Annual Conference Postponed

Due to the recent decisions following the COVID-19 response by New York State, our local colleges, and CDC recommendations, the GIS/SIG board has decided to postpone our annual conference scheduled for March 31st.  We are currently looking at rescheduling the conference to the fall and will send additional information as it becomes available.

We appreciate your understanding and patience in this situation. You are currently registered attendees and will have your registration automatically transfer to the new conference date. However, if you would like to request a refund for your paid registration, please contact Jeff Tiede.

We would also like to thank our sponsors, speakers, and everyone who has given time to make this conference great, and we look forward to seeing you later in 2020.

Serious 3D GIS Games for Disaster Resilience Spatial Thinking

Please join us for our December Program at Wegman’s Theater at RIT Magic Spell Studios. Our talk this meeting will be Serious 3D GIS Games for Disaster Resilience Spatial Thinking by Brian Tomaszewski from RIT. Lunch will be served after the presentation.

When: Tuesday,  December 10, 2019, from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM EST

Where:
Wegman’s Theater at RIT Magic Spell Studio
1 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, NY 14623

Note: Pick Up Parking Passes at the Main Entrance

RIT Map with Magic Spell Studios (MSS) Circled

Cost:
$5 Payable at the door

Registration: http://bit.ly/GISSIGDec2019

Webinar Simulcast Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1419871236259065355 via the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS)

Serious 3D GIS Games for Disaster Resilience Spatial Thinking

Brian Tomaszewski RIT


Abstract: This presentation will share lessons learned from a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF REU) Site at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) that investigated combining open geodata, Esri City Engine and the Unity game development environment to create immersive, serious 3D game environments to build disaster resilience spatial thinking skills. A case study of the research applied to Hurricane Harvey disaster response will be presented. 

Taking the Risk out of Vegetation Management: EagleView TreeRisk™ Mapping

Please join us for our September Program at Pittsford Library. Our talk this meeting will be Taking the Risk out of Vegetation Management: EagleView TreeRisk™ Mapping presented by Shane Jakubec, Christopher Walden, and Daniel Grosche – EagleView. Lunch will be served after the presentation.

When: Tuesday,  September 17, 2019 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM EST

Where:
Pittsford Library
24 State Street
Pittsford, NY 14534

Cost:
$5 Payable at the door

Registration: https://conta.cc/2zMjmB9

 

Taking the Risk out of Vegetation Management: EagleView TreeRiskMapping  Shane Jakubec, Christopher Walden, and Daniel Grosche – EagleView

 

TreeRisk™ helps vegetation managers pinpoint encroachment risks and confidently take action to mitigate them. TreeRisk is more cost-efficient to implement than traditional systems and promotes additional savings with ongoing use. Through the use of imagery, EagleView can efficiently pinpoint precise locations of greatest risk to utility corridors.

We will discuss one current, ongoing project we provide for Vegetation Managers in New York State, the scale to which we produce the deliverables, and future considerations within this specialized field. Also, we will dive into how we leverage GIS for this analysis

ESRI Mobile Apps in the Curriculum and Research

Please join us for our June Program at Sunnyside Lodge in Black Creek Park. A picnic lunch will be served following the presentation. 

When:  Tuesday, June 18th, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Where: Black Creek Park – Sunnyside Lodge

              3835 Union Street

              North Chili, NY 14514 

Cost:    $5 (Pay at door)

Lunch: BBQ

Registration: http://bit.ly/GISSIGJune2019

ESRI Mobile Apps in the Curriculum and Research Robert Beutner, MA, GISP Hobart and William Smith Colleges &  Samuel Beck-Andersen Finger Lakes Institute at Hobart & William Smith Colleges

Abstract:

Curriculum: Rob Beutner, GISP; Digital Learning Consultant, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

For the past two spring semesters, the Biology Department of Hobart and William Smith Colleges has used the ESRI Collector app with their students to perform authentic field data collection of invasive species in the Finger Lakes Region.

In this portion of the presentation, an overview of how the ESRI Collector app was used, with support assistance by HWS IT Services, by the students to design and execute field sampling for HWA (Hemlock Woolly Adelgid) in geographically challenging terrain.

Research: Sam Beck-Andersen; AIS Project Manager, Finger Lakes Institute at Hobart and William Smith Colleges

The Finger Lakes Institute at Hobart and William Smith Colleges has operated a Watercraft Steward Program (WSP) since 2012, stationing seasonal employees at boat launches around the Finger Lakes Region to inspect watercrafts for invasive species, and to provide educational information the boating communities in the region.

In 2019, the FLI WSP began utilizing the New York State Natural Heritage Program’s Watercraft Inspection Steward Program Application (WISPA). Using a highly-developed Survey123 Form to collect field data from watercraft inspections. Data is collected through the field app on tablets, and submitted to the NYNHP’s WISPA, hosted through ArcGIS Online. NYNHP has organized their database into groups so that each of the 16 cooperating programs have instant access to all the data their program has collected. NYNHP has also developed a user friendly Dashboard App through ArcGIS Online that displays a layer map including data from all 16 cooperating programs.

This program will demonstrate the use of the WISPA tool utilized at over 200 boat launches around the state through Survey123, the process of exporting data from the state-wide database, and will outline the comprehensive Dashboard App to show state-wide data.

 

EagleView’s Assistance in the 2018 Hurricane Season

Please join us for our January Program at Monroe County Emergency Operations Center. Trisha VanBuren, from EagleView, will discuss the timeline of 2018 Hurricane events and how EagleView acted quickly to plan their Disaster Relief efforts. Lunch will follow presentation.

When: Tuesday, January 8th, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Where: Monroe County Emergency Operations Center – 1190 Scottsville Rd, Rochester, NY 14624

Cost: $5 (Pay at the door)

Lunch: Pizza

Registration: https://tinyurl.com/2019GISSIGJanuaryProgram

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Precision Agriculture – an RIT Perspective

Please join us for our September Program at Woodside Lodge in Black Creek Park.

Jan van Aardt, professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, will present “Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Precision Agriculture – an RIT Perspective” Lunch will follow the presentation.

When:  Tuesday, September 18th, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Where:  Black Creek Park – Woodside Lodge (turn left at stop sign if entering off Union St) – 3835 Union Street, North Chili

Cost: $5 (Pay at the door)

Lunch: TBD

Registration: https://tinyurl.com/GISSIG2018SeptProgram

 

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for precision agriculture – an RIT perspective 

Jan van Aardt, Carl Salvaggio, Ethan Hughes, Mike McClelland, Donald McKeown, & Tim Bauch – Rochester Institute of Technology (Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science) with supporting material from Sarah Jane Pethybridge, Julie R. Kikkert, & Alan Lakso – Cornell University

Relatively recent advances in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drone technology, as well as miniaturization of complex remote sensing systems, have enabled new approaches to precision agriculture. Specifically, imaging spectroscopy (hyperspectral) and light detection and ranging (lidar) can be used for agricultural disease detection, structural quantification, moisture stress assessment, and nutrient mapping. This talk will focus on RIT and collaborator (Cornell University, Nature Conservancy) efforts to develop robust analytical approaches to a range of precision agriculture challenges. We will highlight efforts to develop risk models for proactive management of white mold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) in snap beans, evaluate sustainable harvesting practices in southeastern USA deciduous forests, and present updates on vineyard moisture stress assessment. The specific study areas are located at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (Geneva, NY), southwestern Virginia, and Fox Run Vineyards (Penn Yan, NY). A DJI Matrice-600 UAS, boasting a high spatial resolution color camera, a Headwall Photonics imaging spectrometer (272 bands; 400-1000 nm), and a Velodyne VLP-16 lidar system, are used for this research. Initial findings from these various projects will be presented, while focusing on i) the need for proper calibration-to-reflectance of the imaging data, ii) identification of operational wavelength solutions from spectrally oversampled hyperspectral imagery, and iii) the benefit of fusing 3D lidar data with high fidelity spectral imagery. An example of the DJI Matrice-600 multi-modal platform also will be showcased, project-permitting.

About the speaker:

Jan van Aardt is a professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. He obtained a B.Sc. Forestry degree (“how to grow and cut down trees”) from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa in 1996. He completed M.S. and Ph.D. Forestry degrees, focused on remote sensing (imaging spectroscopy and light detection and ranging), at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia in 2000 and 2004, respectively. This was followed by post-doctoral work at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and a stint as research group leader at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa. Imaging spectroscopy and structural (lidar) sensing of natural resources form the core of his efforts, which vary between vegetation structural and system state (physiology) assessment. The interaction of photons with leaves is what really gets him going…He has received funding from NSF, NASA, Google, and USDA, among others, and has published >60 peer-reviewed papers and >80 conference contributions.

 

Orienteering

Please join us for our June Program at Sunnyside Lodge in Black Creek Park. A picnic lunch will be served following the presentation. 

When:  Wednesday, June 27th, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Where: Black Creek Park – Sunnyside Lodge

              3835 Union Street

              North Chili, NY 14514 

Cost:    $5 (Pay at door)

Lunch: BBQ

Registration: https://tinyurl.com/GISSIG2018JuneProgram

Orienteering – Jennifer VanHouter Monroe County

Orienteering started as a military exercise and has grown into an international sport recognized by the Olympic Committee. Learning orienteering skills turns abstract ideas into a real life skill. This presentation will highlight the history, equipment, and methodology of orienteering. Weather permitting there will be a demonstration of basic compass and map skills.

Leveraging Survey123 to Power Reporting in Microsoft Word

Please join us for our December Program in the Kate Gleason Auditorium at the Central Library (in the new building on the east side of South Ave). Justin Cole will present “PLeveraging Survey123 to Power Reporting in Microsoft Word.” Lunch will be served following the presentation.

When: Wednesday, Feburary 14th 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (New Date)

Where: Kate Gleason Auditorium at the Central Library

115 South Ave

Rochester, NY 14604

The Kate Gleason Auditorium is in the new building on the east side of South Ave. The location is accessible by bus, foot and bicycle. Car parking is available at the South Ave Garage, which is connected to the library. Parking costs $2.00 for the first two hours.

Cost: $5 (Pay at door)

Registration: https://tinyurl.com/2018GISSIGFebruaryProgram

Leveraging Survey123 to Power Reporting in Microsoft Word – Justin D. Cole, GISP

Paper forms have been a staple of inspections for many years. They are cumbersome and slow to both fill out and redo for final copies. WebGIS gives the ability to fill out these forms quickly, once, saving time. This presentation shows a method using utilizing Survey123 and Microsoft Word to convert existing forms and workflows. All tools and procedures are available for any ArcGIS subscription user and can work with any version of Word. I will be using the NYSDOT MS-4 Inspection form as an example.