GIS In Action 2018 April 23rd & 24th | Portland, Oregon

The 26th Annual GIS In Action Conference, hosted by the Columbia River Region of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) and the Oregon-Southwest Washington Chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) is happening in April, right in FLO’s backyard at Portland State University.

If you’re attending, don’t miss these two presentations by Senior GIS Analyst & FAA-Certified Remote Pilot Erik Strandhagen and GIS/Data Analyst Alex Brasch:

Seeing the Forest for the Trees (400 ft. in the Air): UAS Innovations for Natural Resource Managers | Erik Strandhagen, GISP
Natural resource managers are increasingly utilizing Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for data collection and analysis. This presentation will explore how UAS can be an integral natural resource management tool for capturing high-definition site photos and videos of a site; aerial mapping; terrain modeling; volumetric analysis; and vegetation mapping. We will take a deep-dive into UAS in the wood products industry, exploring how environmental consultant Maul Foster & Alongi developed a custom desktop GIS tool that automates complex and time-intensive measurements for counting log decks using volumetric analysis. We’ll demonstrate how the Python pandas-based tool runs in Esri ArcGIS desktop software and can be used to calculate cross section area based on the digital surface model and digital terrain model surfaces derived from structure from motion (SFM) software. We’ll showcase a real-world example of where the tool made a big difference for a wood products producer and demonstrate how the tool can measure log yard cross-sectional area calculations in a matter of minutes.

Alteryx and ArcGIS: How Two Invaluable Tools Work Together for Data Analysis and Visualization | Alex Brasch
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) are undertaking an effort to redevelop and improve rules that govern air quality standards to better protect Oregon’s communities from air toxics. To better understand emission sources and identify particularly at-risk populations, the DEQ and OHA employed a health risk based approach and requested air contaminant discharge permit holders to submit emission estimates for 633 air toxics. The result was a massive inventory of nearly 1,000 Excel files containing emission data calculations for each permitted industrial facility in Oregon. Compiling and analyzing the data for future facility comparisons was no small feat.

See the full GIS In Action Conference program here.