Category Archives: News

MapStory Webinar Opportunity

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If you are interested, you are invited to the seventh webinar of the “Open Geospatial Science & Applications” webinar series on May 15th, 2014.  The webinar will be open and free to all on first come register basis.

This webinar will be on MapStory, the Atlas of Change that everyone can edit.  MapStory is a place to unify and improve our shared knowledge about global change.  Mapstory envision a world where everyone’s wisdom can be tapped, peer reviewed and organised into a non-commercial global data commons that helps us all improve our understanding of global dynamics, worldwide, over the course of history.  Details at http://mapstory.org .

This presentation will be by Dr. Christopher Tucker and is about the MapStory Foundation’s investment in the open source GeoNode, its use to enable crowdsourcing of open spatio-temporal data, and how people can use it to tell their stories to a global audience.  He will be talking about the GeoGit/GeoNode integration that is happening this Summer and how that will open participation widely to users who have as little as a single edit to contribute.

Attendees will be able to interact with the speakers by sending their comments and questions through chat.  All attendees of this web seminar will receive certificates for their participation.  To register visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/922723730 .

The recording will be made available also later for the benefit of the wider community at http://mundogeo.com/webinar/opengeoscienceandapplications/ .

GIS Council Meeting May 22

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Dear California GIS Community,

As many of you know, it has been a couple of years since the California GIS Council has met.  During the recent California GIS Conference (CalGIS) in Monterey, three coordination meetings were held and many people expressed a strong desire to revitalize the GIS Council. During these discussions representatives from county, regional, state and federal level GIS organizations validated that it remains in California’s best interest to have the GIS Council to help move forward with the California spatial data infrastructure.  In particular, the California Geographic Information Council (CGIA) expressed its commitment to support GIS Council activities.

Based on this input, eight of those in the earlier coordination meetings (including Carol Ostergren, Bruce Joffe, Robert Yohi, Mark Greninger, Christina Boggs, and me), scheduled a lunch meeting with GIO Scott Gregory at CalGIS.  During that discussion Scott agreed that the GIS Council can play an important role in shaping California’s GIS data framework.  He emphasized the importance of the Working Groups within the Council, and supports its new start.  Scott also stressed the importance of deliverables related to Working Group activities. He would like to have each group develop, if they have not already, a business plan regarding mission, goals, objectives, and deliverables. Scottwill hold an advisory role on the Council, and will work closely with the Council and commit his or his staff’s time to participate in all GIS Council meetings and activities.

The GIS Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 22 in Sacramento from 9am – noon. The address is 1325 J Street, 16th Floor, and it will be held in the Zinfandel Conference Room.

There are several agenda items for this meeting, including:

  1. Provide a brief history of the GIS Council, and discuss how it relates to the California State Government GIS User Group, the California State Government GIS Leadership Group, California URISA Chapters, and the California Geographic Information Association.
  2. Hold elections.  The previous Board has timed out, and we are seeking new leadership from the GIS Community. Scott wants to stress the importance of local participation. This has traditionally been a “State” dominated council. He wants to see more local government participation.
  3. Review existing Working Group progress and seek leadership on additional GIS Council Working Groups.  Each Working Group focuses on one of California’s framework data sets. Active Working Groups will provide reports at this meeting, and others will report out at the next meeting.
  4. Discuss and develop recommendation of top priorities for the GIS Council in the upcoming year and draft action plan.
  5. Agree on frequency of GIS Council meetings, and set future meeting dates for at least one year.

More details will follow in subsequent email messages. The purpose of this message is for you to save-the-date on your calendar and consider stepping up to a leadership role on the Council. The Council has broad representation from multiple sectors, and there are many opportunities for participation!

If you would like further information or have any questions about the GIS Council and plans to move forward, please contact one of the following people:

In collaboration with the California Strategic Growth Council (SGC), I will be working with the GIS Council leadership to develop meeting agendas, communicate with the SGC and GIO about funding needs and opportunities, and facilitating the GIS Council meetings.

Please stay tuned for more messages about the GIS Council meeting on May 22nd.

Sincerely,

Karen Beardsley

Karen Beardsley, PhD, GISP
Managing Director, Information Center for the Environment (ICE)
Department of Environmental Science and Policy
One Shields Avenue
University of California
Davis, CA  95616
Ph: (530) 752-5678
Fax: (530) 752-3350
Cell: (530) 848-3310
kbeardsley@ucdavis.edu

Spatial@UCSB 2014

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The University of California, Santa Barbara will once again be hosting their annual Spatial@UCSB on June 3, 2014 at UCSB for the 7th year. The meeting will allow an opportunity for local GIS practitioners to interact with GIS students and exchange ideas and insights in an academic setting.

For more information and details visit the Spatial@UCSB website.

EPA Map of California Tracks Pollution

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The California Environmental Protection Agency has released a statewide list of census tracts most burdened by pollution. Many of the worst pollution pockets identified are in the San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire.

The screening tool, called CalEnviroScreen, was developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, a branch of Cal/EPA, to pinpoint the communities with the highest exposure and vulnerability to multiple environmental hazards, including polluted air and water, waste facilities and contaminated soil.  The rankings, however, are not based only on measures of environmental exposure. They also take into account socioeconomic characteristics and health data on residents to assess the overall vulnerability of communities. Those factors include poverty, education, unemployment, rates of asthma and low-birth-weight infants.

You can read more about it in this LA Times article.

epapolutionapp

As a side note, I find the CalEPA app a little slow in Internet Explorer.  Google Chrome was a little faster.  They are using ArcGIS Online technology for their mapping.  If you do a search for “calenviroscreen” on ArcGIS.com, you will see a listing of their maps and apps for versions 1.1 and 2.0.

ArcGIS 10.2.2 Now Available

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ArcGIS 10.2.2 is now available for download from the Esri Customer Care website.  ArcGIS 10.2.2 is a minor incremental release focused on software fixes and quality.  Issues that have been fixed are listed here.

Also, if you use an Oracle geodatabase, there is a required patch you need to install with your 10.2.2 software.

Install guides: Desktop and Server (Windows or Linux).

Indian Ocean Images on Google Maps

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An eagle eyed reader pointed this out to me today.  If you look on Google Maps in the Indian Ocean, you will notice a patchwork of what appears to be recent satellite photos.

 

Thanks goes to Tim Harvey for pointing this out.

This might be related to the search of flight MH370, however I could not find any articles about it.  If any of you know, please reply to this post and give us all the details.

National Land Cover Database

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Just released, the latest edition of the nation’s most comprehensive look at land-surface conditions from coast to coast shows the extent of land cover types from forests to urban areas. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2011) is made available to the public by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners.

Dividing the lower 48 states into 9 billion geographic cells, the massive database provides consistent information about land conditions at regional to nationwide scales. Collected in repeated five-year cycles, NLCD data is used by resource managers and decision-makers to conduct ecosystem studies, determine spatial patterns of biodiversity, trace indications of climate change, and develop best practices in land management. Click below to check it out.

2014 NACIS Student Mapping Competitions

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The North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) recognizes the important contributions students make to our field. To recognize some of their hard work and achievements, we offer two fantastic student competitions each year at our annual conference (this year October 8–11 in Pittsburgh, PA). All students currently enrolled in a certificate program, undergraduate, or graduate/post-graduate program are eligible to enter, as long as they have not previously won top prize in either competition.

Student Dynamic Map Competition: The North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) recognizes the importance of dynamic mapping in cartography. We are sponsoring the 15th Annual Student Dynamic Map Competition to promote cartographic excellence and innovation in this versatile medium. A first prize of $500 will be awarded in each category. Deadline for submissions is September 12th. To view the rules and prizes, please visit http://nacis.org/index.cfm?x=4 .

Student Map and Poster Competition: Students who would like to display their works at NACIS 2014 should register for the Student Map and Poster Competition. We encourage all students to submit their maps and technical/research posters for a chance at a prize of $500! There is no entry fee. All entrants will be displayed in the Map Gallery, and the winner will be selected by a ballot of all meeting attendees. The deadline to register is September 12th, 2014. For more information, please visit http://nacis.org/index.cfm?x=18 .

Please take a moment to encourage your students to enter either of the above competitions. We look forward to seeing the diverse range of entries in Pittsburgh!

Travel Grants and Memberships: As an organization (and as former students ourselves), we’re aware that student budgets don’t often allow for extras like conference attendance or organizational memberships. Each year, NACIS offers up to 10 free memberships to undergraduate students, as well as offering a number of travel grants to students wishing to attend the annual conference. To find out more, please visit http://nacis.org/index.cfm?x=27 .

Thank you, and we hope to see you in Pittsburgh in October!

Martha Bostwick
NACIS Board of Directors
Chair – Awards and Travel Grants Committee
mlbostwick@mac.com