Discussion Facilitators:
Trisha Brush, Northern KY Area Planning Commission
Earl Smith, Georgetown-Scott Co. Planning Commission
Stephen Berry, Clark County GIS
The Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington will host the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in September-October 2010, and the Kentucky GIS community is capable of assisting the Commonwealth's economy by providing GIS services for the event. GIS services would showcase local events, food, lodging, and tourism opportunities for WEG visitors. This roundtable discussion will focus on the need for development of web mapping services specifically for the 2010 WEG. Other topics include identifying major players, identifying required resources, and providing the necessary labor and infrastructure to create a successful web mapping portal for the event. GIS professionals will have the opportunity to showcase their talents, prove their worth, and help market their local communities by participating in this project.
Stephen M. Berry, Clark County GIS
This presentation will examine common problems facing small and mid-sized jurisdictions in the Commonwealth, as related to property addressing. Clark County GIS staff will share the problems that it has faced in implementing 911-addressing standards in the local community, as well as some solutions that it has discovered. The presentation will cover local government policy and procedures, ordinances, and organization, as they relate to property addressing. Hopefully, this presentation will begin a discussion that will reach beyond the GIS Conference.
Songlin Fei, University of Kentucky Department of Forestry
Under the pressure of globalization, urbanization, and fragmentation, most ecosystems have been degraded due to the invasion of exotic species and loss of native species. To prevent the spread of invasive species and mitigate the loss of native species are monumental tasks that depend on public awareness, support, and participation. In the fall of 2007, students in my GIS class conducted a Service-Learning project to help raise awareness and stimulate critical thinking about natural resource issues among University of Kentucky students. The project incorporated the use of species identification skills, GPS data collection, and GIS map design to produce education materials. Two brochures, University of Kentucky's Native Tree Trail and An Invasive Species Trail on the University of Kentucky Campus, were produced and distributed on the UK campus. The project helped students improve their geospatial and public communication skills, raised the awareness of critical natural resource issues among UK students, helped to promote native species, and helped to slow or prevent invasive exotic species in Kentucky and beyond.
Eric Rodenberg, ESRI
This presentation will focus on ArcGIS Server as the core foundation to enable Enterprise integration of a GIS. Discussion will cover implementation strategies that organizations have used to build successful sites. We will also examine best practices to ensure that the web services created by ArcGIS Server run at their maximum performance. In addition, we will look at highlights of the upcoming release of ArcGIS Server 9.3 and how it can further enhance an organization's ability to disseminate its content with content from other service providers via “mashups.”
Jeff Padgett, Woolpert, Inc.
Several states have obtained statewide digital orthoimagery using Leica ADS40 digital camera systems. This presentation will demonstrate how data such as impervious surfaces, buildings, landuse/landcover classifications, etc. can now be produced through automation using orthoimagery derived from digital camera technology. In the past, feature extraction was labor intensive, time consuming, and costly. This presentation will show how data can be now be extracted, classified, and delivered into a GIS database in a cost effective and efficient manner.
Jamie Young, Sanborn
The presentation will cover all aspects of large scale LiDAR projects. In recent years, LiDAR has become widely accepted in the mapping industry resulting in a high demand for larger scale LiDAR projects. These projects are being collected using several different makes and models of LiDAR sensors with varying characteristics, including repetition rates. As a result, it is critical to plan, calibrate, collect and process based on all the different sensor types. Characteristics of the different sensors, standardizing a control reference, calibration practices and how they affect collection will be discussed. Processing best practices for multi-sensor projects will also be discussed. Quality control and accuracy reporting is an important aspect of large project collections and will also be addressed. A discussion of topography, seasonal and atmospheric changes, and impacts to larger scale LiDAR mapping projects will be discussed. Lastly, applications and applications trends will be summarized.
Kyle Bearden, City of Bowling Green
The City of Bowling Green has initiated a program governing the development (identification, funding, design, and construction management) of new sidewalk construction projects throughout the city. The intent of this program is to foster the development of a "walkable" city by providing sidewalks in areas where they do not currently exist, thereby increasing opportunities to travel throughout the community on foot. Candidate projects are prioritized based on location, external funding, technical feasibility of construction, connectivity with existing sidewalks, and walkability which is a parameter based on the safety benefit of moving pedestrians from roadways onto sidewalks. GIS, utilized extensively for the prioritization of candidate projects, is a vital component of this initiative. The GIS methods and techniques used will be presented as well as tools constructed in model builder that automate much of the prioritization process.
Paula White, Kentucky Virtual High School
Kentucky Virtual High School has been a trailblazer in virtual education. But, what demonstrates sustainability, effectiveness and success? This presentation will explain how data collected from a variety of sources creates a database that allows critical analysis for identifying areas of need and improvement, as well as demonstrating causes for celebration.
Christi Stevens, Louisville Metro Gov't Technology Services
Jane Poole, LOJIC
In October 2007, the US Census invited Louisville Metro Government to participate in the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program and the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS). The data submitted included increases since the 2000 Census of an additional 15,756 residential addresses and 1,842 additional group quarters. For the BAS update., Louisville Metro Government worked with the Suburban Cities within Jefferson County to provide boundary information for twenty-nine of the existing eighty-three Suburban Cities. Of the eighty-four incorporated places within Jefferson County, seventy-four had significant boundary changes, and 10% of the BAS lines were updated to reflect new streets, corrected railroad, incorporated place boundaries, airport runway lines, major power lines, and other new features like alleys and levees. Additionally, fifty-three area landmarks were added to the ten original areas, and 557 point landmarks were added to the original 180 points.
Kent Anness & Kim Anness, Kentucky Division of Geographic Information
The Cross Kentucky Trails Project seeks to map the trails of the Commonwealth by incorporating GPS-collected data from individual self-mapping efforts into the Commonwealth’s award-winning geographic information system to identify all of Kentucky’s numerous trails. This initiative is central to the success of Adventure Tourism in the Commonwealth, and the resulting trail system will be a figurehead for the ability of Adventure Tourism to positively impact all regions of the state, from rural to urban.
Andy Longstreet, Middletown Fire Protection District
Angela Scott, Lyndon Fire & Rescue
Rapid growth and the implementation of mobile computers into the Fire Service in Jefferson County lead to a re-evaluation of the methods used to create printed street atlases for responders. Fire Service responders have unique needs that are not common to commercially available atlases. Maps must not only show how to get to an address, but what to expect once you arrive. The solution needed to be easily updated, user friendly, and provide a consistent look from the computer screen to the printed page. With the assistance and support of LOJIC, Louisville Metro’s GIS service, a grid-based map system was adopted utilizing ESRI’s ArcView 9.2 with the Mapbook extension. While still a work-in-progress, the new atlases have been in use successfully in several districts with expansion and enhancements planned for the future.
Earl Smith, Matt Tolar & Todd Reidenbach
Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission
The Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission, working with CDP Engineers, Inc., is conducting a pilot project combining watershed and land use planning which encompasses properties within thirteen square miles of the Dry Run Watershed Basin, located north of downtown Georgetown. The plan was approved by the Kentucky Division of Water’s Non-Point Source Section, as a Section 319(h) Grant for the 2004 federal fiscal year and is now in its fourth year. Approximately one-third of the proposed study area is located within the current Urban Service Boundary (USB) with the potential for half of the area to develop quickly pending the future growth of Georgetown. The study’s purpose includes the development of a proactive land use and watershed plan focused on stream protection and water quality. Some of its goals are: to mimic pre-development hydrology, rather than just peak flow rates, in future development; to attempt small area planning with environmental protection steering the land uses planning initiative; and to educate local, regional, and national groups on what is learned about combined watershed and land use planning. This presentation will highlight the role that GIS has played in the study to date.
Peter Croswell, Croswell-Schulte IT Consultants
This "mini-seminar" will provide an overview of GIS management concepts and practices drawing on material from URISA's successful "GIS Program Management Workshop." It will identify key challenges facing GIS managers and will discuss ideas, strategies, and approaches for more effective management. Topics covered will include: strategic and implementation planning, project management, team and personnel management, financial management, and important legal issues. This session is appropriate for current GIS managers, professionals moving into a management role, or "IT" management with a need to understand GIS-specific management issues.
Ross Mackay, National Geodetic Survey
Danielle Buchanan & Perry Semones, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
GPS is replacing the traditional horizontal surveying methods for many positioning tasks. Surveyors can usually obtain horizontal accuracies of 1 to 2 cm. However, comparable vertical accuracies have not been as easy to obtain. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has established a network of Continually Operating Reference Stations (CORS) providing horizontal and vertical coordinates as a three-dimensional geodetic control reference system. This network enables horizontal accuracies of 1 to 2 cm and, upon completion of the Height Modernization project, will provide vertical accuracies of 2 to 4 cm. It will also eliminate inconsistencies between horizontal and vertical data and provide additional geodetic control by replacing bench marks that have been destroyed or are otherwise unsuitable for use with GPS. The presentation will conclude with a demonstration using GPS equipment for real-time connection to the KY CORS GPS network and processing of GPS data with tools available online from the National Geodetic Survey.
Eric Rodenberg, ESRI
This session will focus on distributed geodatabases and how they can be leveraged by organizations to share data between departments or users outside their organization. We will explore how replicas are created and how they can be used in both ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server. In addition, we will look at how Geodatabase Replicas can be synchronized to show the latest updates from multiple departments. Finally, we will examine how Geodatabase Replication can be used to allow users to clip, zip, and ship their data across the web.
Cecelia A. Armstrong
Morehead State University Institute for Regional Analysis & Public Policy
It has been over two years since the United States Geological Survey (USGS) awarded Morehead State University’s Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy (IRAPP) a contract to complete Phase II, the collection of place names for the eastern half of the Commonwealth. This new collection is to be included in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) maintained by the USGS. During the past two years, thousands of place names have been collected, edited and forwarded to the USGS, yet many more place names still remain to be collected from the eastern part of the Commonwealth. Along with this work over the past two years, IRAPP has been awarded the second part of Phase II, the collection of place names for the western portion of Kentucky. Here too, it is expected that thousands more names will be collected and become part of the GNIS. This presentation will cover progress on both contracts and will also briefly cover some of the data and GIS issues that are inherent in the project.
Michael Schwartz & Todd Wallace
Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission
Disparate databases unite. Thanks to WebFocus, the most widely utilized business intelligence (BI) platform, the Northern KY Area Planning Commission (NKAPC) can access data from any database anywhere. WebFocus connects to any enterprise system or application and lets users interact with information in a simple and intuitive way. Just when you thought there could not be more, WebFocus also lets you map the data with IMS or ArcServer. WebFocus helped NKAPC take permit reporting to another level while delivering improved customer service. That’s still not all…NKAPC is also using WebFocus for Crime Mapping.
Matt Snow, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
Color theory, labels, resolution, fonts, audience, & purpose in GIS will be discussed from a graphic artist's perspective. Increase the effectiveness of your GIS designs by learning how to incorporate design (& layout) theory. Application in interactive, print, & web will also be discussed.
J. Kyle Snyder, Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission
This presentation details the GISCI certification program for GIS professionals which started on January 1, 2004 as a recognition program for established GIS practitioners. It offers a non-examination, portfolio-based system which examines applicants' education, professional experience, and contributions to the profession. Since its inception, GISCI has certified over 2,193 GIS professionals (GISPs). As the Institute grows, new initiatives are being developed to advance GIS awareness and ethical practices throughout the field. Strategies for completing the application as well as detailed information about the history of the effort and the Institute will be provided. Information about certification in relation to licensure and state endorsements of the program will be offered as well. The presentation will outline the review cycle of how applications are received, processed, and deliberated on. Recertification requirements will be detailed along with convenient and inexpensive methods through which applicants can earn continuing education credit. Attendees will have the ability to ask questions about documentation requirements, portfolio essentials, and participate in dialogue with current GISPs.
Andrew J. Whittle & Songlin Fei
University of Kentucky Department of Forestry
Global warming can induce significant change on climate, such as increased severe storms, increased temperature, increased drought and sea level rise, all of which have potential negative impacts on biodiversity. In this study, we applied several climate change models to the habitats of Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) and Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). We predicted sea-level rise in Florida with several scenarios. Florida panther habitat was determined using VHF collar data and a kernel density estimate, while black bear habitat was geo-referenced from existing maps to the map layer. The model indicates that even small climate change-induced sea level rise will significantly reduce black bear habitat and result in dire consequences for the panther which has no other population outside of south Florida. Cost surface analyses identified likely migration routes that would link south Florida black bear and panther populations to suitable habitats to the north. Without conservation actions that establish populations in these northern habitats, we predict that the Florida panther may become extinct in the wild due to climate change effects. Contributing author:David S. Maehr, University of Kentucky Department of Forestry
Tom Mueller, University of Kentucky Department of Plant & Soil Sciences
Adam Pike, University of Kentucky
While numerous land-use planning datasets are publicly available, they are often underutilized by the public-at-large, which has led to long-term negative economic and environmental consequences. The objective of this project was to develop methods for making land-use assessment data more easily available over the internet with a Google Maps interface. A backend scripting program was used to build a dynamic web page that incorporated Google Maps Applications Programming Interface (API). This program allowed multiple land-use planning transparent overlays to be displayed with Google Maps base data at multiple zoom levels. With this web page, valuable maps for land-use assessment were easily created; however, the page was quite resource intensive and caused system instability. Despite these problems, our work indicates that these issues can be overcome through further development efforts enabling the use and automation of image tiling. Contributing authors: N. Hamilton, B.D. Lee, A.D. Karathanasis & T.J. Nieman, University of KY; J.E. Mueller, TJ Tech, Inc.; D. Carey, KY Geological Survey; D. Zourarakis, KY Division of Geographic Information
Discussion Facilitator:
Ben Koostra, University of Kentucky BioSystems & Agricultural Engineering Department
This session will give participants the opportunity to share experiences, methods, and best practices for implementing ESRI’s ArcGIS Server. Topics will include configuration, performance, caching, connecting to data services, integration with enterprise systems, geoprocessing, and data editing.
Jay Mickle, Office of Jefferson Co. Property Valuation Administrator
The Commonwealth of Kentucky mandates that the Property Valuation Administrator must inspect each parcel of land at least once every 4 years. Six Residential Field Assessors with the Jefferson County PVA are each faced with examining approximately 11,000 parcels annually - a daunting challenge to say the least. The use of oblique aerial imagery assists the assessors in meeting this goal. This session explores the cost savings and increased productivity realized by the Jefferson County PVA by using oblique imagery.
Josh Clark & Songlin Fei, University of Kentucky Department of Forestry
The hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) is a small invasive insect that causes substantial mortality of eastern hemlock. HWA has been confirmed in nine counties in Kentucky. The objectives of this research study were to map eastern hemlock and create a habitat distribution model of HWA in southeastern Kentucky. To map eastern hemlock, training signatures derived from leaf-off 2001 DOQQs were used in a supervised classification of winter satellite images. The resulting classes were reclassified into areas of evergreen and non-evergreen forest. Point data were collected with a GPS unit, and resulting class values were used as dependent variables in discriminate analysis to determine important environmental predictors. Accuracy assessments were accomplished using a test data set to calculate error matrices and Kappa statistics. Habitat suitability of HWA was also determined using a maximum entropy distribution modeling tool. A decision threshold equivalent to the lowest training value was used to assess model validity using bootstrapping.
Cecelia A. Armstrong
Morehead State University Institute for Regional Analysis & Public Policy
The mission of the Mapping Kentucky History Project is to integrate the exploration of Kentucky’s rich history and geospatial technologies education into public schools. The Project supports collaboration between student members of the Student Technology Leadership Program and community members around the state in mapping and gathering information about Kentucky Historical Roadside markers. Through this project, an online, public map and database will be developed for the Kentucky Historical Roadside Markers. The database will provide all required data for the United States Geological Survey’s Geographical Names Information System (GNIS) database and The National Map. Also, it will supply information for the Kentucky Historical Society’s online Roadside Marker Database. With funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Height Modernization project and the USGS GNIS Phase II contract, the project will supply packets that include GPS and other information to complete set tasks.
Michael Shouse & Songlin Fei
University of Kentucky Department of Forestry
Invasive species are a major threat to the biodiversity and health of urban community forests in Kentucky. Remote sensing has been proven to offer techniques for spatial forest ecology in the past. This study attempts to define a methodology for the preparation, collection, classification, and analysis of invasive plant species in Kentucky using GPS, GIS, and remote sensing. In this study, we used a preliminary invasive plant species inventory of six publicly managed, forested urban parks in Fayette and Jefferson Counties. Training subplots of invasive plant species were then created using a Trimble GeoXM GPS receiver. Quickbird and Ikonos satellite image data of the study area were obtained for similar imaging conditions. Two-thirds of the subplot data were used as the training dataset to create a supervised classification of the invasive plant species, while the other one-third of the subplot data was used for validation. The resulting classifications were compared to find the best seasonal imagery combinations to effectively and feasibly map invasive plant species in remnant forest understories.
Brian D. Lee, University of Kentucky Department of Landscape Architecture
Carol Hanley, Tracy Farmer Center for the Environment
This presentation will report on the results from the “Mapping and Monitoring Land Resource Change Bridging the Geospatial Divide for Decision-Making” conference. The event, a first of its kind in the region, represents a state-of-the-practice in mapping and monitoring landscape change for professionals and the public. The conference was structured as a facilitated workshop dedicated to eliciting and providing elements useful in strengthening Kentucky’s geospatial vision with specific focus on remote sensing in the context of GIS and other geospatial technologies and sciences. Content during the two-day conference sought to broaden the understanding of how landscape is changing from a national as well as a regional perspective and how geospatial technologies are already improving landscape decision-making. A critical aspect of the conference was the ability of attendees to provide input to Kentucky’s geospatial vision through facilitated listening sessions.
Philip Mink, Kentucky Archaeological Survey
Locating archaeological sites in the early stages of a project is a major concern for highway planners, as their excavation is often costly and can lead to project delays. Developing a method to find locations with high potential for archaeological sites will provide planners with a tool that reduces cost and delays by creating a proactive solution to identify and consider archaeological resources early in the highway planning process. Previous attempts to model archaeological sites have had only limited success and principally focused on inductive methodologies where known sites were correlated to environmental variables. In this pilot study of Woodford County, our team is attempting a new deductive strategy by employing cognitive mapping. Using fuzzy logic combined with GIS, we are capturing and modeling areas of high potential for archaeological sites using the collective intuitive knowledge of professional archaeologists within the Commonwealth. Contributing team members: Carl Shields, Daniel Davis, James Hixon & Susan Neumeyer, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet; Keiron Bailey, University of Arizona; Ted Grossardt & John Ripy, Kentucky Transportation Center
Robert Rennick, Kentucky Geographic Names Committee
What should be included in the Place Names Directory? Although there are standards for readability, usability, and accuracy, places and features should also be identified as precisely as possible. A decision, for example, should be made regarding which post office site will be included in a database as its location. This presentation will address criteria to establish correct standards for inclusion of multiple names and locations of feature names.
Hongmei Wang, Northern Kentucky University
Development of transparent interfaces is one of the long term goals for GIS, which leads to development of natural multimodal interfaces (e. g. interfaces that can understand the user's speech and/or gesture-based requests) for GIS. Development of natural multimodal interfaces for geographical information use has evolved from early systems with speech-only interfaces or systems with speech and mouse-simulated gesture-based interfaces to current natural multimodal GIS with speech and free-hand gesture-based interfaces. The goal of this presentation is to introduce natural multimodal GIS and demonstrate its advantages through applications in crisis management. This presentation focuses on introduction to the background and the state of the art, introduction to, and demonstration of two existing natural multimodal GIS and pointing out their potential applications in Kentucky.
Vincent A. DiNoto, Jr., Jefferson Community &Technical College
This discussion will focus on the newly created National Center for Geospatial Technologies funded by the the National Science Foundation - Advanced Technical Education program. The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is one of the co-Principle Investigators of the new center and will be responsible for data warehousing and curriculum clearinghouse. The Center will help to meet the national needs in Geospatial Technologies education and serve as a central voice for these programs in both secondary and postsecondary institutions. It will perform DACUMs as well as cross reference the Body of Knowledge in GIS developed at Penn State University. Partners are being sought to work with the Center leadership which, in addition to Kentucky, is located in California, Texas, Georgia, and Illinois. Partners can be secondary schools, colleges, government agencies, professional organizations and members of the professional community. All aspects of the new Center will be discussed.
Kent Anness & Kimberly Anness, Kentucky Division of Geographic Information
This session will provide an overview of some recent developments in GIS technology at the Kentucky Division of Geographic Information. Staff will demonstrate newly developed ArcGIS Server services, ArcWeb services, the new KEMAP XG application and upcoming KYGEONET upgrades.
Craig Witmer, Pictometry International Corporation
Recent advances in technology have brought a new paradigm in how we can view the world through imagery. Geo-referenced oblique aerial imagery opens the door to many new uses for GIS data which were not possible in the past with traditional “straightdown” orthogonal imagery. This presentation will explore some of those uses, including 3D modeling, and will also include a technical overview of the capture process for this type of imagery. Additional content will include a demonstration detailing the recent integration of oblique imagery into ArcGIS and ArcGIS Server applications and a discussion regarding the deployment of oblique imagery in Web-based applications.
David Wiggins, US Census Bureau
This presentation will review the 2010 Census Participant Statistical Areas Program and the process for county or regional participants to submit updates to census tracts, block groups, census designated places, and census county divisions. GIS professionals use these areas widely to analyze spatial data for their areas, and it is important that they be delineated in a manner that will provide meaningful small area geography for census and other data presentations.
Hongmei Wang, Northern Kentucky University
Natural language has the potential to help the system achieve better interface transparency which leads to development of speech-based interfaces to GIS. One of the challenges in designing such an interface is determining how to deal with various uncertainties involved in natural language messages. The goal of this study is to facilitate the coordination of uncertain problems by providing a computation model of the context involved in human-GIS communication. Keeping track of the dynamic context through PlanGraph, an agent-based computational model, the GIS can understand uncertain information in the user’s speech request under constraints of the current context and then further reduce uncertainty through collaborative human-GIS dialogues. The capabilities of this model are demonstrated through its performance in a speech-based GIS.
Mark Myers, Kentucky Department of Library and Archives
Kent Anness & Kimberly Anness, Kentucky Division of Geographic Information
What happens to critical geospatial research data after it has been replaced by more current data on the KYGEONET? A grant awarded bu the Library of Congress will enable Kentucky and two other states to develop a strategy that addresses this question. During a two year period, the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives will work with the Kentucky Division of Geographic Information (DGI) and their counterparts in the other two states to promote preservation of and long term access to geospatial content through a geographically dispersed content exchange network. Under the leadership of the North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, partners from the archives, library, and geospatial communities in each state will explore ways to inventory and identify “at-risk” content, find and deploy best practices to preserve that data, and build multi-state data exchange networks such as through spatial data infrastructures. In Kentucky, the archives will use its portion of the grant to build on an established relationship with DGI, assess the records, and develop a technical infrastructure for accessioning data identified as historical.
Chris Ruwe & Hongmei Wang, Northern Kentucky University
The Red River Gorge Geologic Area is a popular hiking and camping destination in central Kentucky. Spread across Powell, Menifee, and Wolfe counties, thousands of hikers, campers, and rock climbers visit the region each year. Existing digital maps of the Red River Gorge Geologic Area do not cover the whole area, nor do they provide the comprehensive information needed by visitors and those who are interested in the area. This project utilizes GIS to generate a comprehensive digital map of the area which covers all the three of its distinct regions and provides data about the area, including elevation, transportation, trail information, rivers, lakes and streams, and some specific information regarding interesting sites through out the area.
Damien Mallen, MapSync
GPS technology continues to evolve rapidly, and keeping up with what’s new can be daunting. Even more, how do we best assemble and apply these tools to better tackle the job? How do we maximize our field data collection efforts? What hardware best suits what we are doing in the field? Are there accessories which will enhance our productivity and accuracy? What field software is best suited to the type of GPS and GIS field work we perform? Is ArcPad or TerraSync (or some other software) the answer? How do we best leverage this data back in the office? Come listen and discuss how to optimize your field data collection efforts.
Jeff Lovin, Woolpert, Inc.
Woolpert’s SmartViewTM OAV system will allow users of both standard orthoimagery and oblique imagery to view and gather valuable visual information. This product will give the end user a unique tool for feature analysis and critical decision-making. Using OAV imagery, users can examine, measure, annotate, view, and respond to their daily challenges. Additionally, users may display, import data layers, and measure vertical and horizontal objects from various angles and directions. Finally, SmartView will allow users to operate and create visual products, export to ArcGIS, save and/or print image files for their daily responsibilities with minimal training or instruction.
Ningning Kong & Songlin Fei
University of Kentucky Department of Forestry
Invasive plants has increasingly deteriorated forest health, decreased forest productivity, and degraded wildlife habitat. To identify areas with high invasion possibilities for early detection and treatment, we investigated the geographic distribution patterns of invasive plants in the Southeastern U.S. using GIS and geospatial analysis methods. In this study, we analyzed the association between invasive exotic plants and their related environmental factors, including road density, population-interaction index, land cover diversity, forest connectivity, forest cover percentage, average elevation, slope, etc. Exotic invasive plants data from the USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) were used with a total of 33 non-native plants and groups, including trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and ferns observed in 13 southeastern states. The environmental factors were converted into GIS layers and calculated at county level. The results show that road density, land cover diversity, forest connectivity, elevation in the forested area, and forest cover percentage in the county have significant influences on exotic invasive plants distribution. These factors can serve as indicators for invasive plants monitoring and hot spot detection.
Discussion Facilitators:
Christine McMichael, Morehead St. Univ. Inst. of Research Analaysis & Public Policy
Tom Mueller, University of Kentucky Department of Plant & Soil Science
Remote sensing is and will only become more critical for solving many environmental and socio-economic problems across Kentucky. This roundtable session will consider ways to coordinate efforts and resources among universities to facilitate the licensing of ERDAS remote sensing software for academic institutions in Kentucky. Similar to the benefits provided by the statewide ESRI (GIS) software license, the acquisition of an ERDAS licensing agreement would greatly enhance the Commonwealth’s geospatial workforce and problem-solving capabilities. Multiple options will be presented and discussed, including a license agreement with unlimited seats for ERDAS Imagine, Photogrammetry, and ArcGIS extensions for public post-secondary educational/research universities in the state. Another, more comprehensive, agreement will be considered that also allows additional limited access to TITAN and the Image Web Server and would incorporate both public and private post-secondary academic institutions, including community and technical colleges. Developing and implementing an extensive statewide academic software agreement will require a coordinated effort among faculty/staff and support from the administration at each academic institution in Kentucky. We hope that this roundtable discussion will facilitate the development of an inter-institutional proposal to the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Division of Geographic Information to support implementation of a statewide academic ERDAS software license.
Joseph A. McGarry, Louisville Water Company
This project was based upon the need to eliminate the dependency of paper forms from the Louisville Water Company’s (LWC) Emergency Turners valve exercising program, to improve the efficiency of migrating field collected data to LWC’s databases, and to take advantage of work crews that had mobile computing and access to a GIS. The valve exercising program is part of an initiative to verify the operation of the valves, and the exercising process currently involves the recording of valve properties on paper forms that are used for data entry when submitted by the Emergency Turner. The solution integrated the existing GIS, the Mobile GIS application, and a custom module for recording valve attributes. The application provides the Emergency Turner with a tool to select and exercise valves and record the attributes. The captured data is automatically sent to the data server when the Emergency Turner enters the LWC operations facility, and the uploaded records can be reviewed before acceptance.
Mike Grogan, Western Kentucky University
The Kentucky Mesonet is a high density, mesoscale network of automated meteorological and climatological sensing stations under deployment across the Commonwealth by the Kentucky Mesonet Consortium, which is led by the Kentucky Climate Center at Western Kentucky University. This presentation reviews the network’s progress thus far as it relates to to the instrumentation and information technology necessary to support deployment. Existing and potential project uses of and applications to GIS, mesoscale modeling, and wind energy analyses are then examined. Feedback from conference participants regarding development of Mesonet-based GIS applications is encouraged. Several authors from the Kentucky Climate Center at Western Kentucky University contributed to this effort.
Jim Creighton, Pennyrile Area Development District
This presentation will include a discussion of tornado response mapping with strip maps & analysis sheets. Western Kentucky’s Pennyrile region has been hit by severe tornados regularly over the past several years. The Pennyrile Area Development District GIS has worked with responders to prepare maps in advance for use in response to disasters and amplify them with detailed strip maps when exact positioning is known. These have proven invaluable to response and reconstitution teams.
Demetrio Zourarakis, Kentucky Division of Geographic Information
The final deliverables of the NASA-funded Kentucky Landscape Census (KLC) project include the purchase and selective dissemination of the 2006, leaf-on, 4 band (RGB, near IR), 2 foot, aerial digital orthophotography for seven Central KY counties and 5 m, refined land cover classification based on this imagery for five counties. This geographic area was identified based its significance as one of 100 Endangered Landscapes , as declared by the World Monuments Fund. The use of remote sensing in Kentucky government is maturing at a time when high quality image data such as these, extremely suitable for feature and object extraction, are becoming onerous due to budgetary constraints, and the pressure for more efficient workflows for generating geospatial derivatives is mounting. This presentation seeks to increase the awareness of the availability of these data to local and state government agencies and their contractors, and their accessibility for viewing through portals. The use of diverse techniques will also be illustrated.
Michelle Ellington, Katherine Loving & Tammi Johnson
University of Kentucky Physical Plant Division
This presentation will offer a peek inside the challenges of building a university-wide GIS. Discussion topics include keeping up with daily campus changes, CAD to GIS migration, working with limited resources, and the rewards of small successes.
M. Keith Wethington, Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife
Emerging geospatial technologies are rapidly being deployed in the field of fish and wildlife management. This presentation will share some experiences with two of these technologies: Forward Looking Infrared Radiometry (FLIR) and Low Altitude Hyperspectral remote sensing. In both cases, private companies were contracted to gather and process data for the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. FLIR data were used to identify deer and elk on surface-mined lands while hyperspectral data were used for forest inventory of a wildlife management area. There are advantages but also disadvantages to using these technologies, and ensuring specific contractual obligations is critical to achieving a satisfactory end product.
Doug Curl, Kentucky Geological Survey
The Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) has recently developed and updated two web-based data entry applications which utilize the ArcIMS ActiveX Connector and AJAX technology to give users the ability to upload and edit GIS related data in an SQL database. With the Field Data Entry application, users can update the KGS database with field data by uploading stations locations from a file and plotting them on the map interface or locating stations using map tools. Then users can use the application to enter, upload, or edit any associated data such as descriptions and photos. The Oil and Gas Permitting application automates the KGS business process for verifying new oil and gas permit locations and has been used for several years for vertical oil and gas wells. Recent updates provide tools which give users the ability to verify permit locations of wells which deviate and branch from a surface location by drawing and buffering lines on the map interface from user-entered coordinate data.
Vincent A. DiNoto, Jr., Jefferson Community & Technical College
Bruce Noe, Citrix
Increasingly, thinner clients, distance education, and mobile computing require the use of virtualized applications. Citrix's XenApp is a software solution proven to work well with ESRI's ArcGIS Desktop. This presentation will focus on current developments in virtualization and geospatial applications as seen implemented in other states and in Kentucky. The feasibility of a pilot testbed for the use of this architecture as a guide to implementation in educational and governmental applications to achieve greater efficiencies in enterprise settings will be discussed.
Ryan Kelly, Bluegrass Community & Technical College
This presentation will show how GPS technology and GIS were used to create an interactive map of Ashland - the Henry Clay Estate, a 20 acre historical landmark in the heart of Lexington, Kentucky. Students at Bluegrass Community and Technical College mapped archaeological, historic, interpretive, and botanical features as part of a community service project to generate a map to be used by both the employees of Ashland and visitors to the Estate. This discussion is non-technical in nature and is targeted to educators and community service volunteers wishing to learn the fundamentals of how to successfully integrate GPS and GIS technology into projects that deal with aspects of historical preservation and management.
Adam Pike, University of Kentucky
Tom Mueller, University of Kentucky Department of Plant & Soil Sciences
Water erosion could be substantially reduced if an inexpensive procedure to use terrain attributes were available to assist with placement of grassed waterways. In this study, elevation data for three central Kentucky fields were obtained with real time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) measurements and from US Geological Survey (USGS) digital elevation models (DEMs). The resultant datasets were used to calculate terrain attributes (i.e., profile and plan curvature, channel initiation threshold, and topographic wetness index). Prediction models with data from two fields were developed with logistic regression and neural network analyses. The predictor variables were the terrain attributes while the target variable was determined by the presence or absence of existing grassed waterways. Data from an independent field was used to test the model’s validity. This study indicated that models could be used successfully to predict locations of grassed waterways in the validation field with topographic attributes derived from both the USGS and RTK data sets. The impact of several variables upon neural network analyses results will be discussed to show how this approach could potentially help conservation planners identify areas suitable for CRP more efficiently. Contributing authors: S.A. Shearer, T.J. Nieman & A.D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky
Benjamin Hughes & Jay Mickle
Office of Jefferson County Property Valuation Administrator
This session explores the use of geospatial analysis to value commercial and residential land in Jefferson County. Using existing sales data, a prediction model was created through statistical interpolation methods. Using the prediction data, values can then be applied to each parcel, creating a more accurate assessment of land value. Contributing partners: Jason Hancock & Ray Yeager, Office of the Jefferson County Property Valuation Administrator
Josh Karrick, CDP Engineers
Eric Muncy, MapSync
This session will look at how GIS and GPS technologies can improve and streamline your maintenance program. A case study will illustrate how mapping and data collection can bring real-time information your desktop.
Vincent A. DiNoto, Jr., Moderator
Jefferson Community & Technical College
The use of virtualized desktops in GIS is nothing new. The software solutions to achieve greater efficiencies in enterprise settings have become more sophisticated and integrated with geospatial applications. The fact that a diversity of solutions exist gives us reason to believe that the extension of this type of environment to licensing schemes for education and governmental enterprises will proceed at an accelerated pace. This panel will focus on current developments between both areas of virtualization and geospatial applications as seen implemented in other states and in Kentucky.
Kevin B. Cary, Western Kentucky University
This presentation will discuss a collaboration grant between Western Kentucky University’s Department of Physical Education & Recreation and the Department of Geography & Geology to develop an Internet Mapping Service (IMS) for blueways in Warren County, Kentucky. With the IMS, users can gather more information on a stream of interest. This service includes topography, routes, and access locations, as well as view point locations along a stream as hyperlinks that allows the user to see pictures upstream, downstream, and banks from inside a canoe. Students from the Department of Physical Education & Recreation canoed the streams to take pictures at several locations while referencing them with coordinates taken with a handheld GPS unit. Students taking an Internet GIS course in the Department of Geography & Geology initially designed an IMS with assistance from Western Kentucky University’s Center for GIS.