Category Archives: News

2013 ESRI Conference – Some Surprises

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As the 2013 ESRI Conference wraps up this week, I wanted to mention a few pleasant surprises this year that might mean some big things for government GIS.

conference

This year ESRI’s focus was on web GIS. Their products are definitely maturing and integrated with the web. I remember hearing “ArcGIS is now a web GIS”.

One of the surprises was Portal for ArcGIS. If you have an advanced license of ArcGIS Server, Portal is now included for the 10.2 release as an extension. If you have a standard license, you will need to purchase the extension. If you don’t know what Portal is, just think of it as ArcGIS Online that you can install on your own server (Web GIS on Premises). For us government GIS types, this opens up some fantastic options for internal use on our own networks. One big thing that I liked was the ability to use single sign on with Portal. You can import your active directory logins into Portal so you don’t have to create a bunch of logins manually like in ArcGIS Online.  When users go to your Portal site, they will not have to login since they already logged into their computer.  Nice!

Another interesting surprise was the new ArcGIS Professional product. It has a clean ribbon interface with tabs (think Microsoft Office look and feel), is fast, and integrates 2D and 3D together. It was pretty slick. ESRI said if you can use ArcMap, you can use ArcGIS Professional.  Here are some other properties:

  • 64 bit
  • Fast 2D/3D graphics engine
  • Multiple maps and multiple layouts
  • Multi-threaded application
  • Integrated with ArcGIS Online/Portal
  • ArcMap/ArcCatalog/ArcGlobe fused together into one application
  • Project centric workflows
  • Simple search and query
  • Integrated with ESRI Solutions (Local Gov, Address Mgt, Water Util, etc)
  • Task Assistant to help you with editing (put tools together for a task and many tasks as a workflow)
  • Updates will not require uninstall/reinstall
  • Extensible with addins, python scripting, .NET API

My impression of ArcGIS Professional is that it was a replacement for ArcMap, though ESRI said it was not. Both will function together on the same computer. I attended the Desktop Road Ahead workshop, thinking that I would see where ArcMap and the Desktop product was going, but instead it turned out to be a big demo of ArcGIS Professional. Hmm.  During one of the demos, the presenter slipped up and called it ArcGIS 11 then quickly corrected and called it ArcGIS Professional! Hmm again … time will tell.

As for ArcGIS Professional licensing, ESRI said it was too early to announce, but they were considering a simplified subscription based model. ArcGIS Professional is slated for a Q4 2013 release, probably in November.

One last surprise was ESRI publishing videos of the Plenary session the next day. That was fast! You can view them here: http://bit.ly/18BBX0A.  I wonder how fast the workshops will be published?

Oh, and walking back to my hotel I discovered a wall of Etch-a-Sketch’s that you could draw maps or whatever on! Pretty neat.

etchasketch

Looks like someone took one home!

That’s all for now.  Time for the Thursday night party!  Please reply to this post and share your conference observations too!  -mike

USGS now looking for limited crowd-sourced data in CA and NV

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Hello everyone:

USGS is now collecting limited crowd-sourced information that can be provided as both GIS data and included in future topographic maps.  USGS began collecting VGI – volunteered geographic information – for structures for a number of states several months ago.  The agency recently expanded this pilot effort to cover another 16 states, including California and Nevada.

The USGS news release can be seen here:
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3620

USGS is interested in your input on locations for certain public buildings, as mentioned in the news release.  This would be a good exercise to look at from a county or local perspective.  There might also be situations in CA where organizing a multi-county effort (e.g. through a Council of Governments or a GIS collaborative) would be beneficial.

We would be very interested in hearing what you think about this and any plans you may have to contribute data.  We can help with any questions you may have and can set up a conference call or discussion anytime on the subject.

Thanks,
Carol Ostergren
Drew Decker

GIS Group – Women In GIS

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Hello Fellow GIS Colleagues,

We are in the process of developing a new GIS group, Women In GIS.  Both men and women are welcome to join.  We will be meeting at ESRIUC on Wednesday, July 10th from 12:00 to 1:00 in Room 30A (please bring your own lunch).  We hope you can join us in a discussion of where we are going and what is next on the horizon.   Please include any friends interested in coming, all are welcome to join!

If you are interested in joining our listserve, see the instructions below. Looking forward to a productive ESRIUC! See you soon!

Subscribe instructions for Women in GIS listserve:

Send an email to: Majordomo@csun.edu
In the body of the email type: Subscribe wigis-g

To unsubscribe:

Send an email to: Majordomo@csun.edu
In the body of the email type: Unsubscribe wigis-g

That’s it. It doesn’t matter what is in the subject line.  Send me an email if you have any trouble: shawna.dark@csun.edu.

Right now the listserve is open to everyone, inquiries and responses will go to everyone. If traffic gets heavy I can adjust the settings for summary responses only.  Finally, we will also be forwarding to you a new website for our group, keep your eye out for this information soon!

Regards,

Christina, Danielle, Lori, Patricia, Regan, Ruthanne, Shawna, and the rest of the Women doing GIS!!
_______________________________________________________________________
Dr. Shawna Dark
Chair, Department of Geography
Director, Center for Geographical Studies (http://www.csun.edu/~centergs/)
California State University, Northridge
818-677-3532

Changes to ArcGIS Online

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Looks like ESRI has made ArcGIS Online a little more interesting.  Here are some of the changes in the July release:

  • Unlimited bandwidth usage (outbound data transfer) is now included with your ArcGIS Online subscription.
  • Uploading tile packages from ArcGIS for Desktop is now also included with your subscription.
  • Geocoding costs have been reduced by 50%.
  • Routing and GeoEnrichment costs have been reduced by nearly 65%.
  • Infographic costs have been reduced by more than 80%.

More information can be found on ESRI’s blog site.

USGS Map Services for The National Map

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Hello California GIS users.

We wanted to make everyone aware of several map services that USGS supports. These allow you to view nationwide data from The National Map in your GIS software. To use these in ArcGIS – select Add Data button then choose GIS Server from the list, then “add ArcGIS Server”

To add the tiled map cache (these are background topographic map images, including topo maps with and without imagery), use: http://basemap.nationalmap.gov/ArcGIS/rest/services

If you want raster data services, use: http://raster.nationalmap.gov/ArcGIS/rest/services

And if you want vector data services use: http://services.nationalmap.gov/ArcGIS/rest/services

There is also a NED status service (this shows availability and resolution of USGS digital elevation models) at: http://igskmncnvs526.cr.usgs.gov/arcgis/rest/services

Hope these help and please let us know if you have any questions.  Thanks,

Carol Ostergren
Drew Decker
USGS Geospatial Liaison for Pacific Region
NSDI Partnership Office, U.S. Geological Survey
4165 Spruance Road, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92101
619-225-6430
619-225-6101 fax
ddecker@usgs.gov
http://liaisons.usgs.gov/geospatial/California/
http://liaisons.usgs.gov/geospatial/Hawaii/

US DOT PHMSA Public Awareness Workshop & Webcast

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It’s not too late to register to attend the US DOT PHMSA Public Awareness Workshop on June 19 – 20, 2013 – either in person at the Hyatt Regency N. Dallas Hotel or via webcast.

Since 2005 pipeline operators have been required to have a Public Awareness Program per federal pipeline safety regulations. They must provide information to four stakeholder audiences categorized as: (1) affected public, (2) emergency officials, (3) local public officials, and (4) excavators.

The workshop will bring together stakeholders to discuss findings from recent federal and state public awareness inspections, and gain perspectives from various stakeholders on public awareness challenges and successes to identify ways to strengthen pipeline safety public awareness.

The primary goals of this workshop are to:

  1. Provide an overview of the public awareness program and discuss recent inspection findings;
  2. Understand what’s working and not working with API RP 1162 (1st edition) from various stakeholder perspectives (industry, pipeline operators, public, emergency response officials, local public officials, and excavators);
  3. Share ways to improve public awareness outreach efforts; and
  4. Discuss the path forward for improving public awareness

For more details, please visit http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/meetings/MtgHome.mtg?mtg=90 .

Preliminary 3D Agenda for ESRI UC

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Here is the link to the Forum’s website: www.esri.com/3Dforum

Learn new 3D webmap: http://dld.bz/c9sJB (works best in Chrome)

3dforumwebmap

Preliminary Agenda:

Sunday, July 7, 2013
8:00 a.m. –   8:10 a.m. Welcome and Introductions Steve Snow, MAPS Industry Specialist
8:00 a.m. –   8:30 a.m. Esri 3D Imagery Future   Possibilities
Lawrie Jordan, Esri, Director of Imagery
8:30 a.m. –   9:30 a.m. Lidar and ArcGIS: Recent   Advances and the Road Ahead
Clayton Crawford, Esri Product Engineer
9:30 a.m. –   10:00 a.m. 3D Mapping and GeoDesign
Gert van Maren, Esri, Head of Product Management
10:00 a.m. –   10:15 a.m. Gold Sponsor Speaking Slot
10:00 a.m. –   10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. –   11:00 a.m. Lidar   and Imagery in ArcGIS 10.1
Cody Benkelman, Esri Product Manager
11:00 a.m. –   11:20 a.m. Leveraging data attributes   populated from Lidar with CityEngine
Geoff Taylor, Solutions Engineer
11:20 a.m. –   11:40 a.m. An update on the American   Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) LIDAR Data Standard
Lewis Graham,  ASPRS Regional Director
11:40 a.m. –   12:00 p.m. Lunch   and Platinum Speaker: Optech
Title TBA
Jim Green, Regional Manager, North America, Airborne Survey Products
12:00 p.m. –   1:00 p.m. Lunch sponsored by Optech   with exhibitors
Exhibition area

 

 

Breakout
Session I

Breakout
Session II

Breakout
Session III

Topic: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and   Mobile Mapping Smart 3D Cities Military Installation 3D   Management
Moderator: Myles Sutherland Chris Wilkins Terry Martin
1:00 p.m. –   1:15 p.m. Introduction Introduction Introduction
1:15 p.m. –   1:45 p.m. Panel Discussion (TBD) The Instant City
Elliot Hartley,
Garsdale Design Ltd.		 User Speaker (TBD)
1:45 p.m. –   2:15 p.m. Panel Discussion (TBD) Master Plan for 500K
Tal Aisenberg, WATG		 User Speaker (TBD)
2:15 p.m. –   2:30 p.m. Hawkeye
Rowland Harrison		 Geospecific City Modeling
Sponsor, Kevin Devito,
CyberCity3D		 Sponsor Speaker (TBD)
2:30 p.m. –   3:00 p.m. SenseFly
Andrea Hildebrand		 Immersive City Visualization
David Burdick,
E-on Software		 User Speaker (TBD)
Each breakout session will   contain 1 sponsor speaker with 15 minute speaking slot and 3 user speakers   with 30 minute speaking slot each.

 

3:00 p.m. –   3:15 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. –   3:30 p.m. Gold Sponsor Speaker
3:30 p.m. –   4:00 p.m. User Speaker
4:00 p.m. –   4:30 p.m. User Speaker
4:30 p.m. –   4:45 p.m. Closing
5:00 p.m. –   6:30 p.m. Break

 

Coastal LiDAR Data Available from NOAA

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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
—————————————-
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