menu to choose a location, then zoom into a specific island area within that location to view a colorful detailed map of its reefs different habitat areas, many of which are accompanied by underwater videos. This online map also includes GIS tools enabling you to measure and analyze specific reef habitats. These and other features are explained in the map’s useful help section. Check it out!

reefs

GIS Management Practices Survey

Dear GIS Colleagues,

We are contacting you to request that you participate in a survey on GIS management practices.  This survey is sponsored by URISA’s GIS Management Institute (GMI).  The purpose of the survey is to analyze current GIS program and project management practices, in order to gain insights and assess current trends.

All respondents will be provided with a report summarizing the survey findings.  In the future, URISA and GMI will make more detailed data available for purchase.  In addition, Peter Croswell of Croswell-Shulte will access the data.  He will use some of the data to revise his GIS Management Handbook, available for purchase later this year, and 30 respondents will be selected at random to receive a free copy of the book.  No personally identifying information will be released, except as authorized by question 26 in the survey.

The appropriate respondents to this survey are GIS program and project managers in all types of organizations. Please feel free to encourage your GIS manager colleagues in other organizations to take the survey.  We appreciate your time for response to this survey.  The survey has 26 questions and should take approximately 25-35 minutes to complete.

Survey Link:     https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GMI-Survey

We request responses by May 31, 2019.

If you have any questions, please contact GMI at GMIsurvey@urisa.org

Thank you for your participation.

GIS Management Institute