Fall NEARC 2018

AUTHORS: Michael Blair, Innovate! Inc.

ABSTRACT: Innovate developed a custom application, or Data Management Tool (DMT) to improve the quality, consistency, and transparency of US EPA Region 9 geospatial resources. As background, the US EPA Region 9 utilizes a wide range of Esri products in multiple internal, sensitive, and public environments. Maintaining an up to date and accurate inventory of data in enterprise geodatabases, ArcGIS Server services, and ArcGIS Online items is both arduous and complex. Further, a historical focus on project-centric operations tended to silo data by project area or support division, often resulting in data and metadata replication. While EPA Region 9 has deployed previous data management systems, their faults were often in the reliance of manual inventory updates and user input.

The DMT application provides a searchable, sortable, user-friendly interface that not only relates all of the content but checks for the existence of and completeness of related documentation, including hosting environment, metadata, unique identifiers, update cycles, and sharing settings. The application serves as a live, single point of entry for all analysts to find resources, and immediately identify their location, accuracy, and relevance.

The new DMT leverages the backends of enterprise geodatabases in Microsoft SQL Server, ArcGIS for Server, and the ArcGIS Online API to harvest and relate features in all three Esri products. The system is deployed in each environment and automatically harvests items in the enterprise geodatabases and those related to map service layers, including the metadata for all ArcGIS Online items to identify if any contain rest services.

AUTHORS: Ted Covill, WSP USA

ABSTRACT: Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) aka. Drones have been in use for several years and users have found many uses for data that can be produced using these systems. These applications range from basic imagery for marketing or personal use to more advanced applications such as orthophoto rectification or topographic modeling. This presentation will focus on the photogrammetric application know as Structure for Motion (SfM) and how sUAS imagery can be used to create ground surface model and 3D models of other objects such as tanks, towers and piers.

AUTHORS: Michael Blair, Innovate! Inc.

ABSTRACT: Innovate! Inc. developed a web-based Floor Plan application tool for US EPA Region 9 that provides access to information about Region 9 people, places, and resources. It displays the current list of all Region 9 employees, including contractors, grantees, volunteers (if any), and other EPA and federal agency staff stationed in R9. It also provides detailed floor plans for each space at EPA R9 Headquarters, other regional offices and place-based individuals. There are many layers that can be turned on that offer details of resources and emergency information for the building. The application was built using Esri JavaScript API and ArcServer and integrates AutoCAD floor plan data. Innovate was honored with a Federal Small Business Specialty (FSBS) Award during the Esri FedGIS Conference. Innovate! was named Esri’s 2018 Innovation Partner for our innovative usage of Esri technology in support of our client’s operations (https://www.innovateteam.com/innovate-inc-honored-at-esri-fedgis-conference-as-2018-innovation-partner/).

AUTHORS: Samuel Lingeman, University of New Hampshire Facilities Campus Planning GIS

ABSTRACT: We are all familiar with the modern data collection techniques of today. LiDAR, Drones, RTK GNSS, GPS, Total Stations, remote sensing, smart phone apps etc. all provide valuable information for the now. But this data will become archived, obsolete at some point. Are you thinking about how someone 10 even 20 years or beyond might be able to use the data for something you haven’t thought of? Are you getting the best available data format for future use? This presentation will examine efforts by the University of New Hampshire Facilities GIS group to find and utilize data from historical or obscure sources for use in our GIS system as well as other facilities uses. We’ll examine some of the data we’ve created from multiple sources such as old drawings, maps and plans, old aerial imagery and historical documentation. We’ll also examine efforts to archive data currently being collected as well as look at standards and deliverable requirements for projects.

AUTHORS: Stu Rich, PenBay Solutions

ABSTRACT: Indoor GIS is gaining a lot of interest due to the great value that can be gained by applying the power of GIS to indoor problems. There are a number of factors that make developing and managing an indoor GIS a bit different than your typical outdoor GIS. We will discuss lessons learned about modeling and managing information about the indoor environment gathered through years of experience. We will compare and contrast some of the more prevalent information models and best practices for getting started with your indoor GIS. You should come away with an appreciation of some of the success factors involved and a basic roadmap for how to get started.

AUTHORS: Rylee Wrenner, Alexander Okscin – University of Massachusetts Amherst

ABSTRACT: Creating geodatabases and visually representing their attributes enables more effective management of campus furnishings and infrastructure. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we have used ArcCollector to inventory bike racks, benches, waste bins, and other outdoor assets over the past year. Our ultimate goal was to map all campus spaces. As we transitioned from outdoor to indoor mapping, we switched from ArcOnline to ArcPro, using georeferenced CAD floor plans and 360 photos rather than aerial imagery. Locating indoor assets is not a trivial undertaking, as it requires greater attention to measurement accuracy and and a higher level of security than outdoor assets. In our presentation, we will describe our experience using ArcPro and its AutoCAD integration to inventory indoor campus assets and create a Campus Network for pedestrian accessibility. We will discuss our successes and challenges in developing an efficient data collection methodology and assisting campus stakeholders with mapping indoor assets within 12.9 million gross square feet of building space on the flagship campus of Massachusetts.