2023 SCHEDULE
More details will be added as the sessions are further developed
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Monday, April 10Preconference Workshops and Tour
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Preconference Workshops - Morning
Introduction to Python for ArcGIS
Room: TBD | Instructor: James Whitacre
Programming tools are now a standard feature within GIS software packages and allow GIS users to automate, speed up, and become more precise in their data management and analytic work. This workshop is designed for GIS users who have little to no experience with computer programming and will cover core Python programming language concepts specifically for use in ArcGIS. The workshop will focus on guiding participants through hands-on exercises designed to provide the essential skills to programmatically manipulate data as part of an ArcGIS workflow. This workshop is designed to be preparation for the following workshop on Advanced Python for ArcGIS, but may be taken independently.
A Business First Approach to Building Your GIS Program
Room: TBD | Instructors: ESRI
Discovering and communicating the business value of your organization’s GIS is one of the most challenging endeavors the GIS program experiences, especially when it comes to engaging with leadership. Organizational leaders usually speak in a business language, and not GIS or technical; so how do you bring them to the table and engage with them in a productive way? How do you bridge the gap between technology and business? If you are asking yourself those questions, then this session is for you.
One effective method to bridge this gap is to lead discovery sessions with leadership and colleagues, communicating the benefits and value that GIS provides in a way that resonates with the executives in your organization. This session will introduce the importance of prioritizing business-related conversations, discuss real-life scenarios that break out into groups for an interactive experience.
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Preconference Workshops - Afternoon
Advanced Python for ArcGIS
Room: TBD | Instructor: James Whitacre
Building on the introduction to Python for ArcGIS, this workshop will expand on those skills to further use Python in ArcGIS. The workshop will focus on the ArcPy Python site package to expand geoprocessing capabilities with Python. Participants will learn to build geoprocessing scripts using ArcGIS Notebooks covering different ArcGIS tasks and workflows. The workshop will also cover how to create custom script tools in ArcGIS toolboxes for reuse and sharing. Participants will also learn skills for error handling.
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Tour of Two Penn State Centers
Hosted by: Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps & Geospatial Information and the Center for Immersive Experiences
Join us for tours of two Penn State Centers that provide geospatial related services – the Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps & Geospatial Information and the Center for Immersive Experiences. Both are housed on the ground floor of the Pattee Library in the center of Penn State’s University Park campus. Center staff will give an overview of the resources and services provided, respond to questions, and provide opportunities to interact with digital resources and equipment. Limited parking is available, but there is free transportation to/from the centers from the Penn Stater. You can sign up for these tours when registration opens.
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Tuesday, April 11Conference Day 1
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General Session - MorningRoom: Presidents Ball Room
Beyond Maps: Why GIS Professionals are Best Suited to Lead Data Programs
Presented by Tim Haynes
Geographic Information Officer and Chief Data Officer
City of Philadelphia
In today's data-driven world, organizations are increasingly looking to build data programs and teams that can handle complex analytics and business intelligence. But too often, they believe they need to look outside their walls for data leaders with the right expertise – overlooking the value that in-house GIS professionals could bring to these programs.
In this keynote, Tim will explore why GIS professionals are well equipped and often best positioned to lead data programs for organizations. He will empower attendees to advocate for increased oversight of programs that require the highest level of data quality and accessibility, which GIS pros have been delivering for decades.
Tim will make the case that today’s GIS teams provide a reliable foundation and serve as trustworthy sources of information for business system integrations, intelligence tools, analytical efforts, and more. The presentation will take a deep dive into the City of Philadelphia’s approach to a GIS-led data program, including its organizational structure, major initiatives, and key decisions that have led to the program’s success on an enterprise level.
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Breakout Session - Morning
Geophysical Applications and Techniques
Room: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 10:30 AM |
Modeling Bedrock Elevation of Pennsylvania Using an Adaptive GIS Methodology
The Pennsylvania Geological Survey has embarked on a new endeavor to create a 3D geologic model of Pennsylvania in support of the US GeoFramework Initiative. The Survey developed a digital surface that represents the bedrock elevation beneath unconsolidated sediments. Over the years, geologists have used subsurface data from water wells, geotechnical borings, and seismic surveys to map the bedrock elevation. The historical process of generating a bedrock elevation map, which involves contouring the data by hand, is a laborious process and subject to radical changes in interpretation whenever new data are collected. Using digital mapping techniques, geostatistical analysis, and GIS workflow models, the Survey’s new method to generate a bedrock elevation surface shifts away from time-consuming manual efforts and towards automated computer processing, which allows for the rapid update of this surface as new data are collected.
The Survey created a 100-meter resolution digital raster depicting bedrock elevation beneath unconsolidated sediments of Pennsylvania using this newly developed GIS-based methodology. A topographic position index (TPI) raster was produced with five classifications: ridge, upper slope, middle/flat slope, lower slope, and valley. A linear regression relationship between the TPI product and the square root of sediment thickness was established for the five TPI classes in each of the 23 physiographic sections within Pennsylvania. This statistical relationship was used to create a surrogate model for depth-to-bedrock to predict sediment thickness in areas of low data density. A statewide sediment thickness model was generated by merging the empirical data points with the surrogate model. The bedrock elevation raster results by subtracting the sediment thickness model from a surface topography digital elevation raster. The Survey will refine and update the model on a periodic basis as new sources of depth-to-bedrock data become available.
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Al Guiseppe |
| 10:50 AM |
Stay On Your Side of the Line: Suggestions for Mapping Surficial Contacts with Elevation-Derived Hydrography
As the Pennsylvania Geological Survey embraces the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geologic Map Schema (GeMS), we have experienced challenges trying to match hydrography data to preexisting lithologic units. The GeMS formatting, as applied to recent geologic mapping in southern Bucks County, Pennsylvania, treats hydrography as a surficial unit. The topology rules outlined by GeMS documentation require all surficial unit polygons to be conformable, which caused topologic conflicts with the derived hydrography and mapped lithologic units. These conflicts were further complicated by competing priorities of the authors: one author had derived the hydrography using a combination of elevation data and orthoimagery, and the other had collected geospatial data for lithologic units in the field.
The Bucks County geologic investigation workflow began with field data collection and mapping of surficial rock units followed by the production of Pennsylvania Hydrography Dataset (PAHD) geometries. The PAHD polygons were added to the surficial lithologic units, and lithologic boundaries were checked and adjusted where they intersected water polygons or crossed PAHD flowpaths. Based on the lessons learned here, the preferred workflow would be to generate hydrography first, use these generated data as a field aid in the mapping of surficial units, and then resolve issues as the surrounding surficial geology polygons are generated.
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Ellen Fehrs |
| 11:30 AM |
Determining How the Nanticoke Creek is ‘Disappearing’ into the Subsurface and Entering Mine Pools
Nanticoke Creek, in Luzerne County, PA is one of many waterways in the Wyoming Valley that is impacted by the anthracite coal mining industry. The creek is observed seeping into the subsurface through at least one fracture near its headwaters, then likely interacts with mine pools beneath a reclaimed mine land and resurfaces down gradient at the Askam Borehole as Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD). However, the exact subsurface flow pathways to and through the mine pools are unknown. The Earth Conservancy, who owns the reclaimed mine land that the Nanticoke Creek would normally traverse, is looking to rehabilitate the stream. To do this effectively and remain cost-efficient, the Earth Conservancy needs to know exactly where along the channel and how waters are entering, or might enter, the subsurface. This work looks to address these unknowns by using electrical resistivity surveying paired with saline tracers. By conducting surveys pre- and syn-saline tracer addition, we can highlight the pathways water is taking and compare it to regional maps of faults and a local fracture analysis. The latter helps identify orientations and the spatial frequency of fractures that may act as pathways for the water to enter subsurface mine pools. This work is a pilot study that – if successful – can be applied to other such ‘disappearing’ streams within Pennsylvania.
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Bobak Karimi |
| 11:50 AM |
History and Future of the PA Elevation Working Group
Despite a successful statewide lidar collection between 2006 and 2008 as part of the PAMAP Program, there were no concrete plans for a state-sponsored repeat collection. Although federal partners – USGS, NRCS, Chesapeake Bay Program - did plan and manage regional collections between 2014 and 2016, it was not obvious that the state was ready to invest in a second statewide dataset. In response, a group of individuals from state, regional, and private enterprises created an ad hoc effort to inform themselves and state agency leadership on the benefits of the new 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) offered by USGS. The effort resulted in the completion in 2020 of the second complete statewide lidar coverage. The Elevation Working Group is now seeking to define a more permanent approach to funding and managing an efficient program that meets state and local needs for all type of remote sensing data into the future.
In this presentation you will learn enough about the history to play a role in the future of remote sensing in Pennsylvania.
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Eric Jespersen |
GIS ManagementRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 10:30 AM |
Due to Technical Difficulties We Now Present Maps
GIS is often distilled to maps. Whether it's the easiest way to help someone understand what we do or whether it's the desired output from our work. Either way 2D flat products are as much a part of history as they are the past. Nowadays GIS or something with location intelligence is available online but still presented flat probably 80%-90% of the time. Are we guilty of it? Are we not adopting technology and keeping pace? Maybe we could and should be preparing for GIS use in applications for our future. Join Cambria County for a few minutes to learn what 3D content and immersive technology can bring to GIS users.
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Steve Kocsis |
| 10:50 AM |
Illuminating Infrastructure Through Scalable GIS Data Collection and Design
In a world where data is worth its weight in gold, the value of high quality and quantity of data in our public infrastructure is more important than ever. This presentation will cover a GIS platform, with a data-enriched, photo-based approach to collecting, designing, and maintaining infrastructure.
Specifically, this presentation will cover a successful street light asset data collection and management project completed in Philadelphia, PA, and the lessons learned for an upcoming project in Pittsburgh, PA. This presentation will span a variety of conference themes, including management, programming and development, and geophysical applications.
The presentation will cover a successful implementation of a digital twin street light assessment and LED conversion project that could be replicated in other Pennsylvania communities. A focus on the intersection of lighting infrastructure with equity, environmental, community revitalization, public safety, and active transportation issues through the lens of GIS will be covered.
The dichotomy of the energy and planning communities' priorities will be described. The planning community prioritizes place activation, safety, alternative mobility, etc. The street light industry prioritizes meeting standards. These goals are inherently incongruent. GIS as a mediator to bridge this gap in priorities will be discussed. The complex task of large-scale lighting analysis across an entire city is traditionally cost-prohibitive. However, this new approach visualizes existing street lighting gaps and supports the intrinsic benefits and planning priorities. This presentation will demonstrate how human-scale lighting can improve safety on a corridor or city-wide level for all modes.
Attendees will leave with better knowledge of infrastructure management via a photo-based context and the benefit of digital twins for the purpose of quality infrastructure design. Importantly, the underlying software framework will be explored.
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Nick Mesler |
| 11:30 AM |
ArcGIS Workflow Manager | An Introduction
Do you find yourself asking how can your establishment enhance existing organizational or departmental workflows, easily communicate status updates and capture institutional knowledge at a systematic level? If so, then this session is for you.
ArcGIS Workflow Manager is a scalable workflow management system that optimizes GIS and non-GIS operations by managing, in real time, people, processes, and products in an organization’s enterprise environment. Workflow Manager’s service-driven architecture allows the orchestration of seamless end-to-end workflows within and outside the ArcGIS ecosystem.
This session provides a general overview of the capabilities of Workflow Manager along with demos on how to streamline the digital data submission, notification processes and configuration.
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Mary McColley |
Community Service, Citizens Science, and Public EngagementRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 10:30 AM |
Building Environmental Health Capacity Through Mapping: An Introduction to the Pennsylvania Environmental Health Indicators Map
In Pennsylvania (PA) industrial infrastructure is often located near residential areas that are comprised of populations that have been traditionally excluded from high-level policy and decision-making (i.e., environmental justice [EJ] communities that are disproportionately low-income and people of color). Prior to 2022, no entity had drawn together comprehensive data to show the location of infrastructure, population characteristics, and health statistics for communities across the entire commonwealth. Through the creation of the PA Environmental Health Indicators (EHI) Map we sought to assemble and visualize these data to address the most pressing environmental health issues. To facilitate the selection of datasets we fielded a survey to stakeholders who had participated in PA’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board’s (EJAB) mapping subcommittee, and we referenced other state and federal mapping tools (i.e., WA’s Environmental Health Disparities Map, CA’s CalEnviroScreen, and the EPA’s EJSCREEN). Using Esri’s ArcGIS Pro and WebApp Builder we constructed the EHI Map with 61 layers to display where manufacturing, extraction, waste, transportation, and other industrial infrastructure is located, who resides in those areas, and how healthy those residents are. Our intent for the EHI Map was for it to be used not only by the public to see what is nearby, but also by researchers to develop new hypotheses, and other stakeholders to direct more equitable and effective public health interventions. Since launching the EHI Map in May 2022 we’ve presented the map to diverse stakeholder groups representing government, non-profit, academic, and healthcare organizations that are doing work specifically in EJ areas, and we’ve gratefully received much feedback from these opportunities. Our team plans to update the EHI Map over time and will continually seek to incorporate additional feedback from these stakeholders to ensure the map’s continued relevance.
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Nathan Miller |
| 10:50 AM |
Virtual Engagement and Digital Outreach Tools
In 2020, the pandemic forced us to conduct outreach and engagement nearly 100% virtually. Now, even with the ability to meet with stakeholders in person, virtual public engagement still can reach a wider audience – for most it is a convenient option, offers a lot more flexibility, and is more inclusive for audiences with diverse needs.
JMT’s Director of Digital Experience will demonstrate strategies and tools to successfully reach your audiences and provide interactive experiences, venues to connect, and ways to collect critical public feedback, all online.
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Vince Novak |
| 11:10 AM |
Understanding Civic Boundary Changes: An Introduction to the Local Geohistory Project
Understanding how civic boundaries have changed over time is vital for GIS professionals maintaining current boundary layers, and for demographers, economists, genealogists, and historians interpreting historical records. Between Pennsylvania's 67 counties, 2,560 municipalities, and 500 school districts, locating accurate information about these changes can be difficult even when records are well organized and easily accessible. This talk will explain the most common methods used to change civic boundaries in the past, and where documentation can be found in local, state, and federal repositories. How the Local Geohistory Project has endeavored to create and disseminate a free geographic index of civic boundary changes, which remains a work in progress, will also be explored.
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Mark Connelly |
| 11:30 AM |
Five years of online GIS with Quaker Valley Council of Governments: Lessons Learned
Small government has a duty to serve its citizens. And, like any such entity, it must balance this mission within a handful of constraints, time and money being among the top influencers. In this presentation, Rose Saville-Iksic describes the communal approach to sharing GIS resources among multiple small communities as is done in her work with the Quaker Valley Council of Government (QVCOG). QVCOG understands the value of GIS and has sought to lower the bar to entry for its members – typically small municipalities with limited resources - to enable them to make use of GIS data – for their own operations, grant funding efforts, and/or for engaging their citizens. Explore one example of how a HUB sites is used to organize data (web maps and apps), connect municipal employees to GIS training resources, and serve as a central communication platform for a group of small communities. Web maps displaying road ownership, waste management, and zoning information for all member organizations will be highlighted along with a feedback survey to capture requested improvements, data fixes, or new maps ideas. This model brings GIS to small municipalities in a bite-size format. Members who have a bigger appetite for GIS or with a specific project not relevant to the whole group can build on these resources by participating in the GIS Technical Assistance Program offered by the COG. Join this session to glean what we have learned from five years of working with Quaker Valley COG and its members.
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Rose Saville-Iksic |
| 11:50 AM |
What Does Your Neighborhood Look Like? Residential Housing with Survey123
Faced with a request for a better understanding of residential structures, the Erie County Planning Department developed a process to get a better, data-driven overall picture. Utilizing ESRI's Survey123, The Erie County Planning Department empowered community groups to collect residential data in coordination with ongoing comprehensive planning. This presentation will explore different aspects of this process, reviewing both technical and anecdotal experiences.
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Mike Baker |
Environmental ApplicationsRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 10:30 AM |
The Use of Weighted Multivariate Analysis for Rating Urban Green Space
With an increase to the complexity of urban green space guidance a universal method of rating urban green spaces is needed. Use of weighted multivariate analysis aims to achieve both universality, it can be applied anywhere, and ease of use, it can be applied by anyone. The two goals help to align the basic principles of the analysis by ensuring only existing and easily obtained data is used. Focusing on the core aspects of the World Health Organization’s guidance on urban green space, availability and accessibility, the foundation of a multivariate analysis can be created. With to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns the World Health Organization realized that equitable access to green space is also important, this provides the final variable for the analysis. Based on the guidance by the World Health Organization Availability is classified as the presence of 9m2 of green space per capita, and Accessibility is classified as greenspace within a15 minutes walking distance of a residence. Equitability is treated as a measure of variance from the average at the individual residence level for accessible green space. Utilizing these three criteria leads to a better understanding of urban green space needs for a city while also creating a metric that governments can use to measure adherence to green space guidelines.
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Casey Faust |
| 10:50 AM |
Utilizing Survey123 to Conduct Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan Inspections to Satisfy General Discharge Permit Requirements and Prevent Illicit Discharges in Washington County, MD
Survey123 has become a key component in the Stormwater and Watershed Services department in Washington County, MD. Used in a variety of applications, Survey123 is heavily used in Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) inspections. Per the Maryland Department of the Environment, several inspections per year need to be conducted and it is critical these are consistent and easily accessible. Survey123 allows these inspections to be performed by multiple inspectors, while keeping the inspections consistent and in one location, accessible to everyone. These inspections ensure no illicit discharges are coming from county owned industrial sites. Many of the facilities in Washington County, MD, are near impaired waterways, such as Antietam Creek, and the entirety of Washington County is within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It is critical to prevent illicit discharges and ensure stormwater is properly managed at industrial facilities. By regularly performing SWPPP inspections using Survey123, any issues can be addressed promptly to ensure no pollutants get into the streams and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.
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Joshua Trott |
| 11:30 AM |
The Next Phase of Hydrography Mapping: 3DHP
USGS is rolling out their 3D Hydrography Program (3DHP) across the nation. This dataset will provide an update of the existing National Hydrography Program (NHD) using the lidar collected across the State as the basis for the mapping. Working closely with USGS and the Commonwealth, NV5 Geospatial has created the new hydrography dataset for three watershed in Central Pennsylvania, Raystown, Lower Juniata and Upper Juniata.
This presentation will show the results of this work, how the dataset will differ from current NHD data, and challenges to producing the datasets. In addition we will talk also about what will and will not be in the new dataset and how these data can be used to support user applications at all levels of government.
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Andrew Brenner |
GIS ProgrammingRoom: TBD | Moderator: TBD
| 10:30 AM |
Lessons Learned Using Python and Arcade to Process NG911 Data
ArcGIS Pro provides several valuable calculation tools to process and update spatial datasets. After repeated use, several redundant keystrokes with potential for error can devour valuable processing time when minimal (if any) keystrokes are required. For instance, calculating Parity for Next Generation 911 (NG911) compliant road centerline data can be computed directly from a feature's addresses. Python and Arcade are two languages leveraged by ESRI to provide valuable automation for spatial data processing. ESRI's ArcPy library and its Data Access module provide cursors to traverse and update features and attributes on a one-by-one basis. Also, through ArcGIS Pro, Arcade can be used with attribute rules to proactively provide processing for derivable attribute values from the current feature and other feature datasets. This presentation assumes no programming experience. Attendees will be alerted of pitfalls and common mistakes that may occur with introductory use. Examples will be provided while operating on NG911 address and street data.
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Chris Jursa |
| 10:50 AM |
Modernizing Administrative Workflows with Survey123 and Make/Integromat
The Potter County Planning Office implemented a plan to modernize the administrative review process for Subdivision Plans. When the process began historic records for Subdivisions were being kept in three ring binders, and the review process was conducted using mostly Microsoft Word.
Survey123 allowed the review process to be done quickly on a web form, reducing time and increasing accuracy. The process was further improved by including automation tools from Make/Integromat. There are five documents which are associated with each plan. Using custom reports in Survey123 and Make each of these is generated without staff input as different steps of the process are completed.
Before this modernization it was estimated that for each plan, two to three hours of staff time were spent working with the file from beginning to end. Following the modernization staff time was reduced to only about thirty minutes of active staff time for each plan.
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Pete DiBiase |
| 11:10 AM |
Utilizing ArcGIS Velocity in a System Build from the Groundwater-Up
Tioga County (Pennsylvania) was in an ideal position to integrate ESRI’s ArcGIS Velocity with an existing water quality monitoring system, operating in ten of the area’s water treatment plants. The goal of this presentation is to review how real-time data monitoring and analysis of water quality in these systems was enhanced with the setup of ArcGIS Velocity. Note that this project was organized via the Tioga County Source Water Protection Coalition (TCSWPC).
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Scott Zubek |
| 11:50 AM |
Application of Mathematical Model to Predict Code Progress in GUI Development Using Python and tkinter
To achieve this goal GIS specialists from the Geographic Information Division developed an application with a Graphic User Interface (GUI) that is specially designed to process the roadway Center Line File (CLF) Export from feature class to DGN files. The application was developed using Python and tkinter and employs mathematical models as a solution to the multiple variable problem of county selection; it utilizes approximate predictive mathematical models for the different variables. The variables, which include the number of counties involved in the export process, are defined as functions in the code to develop a progress bar that is viewed as a percentage, enabling users to monitor the progressive time status of the task they initiated using the GUI. This presentation will discuss the development of the application and include a live tutorial to demonstrate how the Geographic Information Division staff at PennDOT used GIS tools to improve an existing process.
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Derege Kobre |
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General Session - Afternoon
Room: Presidents Ball Room
Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in the Geospatial Field
Presented by Keith Searles, GISP
CEO, Urban GIS
Founder, Ethnically Diverse Geospatial Engagement (EDGE)
Coming soon
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Breakout Session - Afternoon
Geophysical Applications and TechniquesRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 2:30 PM |
USGS 3DEP Metadata and Additional Metadata Resources
Spatial data users who are familiar with the high-resolution elevation data acquired through the US Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) already know about lidar point clouds and digital elevation models, but have they ever explored the metadata associated with these products? This presentation will demonstrate how to access lidar metadata using the 3DEP LidarExplorer and give an overview of available metadata files. Users will also be introduced to ScienceBase, a scientific data and information management platform developed by the USGS, and the USGS MetadataWizard, a desktop application for creating and editing metadata records that can be accessed by any data producer or manager.
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Eliza Gross |
| 2:50 PM |
Drone123: The Beginnings of a Municipal Drone Program
Starting a drone program from scratch is no simple task. In this presentation, I detail the steps I took to launch our municipal drone program. It includes udes case scenarios presented to council, steps for registering with the FAA, testing, picking out a drone and many more facets of the launching of our program.
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Joe Livoti |
| 3:30 PM |
Supporting Drone Mapping with Site Scan for ArcGIS
Many organizations are incorporating drones to enhance their image capture and mapping capabilities and support their work in public safety, planning, infrastructure, utilities and more. In order to get the most value from drone-captured imagery, it’s important to have an end-to-end solution that will support all aspects of your program, including fleet management, flight planning, and image processing to create 2D and 3D outputs. In this session, attendees will learn about the capabilities that Site Scan for ArcGIS offers, and how it can help connect a new or existing drone program to your organization’s GIS. The presentation will include examples and demonstrations that highlight the unique capabilities of Site Scan for ArcGIS, including scalable cloud processing, analytics (including volumetrics, cut/fill and change over time) and its abilities to quickly share data and integrate drone imagery outputs across your organization.
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Mark Bowen |
GIS ManagementRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 2:30 PM |
County Authored Statewide Aggregation
Several Pennsylvania Base Map layers are authored by county GIS professionals. Counties maintain GIS layers for their individual business needs, while commonwealth agencies have business needs to consume statewide aggregated GIS layers. This presentation will update the status of statewide Parcel and Site Structure Address Point (SSAP) GIS layers.
PEMA has aggregated county GIS datasets for statewide NG911 call routing function. As a state agency champion for SSAP, PEMA has achieved active participation from all 67 counties to consistently load GIS layers into an ETL solution that compiles a statewide SSAP layer that meets national standards. Developing a robust GIS data workflow aggregator streamlines data sharing by increasing efficiency, communications, and quality.
Parcels do not yet benefit from an owner controlled aggregation solution in spite of being the most sought after county GIS layer. There are several commercial options that acquire county parcels, aggregate, and sell to commonwealth agencies. The Land Records Committee is researching requirements and drafting a vision for county authored statewide aggregation of parcels.
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Justin Smith |
| 3:10 PM |
County GIS Cloud Deployment
Potter County in 2020 deploy into a Cloud ArcGIS enterprise environment, with ROK technology managed services. Deploying a Cloud based ArcGIS environment has Enhanced security, improved data access and management along with GIS focused I.T. support by ROK technologies.
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Will Hunt |
| 3:30 PM |
Countywide Reassessment GIS Deliverables: Utilizing Tax Parcel Data in a Soils, Land Use, and Slope Analysis
Circa 2016, the Tioga County (Pennsylvania) Tax Assessment and GIS Departments successfully deployed a reconstructed tax parcel map, and have sustained its management in ESRI’s parcel fabric environment ever since. The goal of this presentation is to demonstrate how Tioga County’s tax parcel fabric was successfully utilized in a countywide reassessment effort via intricate geoprocessing methods.
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Scott Zubek |
| 3:50 PM |
Developing an Enterprise GIS Roadmap
The Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) engaged JMT to conduct various stakeholder meetings, complete data and documentation reviews, and assess GIS at the airport in order to develop an Enterprise GIS Roadmap and strategic plan. JMT SMEs met with the PHL GIS team and key stakeholders from various groups within the PHL management team to review and understand the current and planned future state of airport operations pertaining to GIS technology integrations and improvements.
Through stakeholder meetings, a review of relevant documentation, and a qualitative review of existing data, JMT assessed PHL’s existing strategic priorities, practices, resources, data, and technology infrastructure. The result of the assessment was presented through a Roadmap document, which outlined the path for PHL to achieve impactful and efficient delivery of GIS services, helping to improve decision making that will ultimately benefit PHL staff and airport travelers. The roadmap included components such as an overview of program goals and objectives, gap analysis summary, recommendations for business processes, data management suggestions, list of current applications and software, description of supporting IT infrastructure, staff and organization structure, and an implementation plan with cost estimates.
This presentation will focus on the importance of stakeholder engagement in defining strategic goals and objectives and developing a GIS roadmap that considers the needs of the various stakeholder groups and use cases at the airport. It will provide an overview of the methodology, including data collection and review, meeting format, surveys, and qualitative data analysis. It will also include an overview of the project deliverables, which included a detailed roadmap document and an Esri Story Map.
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Shannon Doyle |
Community Service, Citizens Science, and Public Engagement
Early Career PanelRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 2:30 PM |
Chesco Views - Incorporating Citizen Engagement Into Public GIS Viewer
ChescoViews is an online GIS application that provides read-only access to the County’s Land Record information. In Chester County's flagship public GIS viewer, there are various search tools to help locate property and parcel information. Users can also print maps from a variety of templates from this application. In 2020, Chester County and Blue Raster collaborated to redesign and update the application capabilities. Completed in 2021, the latest version of ChescoViews includes a buffer zone tool to return parcel information for all results in a user-defined radius, and the Chesco Reporter, an implementation of Esri's Citizen Problem Reporter that can be used by the public to submit non-emergency problems or requests for service related to Cadastral Data (currently only Roads and Parcels) across Chester County.
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Christopher Gabris |
| 3:10 PM |
Early Career Panel
Early Career Development for Students. Skills needed in the profession, interviewing successfully, resume development, networking, etc.
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Evo Andreatti |
Environmental Applications
Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, and InclusionRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 2:30 PM |
Utilizing Pennsylvania’s Remote Sensing Data
This presentation focuses on sharing ways to utilize Pennsylvania’s available remote sensing data: imagery, lidar, and associated derivatives. We’ll demonstrate many business use cases that we can now accomplish with remote sensing data, and will show accompanying solutions for how to serve out remote sensing data efficiently, and how to make it easy for standard, end users to access and utilize. To avoid data duplication and minimize data storage, single statewide copies of these datasets are served out to all users in the agency. Demonstrations will include statewide derivatives including digital elevation models (DEM), slope, aspect, hillshades, lidar-derived 2-foot contours, and various aerial imagery sources rendered as true color, infrared, & NDVI.
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Joe Petroski |
| 3:10 PM |
Accelerated Conservation and Restoration through Multi-Objective Targeting
The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is a unique regional partnership that leads and directs Chesapeake Bay restoration and protection efforts. The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement established 10 goals and 31 outcomes that guide the actions of the partnership.
The CBP partnership spends about $1.2B annually on activities toward achieving the goals of the Watershed Agreement, with a traditional focus on water-quality improvement. Recent funding increases, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provide additional opportunities to accelerate progress toward multiple Watershed Agreement outcomes while simultaneously achieving state and local benefits.
A science-based approach to target resources, including these funding increases, is needed to use decision-support tools wisely and identify places to more effectively advance multiple outcomes and benefits. In collaboration with CBP partners, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a web-based portal that contains a wide range of existing decision support tools that can be used to target resources. The portal is an ArcGIS Hub implementation with integrated and cross-linked web mapping applications. The information is organized around several topics based on the goals of the Chesapeake Watershed Agreement: (1) accelerate water-quality improvements, (2) improve fish, wildlife populations and habitats, (3) expand land conservation efforts, and (4) increase benefits to people, with all topics considering opportunities to enhance climate resiliency.
This presentation will provide an overview of the portal, sample Pennsylvania use cases for selecting and applying several decision-support tools, and a description of how the Portal can be used for multi-objective ecosystem management.
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John Wolf |
| 3:30 PM |
Accessibility for Web Sites, Maps and Web Apps
Esri and other vendors have made it easy for non-developers to create websites and web applications. When creating web content, it is important to make it accessible to all users, including individuals with disabilities. Accessible design benefits everyone, but it’s more than just a good idea--making content accessible to all users is required per Section 508, part of an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
In this presentation, JMT’s Director of Digital Experience will talk about considerations when developing websites, web applications, and electronic documents to make them attractive, easy to understand, and compliant with Section 508.
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Vince Novak |
GIS ProgrammingRoom: TBD | Moderator: James Whitacre
| 2:30 PM |
Well I Didn't See That Coming, But All Those In Favor Say AI!
By now you've had to have heard of OpenAI, ChatGPT, DALL·E 2, etc. Headlines talk about AI creating images, enhancing existing photos, or conversational interpretations to make jokes. All jokes aside some very clever people have already demonstrated the power that has been unleashed. You may not be ready for this but AI is here and available to do things with GIS. We can choose to talk about the way we've always done things or we can move forward and tap into AI and GIS. Join Cambria County in an immersive experience you won't forget, "All those in favor, say AI!"
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Steve Kocsis |
| 2:50 PM |
Team Up Across AEC borders
The proliferation of GIS applications within the project life of an AEC firm extends from automated siting applications to asset management of construction and operation of facilities. This short presentation will explore workflows being implemented to leverage the partnership between AutoDesk and ESRI during planning and design phases of a project. The increased efficiency of empowering all tiers of a project team from field to client will be illustrated in powerful video snippets. The intent of this presentation is to bolster interest in the use of interoperability plug-ins created by both software providers allowing CAD technicians real-time field data collection support and environmental specialists access changing designs within the GIS platform.
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Chris Abbott |
| 3:10 PM |
Python Office Hours
Coming soon
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James Whitacre |
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Map and Poster Session 'Mappy' HourFormerly known as 'InfoSwap' Room: TBD
More information coming soon!
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Wednesday, April 12Conference Day 2
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General Session - Morning
Room: Presidents Ball Room
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Breakout Session - Morning
Geophysical Applications and Techniques
GIS ManagementRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 10:15 AM |
Geodesy for the Geographer, and a Look at the SPC2022 in Pennsylvania
You've all seen that graphic, the one that illustrates the many layers of a GIS. At the bottom of that graphic is the geodetic control (if it’s shown at all!), which serves as the framework for all the other layers of truly valuable data. Have you taken it for granted that this framework (the lat/long, SPCS grids, etc), are always there for you? Maybe you've been hearing for years about the forthcoming datum changes (when NAD83 and NAVD88 will be replaced) but you still don't understand how that may impact you. Included will be a comparison of the existing PA SPCS83 zones and the future SPCS2022 zones. Join this session for a discussion on the potential future of the "bottom layer" of the PA BaseMap 2030, and bring your questions/inquiries.
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Jeff Jalbrzikowski |
| 10:55 AM |
Esri’s Address Data Management Solution | An Introduction
Are you exploring ways to manage addressing workflows? If so, then this session is for you.
The Address Data Management solution delivers a set of capabilities that help you maintain a standard set of address layers that incorporate national guidelines, streamline address data management workflows, and continuously improve the quality of address information. This session provides a general overview of the capabilities of the Address Data Management solution along with demos on how to modernize addressing workflows and configuration.
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Mary McColley |
(Semi-) Automated Detection AlgorithmsRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 10:15 AM |
Automatic Lidar Classification – An Exciting Development with Sense.Lidar
Many government agencies rely on lidar datasets to help them with their land-use planning and flood plain management activities. A single, well classified, lidar dataset can provide highly useful information about an area at the time of data capture.
Geo-data users are starting to recognize the economic value of increasing the frequency of their lidar programs. They are requesting recurring programs to help them detect human-made and environmental changes more quickly.
The increased use of better lidar data to analyze the earth, measure and predict future changes requires significant financial investment. So, it is vital to extract maximum value from the multiple lidar datasets. Traditional lidar data processing techniques (human classification or macros) are expensive and time-consuming. Annually recurring lidar programs at scale require fast, accurate and automated classification technology.
Fugro’s advancement in lidar production processes make it possible to classify clusters of lidar points to identify unique earth features (such as bare earth, hydro, buildings, vegetation, culverts and utility assets) using machine-learning techniques at scale without compromising on speed, quality or cost. Sense.Lidar™ uses a combination of lidar point clouds, cloud-based processing, artificial intelligence (AI) and human expertise to improve schedules and reduce costs through production efficiencies.
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Steve Ellis |
| 10:55 AM |
Semi Automated Buildings Detection
Building footprint layers are key for a host of business applications, namely, the preparation of base maps, analysis workflows for urban planning & development, insurance, risk assessment, taxation, impervious landcover mapping, change detection, infrastructure planning, and so on. Capturing building footprints using conventional mapping techniques is time-consuming and affects cost, project timelines, and business agility. In an emergency response, buildings are one of the most important elements at risk, and creating large-scale building footprints on demand and time is critical. Long manual-based geodata production cycles do not fit the requirement. The proliferation of Earth Observation (EO), availability of high-resolution aerial imagery and high-density LiDAR point clouds, and developments in computer vision & AI through state-of-the-art ML. DL workflows, near-real-time availability of crowd-sourced spatial data (such as OSM), and data from national mapping agencies, professional bodies & organizations, etc., provide immense opportunity for the augmented extraction of building footprints and comparative analysis/change detection tasks promptly.
It is time we use an automated or hybrid approach combining multiple methods to improve the efficiency and accuracy of building footprint extraction workflows.
Two major approaches for augmented building footprint extraction are presented 1) Using Deep Learning models for faster and automated extraction of superior quality buildings from imagery 2) a hybrid approach by combining DL methods and data conflation of existing footprint datasets.
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Srini Dharmapuri |
Water UtilitiesRoom: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 10:15 AM |
Hydrant Placement and Repair Prioritization
Using Network Analyst, the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) was able to identify areas where there is a lack of hydrant coverage, determine how a planned hydrant installation or removal would affect coverage, as well as prioritize out of service hydrants for repair. Additionally, we built a web application, which relies on a Network Analyst Geoprocessing Service, to allow users to visualize existing coverage and virtually install and remove hydrants to determine how those actions would affect coverage.
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Jessica Gould |
| 10:35 AM |
Extending and Automating ArcGIS Workforce for Utilities Work Order Management
The Lower Twp Municipal Utility Authority (LTMUA) in Cape May County, NJ currently uses ArcGIS Workforce work order management and mobile field worker coordination. The LTMUA wanted to enhance the dispatcher user experience and automate various aspects of this system in order to streamline effort. This goal was accomplished by displaying a summary past work order information at each location for dispatchers, automated scheduling of Workforce Assignments for recurring work orders, and by creating an automated ArcGIS Online data backup process to safeguard their content. DVG leveraged and enhanced their existing ArcGIS Workforce using Python, Arcade, and Microsoft Azure Functions to deliver a complete and integrated solution.
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Ann Borowik |
| 10:55 AM |
Data Management for Utilities
Utilities today face many challenges managing assets, coordinating daily operations, and responding to customer service requests and emergencies. To help address these challenges, Esri has developed next generation data structures and tools delivered via ArcGIS. This session will discuss one of Esri’s modern network management options: the Data Management Solution. We will discuss coordinated operations tools and solutions that involve the entire organization in creating and maintaining a trusted and dynamic system of record. Finally, we will see how this system provides the operational awareness required to make decisions on how to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and build a more resilient utility.
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Mark Bowen |
Public Safety & 911Room: TBD | Moderator: TDB
| 10:15 AM |
The Most Important Piece of the Puzzle: How GIS Data is Used in the Next Generation 9-1-1 Call Flow
Almost half of the counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have transitioned to using geospatial call routing as part of a Next Generation 9-1-1 call flow, but what does that mean for Pennsylvania's GIS community. GIS is a vital component in successfully routing an emergency call to the correct Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). Because of this increased visibility and importance, GIS data is under increased scrutiny and must be of the highest quality, which is it is having a profound impact on local data maintenance workflows, sharing agreements, and data partner reliance.
This presentation will walk the audience through a Next Generation 9-1-1 call flow, the role GIS plays in the system, how PSAPs can prepare, and why high-quality data is vital to ensuring the 9-1-1 call arrives at the right place the first time.
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Melissa Liebert |
| 10:55 AM |
Getting RapidSOS Ready with Furgo
Over 80% of the US population lives in urban areas where multistory buildings make up most of the landscape. In an emergency, what happens if someone calls 911 from the 10th floor of a 30-story building? What happens if they cannot effectively communicate an accurate location to the dispatcher? How many minutes will be lost searching for this caller?
The recent consent decree order by the FCC states that wireless 911 calls must contain a vertical location, often referred to as the ""z-axis,"" if the handset supports it. Emergency Communication Centers need to ensure their systems can receive this data and that it will start showing up on their display screens. Fugro and RapidSOS have partnered to offer 3D mapping technology to emergency dispatchers and first responders to meet this challenge.
Built in partnership with public safety, RapidSOS is an intelligent safety platform that securely links life-saving data from over 500 million connected apps, devices and sensors that people use every day, directly to safety agents, 911 and first responders in an emergency.
As a RapidSOS Ready partner, Fugro provides faster, location-enriched emergency response by leveraging 3D data and tools via a secure connection with the RapidSOS portal. The joint solution offers further customization to include integration of pre-existing third-party 2D and 3D GIS services, address geocoding, and floor plan services giving telecommunicators unprecedented situational awareness while simplifying the public safety product experience.
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Courtney Malott |
| 11:15 AM |
Enhancing Traffic Management Center Effectiveness Using GIS
JMT was awarded a multi-year contract with the City of Syracuse, NY, to manage their Traffic Management Center (TMC), supporting the Department of Public Works. Traffic management centers allow for decision making and control for a region’s street and highway network with TMC operator decisions affecting a region’s traffic signals, intersections, roads, congestion, reliability, as well as incident response during special events, emergencies, and crashes. The Syracuse TMC identified the need for a tool that could incorporate multiple data sources into one interface to improve situational awareness and make better data-informed decisions. To meet this need, JMT developed a web-based transportation dashboard for the TMC inside of the city's ArcGIS Online environment. A significant part of the effort involved identifying and evaluating the various data sources for inclusion in the pilot dashboard including near real-time data. After the successful deployment of the Phase 1 dashboard, the TMC desired to enhance their operational awareness by integrating real-time bus data from the regional transit agency. JMT utilized ESRI’s ArcGIS Velocity to create dynamic feature classes from the raw data feeds via the Application Programming Interface (API) provided by the third-party vendor. The API provided access to transit information important to TMC operators like current bus location, heading, date/time, route information, stops, delay status, and service bulletins. In addition, JMT used Arcade expressions for custom symbology of the bus data within the web map, Arcade expressions for date/timestamp reformatting of the bus data, and instituted geofencing around the bus operations and maintenance facility to effectively hide buses that were not in operation.
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Bob Pliszka |
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General Session - Afternoon
Room: Presidents Ball Room
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