Spring Meeting Schedule

Presentation: Video

ArcGIS 10.1 is the next release of Esri’s GIS platform. New desktop features include dynamic legends, edit tracking, sophisticated analysis, and continued integration of Python. Desktop is also more tightly integrated with Server, providing a wizard-based tool for map publishing. ArcGIS Server will provide support for 64-bit hardware, cloud based-infrastructure, and a simpler administrative model. Imagery and LiDAR enhancements will be discussed, as well as the new ArcGIS Runtime.

Presentation: Video

The world of pixels differs from that of points, lines, and polygons in ways that may have less to do with those data types themselves than the mind’s eyes of their users. This presentation argues that point from the perspective of one who has now spent well over three decades pitching raster-based GIS tools and techniques to graduate students at Harvard, Penn, Yale, and Ohio State.

Presentation: PDF PPT Video

The University of Massachusetts Campus Planning division is striving to integrate spatial thinking and technology into its efforts to develop the Campus Master Plan and establish a culture of planning at UMass Amherst. The Master Plan, being a long-term strategic vision of Campus physical development is being designed via a planning process which cultivates public participation and is data intensive. To make the process effective, transparent, and inclusive, Campus Planning group developed a web based “Master Plan Explorer” application to visualize proposed ideas and to solicit feedback and comments from the public and campus community. The solution relies on GIS web services and utilizes ready-to-use customizable templates for web-applications. The presentation will cover our approach in establishing the back end and front end of the application using ArcGIS Server, JavaScript Web API, and customizable templates.

Presentation: PDF PPT Video

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels are a leading cause of climate change (Malhi et al. 2002). Most terrestrial carbon is stored in forest biomass (Olson et al. 1985) by the photosynthetic conversion of atmospheric CO₂. Therefore, estimating carbon stocks helps us quantify CO₂ concentrations. Ecologists calculate biomass with empirical allometric equations that use species and diameter at breast height (dbh) and divide by two to estimate carbon (Brown and Schroeder 1999, Jenkins et al. 2004).

I hypothesized that I could estimate stand-level biomass using the Airborne Imaging Multispectral Sensor’s (AIMS) high-resolution imagery and LiDAR height measurements. To test this notion, I selected a study area on Mount Holyoke College property, in South Hadley, Massachusetts and systematically sampled 366 trees for species, height, dbh, and canopy data. I obtained LiDAR-derived canopy height and high resolution imagery with the AIMS system. I averaged the LiDAR values and the sampled trees’ heights within each plot to obtain plot average height for each method. By dividing the area into 20 plots, a linear regression indicated that the LiDAR average height was a significant predictor of dominant tree average height (p=0.000, R2=0.638).

For the remote biomass estimation, in each subplot I identified species and stem density in georeferenced AIMS images. From ground data, I created linear regression models to estimate dbh from height. I used LiDAR height to estimate dbh values in the corresponding biomass equations. I multiplied these biomass values by the number of stems of each species in the plot, scaled the value to hectare, and summed the results. I compared these results with the ground biomass data. For the ground validation of biomass, within the twenty plots I created ten 900-m² subplots, where I identified species, measured dbh for all live stems >12.4 cm, and recorded place in the canopy. I calculated biomass using the species-specific allometric biomass equations from Jenkins et al. (2004), summed the results, and scaled to hectare. I also calculated biomass using only dominant and co-dominant trees. The linear regression indicated that the remote method was a significant predictor of dominant tree ground biomass (p=0.012, R2=0.568). These results suggest that this technique can adequately predict stand-level biomass in a southern New England forest. The next step will be to expand the locations to determine the feasibility of using this method for other forest types.

References:

• Malhi, Y., P. Meir, S. Brown. 2002. Forests, carbon and global climate. The Royal Society 360(1797):1567-1591.
• Brown, S.L. and P.E. Schroeder. 1999. Spatial patterns of aboveground production and mortality of woody biomass for Eastern U.S. forests. Ecological Applications 9(3):968-980.
• Jenkins, J.C., D.C. Chojnacky, L.S. Heath, and R.A. Birdsey. 2004. Comprehensive database of diameter-based biomass regressions for North American tree species. USDA Forest Service Northeastern Research Station General Technical Report NE-319.
• Olson, J.S., J.A. Watts, L.J. Allison. 1985. Major world ecosystem complexes ranked by carbon in live vegetation: a database. ORNL NDP-017.

Presentation: Video

Do you need to use Census data for mapping projects and have limited time? This workshop will highlight how to locate census data using the New American FactFinder and transforming this data into geospatial friendly formats. Join us as we remove the frustration from mapping census data during this hands-on workshop as we locate, download, and transform census data into geospatial friendly formats.

Note: this workshop will be repeated in Session 3.

Presentation: PDF PPT Video

The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) is using GIS to support a large fiber optic network build in western Mass, known as MassBroadband 123. ArcGIS tools were created using ModelBuilder and Python scripts to automate repetitive tasks and make them accessible to casual GIS users, allowing the GIS team to focus on other projects.

This presentation will demonstrate how Python is used to run queries and export the results for periodic fiber-optic network cost analyses. Examples will include how to name an object, use a date parameter to query data, add join, add field and convert table to table. A single Python script is used to process a number of GIS tasks in several minutes vs. a manual process that could take 30 minutes or longer. A well-documented ArcGIS tool is created from the script.

Presentation: PDF PPT Video

The University of Massachusetts is currently in the process of creating a strategic long-term plan for its physical campus development. This plan/strategy is the result of a recent master planning process and is intended to be transparent and inclusive. To achieve this goal, UMass explored innovative applications of web spatial technology to facilitate the planning process and to learn about the campus public’s perception of our campus and its places.

Campus Planning (CP) and the Building and Construction Technology program (BCT) built two separate tools with similar intentions to crowd-source the public’s feedback: a) “My Favorite Places”, a website built with Google Maps JavaScript APIs, PHP and MySQL and b) “Likes and Dislikes”, a web app implemented using ESRI’s Flex Web API and Drupal as a backend. Both have been very popular and continue to yield feedback on the campus. With the current trend towards location-based socializing (e.g. using Foursquare), these tools also provide a usable concept for a university to adopt the social component of a favorite places site into providing a venue for students to express their interest in a particular place (and share it with others).

In this presentation, we will discuss the issues related to using spatial web technology to support a public decision process as exemplified in the UMass planning process. We will also discuss technical details of both project implementations and will share what we have learned from our experiences.

Presentation: PDF PPT Video

Presentation: PDF PPT

I would like to discuss the value of a central database schema, what it takes to properly clean and organize your directory structure. I would then like to discuss the Esri Local Government philosophy and why it is ground breaking and extremely intriguing to a guy like me, who has never voluntarily cleaned anything in his life...

Presentation: PDF PPT Video

Recent rapid advancements in mobile technology have opened up a whole new realm of information management and GIS mobile application capabilities that can benefit all levels of an organization and be made available to users at virtually any location. Whether you are in field operations, planning/engineering, or at the management level, new GIS and mobile technologies can provide customized access to the critical information you and your staff require on a daily basis. During this presentation, new trends in GIS and mobile technology will be highlighted. Several topics including data collection, asset inspection and real-time data feeds via Telemetry will be covered. Discover the ways to use the iPad to help you get your job done faster….so you have more time to play Angry Birds.

Presentation: PDF PPT WMV Video

In August 2011, Hurricane Irene swept through a large area in New York State, leaving millions of people homeless and cities in pieces. The damage there was widespread and astonishing, whereas the precise scale of the floods is still unclear. The crucial part of modeling a flood is to decide its return period, especially for the un-gauged areas. This research aims to model the flood inundation and decide the return period using HEC-RAS model, assisted by ArcGIS, incorporating multiple sources of data.

This research focuses on an area located in the Schoharie Watershed between North Blenheim and Breakabeen, which was attacked by Irene-invited floods and has U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) gauging stations on both ends. HEC-RAS utilizes 10m USGS DEM, LiDAR data, NLCD land-use data, and flow rate data from two nearby gauging stations as input parameters. In addition, aerial imagery taken two days after the peak flooding using an RIT/IPLER airborne multi-sensor platform was inspected visually to establish the flood extent. Model results were validated against field observations, and previous FEMA flood model results. The modeling process, once validated, can be applied as important reference instruction to guide the best management plans for the decision makers and stakeholders.

Presentation: PDF PPT

A brief look at how the Town of Amherst's approach to sharing GIS data has evolved over the past few years.

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An intrepid member of the audience agrees to tell a story about a stack of seemingly unrelated slides, with hilarious results!

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Maps have long supported collaboration and the sharing of information. Social media networks, on the other hand, have evolved into an ideal environment for broadcasting to target audiences the availability of geographic information. Indeed, social media messages and posts can even act as a primary source for the data. This lightning talk will highlight ideas about sharing maps and capabilities to these dynamic environments, as well as utilizing social media within GIS maps.

Presentation: PDF PPT

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has a memorandum of understanding with the United States Geological Survey to be the stewards of the National Hydrologic Dataset (NHD) in Massachusetts. This talk is to announce the opportunity for interested parties to help guide NHD in Massachusetts.

Presentation: PDF PPT

A summary of year-one of GIS in Arlington. Can centralized data, new technology, workflow changes, and government employees all row in the same boat?

Presentation: PDF PPT

At the University of Connecticut Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) and the Connecticut State Data Center our focus is on developing educational opportunities for students related to geospatial data and analysis. Over the past two years, an internship program along with a series of independent study projects has enabled students to work directly with geospatial data while also developing publicly accessible data resources and reports. Join us as we explore this model and how focusing on education has enabled MAGIC and the Connecticut State Data Center to provide increased access and support to the public.

Presentation: PDF PPT

This talk is based on the work I have done in mapping the human body and the gene. Few, if any, examples of similar GIS applications exist. I will discuss the rationale and relevance for mapping at each of these scales, the technical problems that arise, and GIS and spatial analytic solutions to these problems. A few illustrative examples from my clinical research will be presented.

Presentation: PDF PPT

Bucknell created the GIS Specialist position in 2009 with the broad goal of integrating GIS across the curriculum and infusing spatial thinking throughout students’ classroom and research experiences. Instead of just offering two GIS classes (GEOL230, “Environmental GIS” and GEOG204, “Applied GIS”), leaders within Bucknell's academic, library, and technology divisions wanted to go deeper and were willing to provide the support, flexibility, and incentives needed to help pave the way.

With that support behind us, Bucknell GIS has adopted the strategy of “early, often, and just the right amount,” to guide our decisions on teaching/research priorities and software/data infrastructure.

Presentation: PDF PPT

In the wake of the 2010 Gulf Spill many oil and gas companies are revisiting their spill response plans for both new and existing developments. Key to successful planning is understanding where the potentially sensitive environmental resources are, both on the coast and in the marine environment.

Based on the most recent international IPIECA guidelines ERM has developed an initial desk-based mapping and sensitivity classification approach, using existing data sources and remote sensing interpretation as a pre-cursor to more detailed field surveys. This approach enables rapid assessment of potentially sensitive locations.

In addition to providing the analytic tools and central data repository, a GIS web application and supporting map services provide access to all project data and metadata. Web editing tools enable client and contractor personnel to plot and share proposed locations for response resources (e.g. staging areas) during the response planning stage. This approach dramatically reduces reliance on traditional paper mapping.

Presentation: PDF PPT Video

The 2010 census data update is driving the review and revision of voting districts across the country at the state and municipal levels. GIS is an obvious choice for getting the job done, but how? This presentation will review different approaches that municipalities are using to adjust or even completely reconfigure voting districts taking into account state redistricting, new census data, registered voter statistics, historic voting patterns, and polling station locations, among other things. A selection of towns from southern New England will be discussed to illustrate methods and results.

Presentation: PDF PPT Video

Eating “locally” has adsorbed to popular understanding of sustainable living, but the notion that “local is best” goes largely untested in much dialog at the intersection of food, environment, and social justice. In this presentation I show how spatial analysis tools are used to tease out the geographic intricacy of connecting balanced diets and biophysical resources in re-scaled “foodsheds” across the United States. The central inquiries of this presentation are, “what foodshed size could produce enough food for all of its residents?” and “how does the ‘optimum’ size vary across the US?”. I demonstrate how Python scripting and parallel processing are used to complete highly iterative network-based foodshed analyses. The novel “comparative foodshed analysis” approach demonstrates that there may be many more than 100 food miles between you and a resilient, just food system.

Presentation: PDF PPT

Following the occurrence of Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011, we endeavored to determine a) whether the storm had any significant impact on local lake bathymetry and b) whether a survey using inexpensive equipment would be sufficient to provide enough information to evaluate the impacts.

We measured water depth across Dewey’s Mills Pond, a shallow 50-acre pond in Hartford, VT, shortly after the tropical storm. We used a recreational grade Garmin GPS unit and surveyed from a canoe. Measurements were taken with a sounding pole and recorded to the nearest quarter foot. We compared our results to those of a survey conducted several years prior to the storm in order to evaluate change.

By contrasting a subset of discrete measurements from each survey we determined that water depth decreased by 1-2 feet over the intervening time period at specific locations within the pond. Further comparison of interpolated surfaces generated from each dataset corroborated this change for the entirety of the pond.

Normal flow rates into the pond are generally quite low, suggesting that sedimentation exclusive of the storm event is unlikely to have caused the changes observed even over several years. In contrast, rainfall rates recorded during the storm and flow rate records from nearby streams combined with turbidity observations made immediately after the storm all suggest that water and sediment transport rates during the storm were sufficient to account for the sedimentation we observed. Local evidence of flood damage further corroborates this hypothesis, so we conclude that Tropical Storm Irene is responsible for the observed bathymetry changes.

Furthermore, we found that the survey equipment we used was acceptable for our purposes. The lake bottom is relatively homogeneous and changes in depth are gradual, so given the precision of our measurements the GPS reported our position with sufficient accuracy.

Presentation: PDF PPT

Cambridge, Massachusetts, home of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has a history almost as long as that of Boston. Just across the Charles River, it has shared in the twentieth century travails of most urban centers, experiencing decaying infrastructure, declining tax bases, and increasing poor, immigrant, and minority populations. Despite its repution as a liberal bastion, in the 1960s and 1970s Cambridge found itself on the wrong side of racial imbalance in schools and embroiled in an intramural battle over a bisecting highway.

These issues were studied in an Amherst College research seminar last spring. Since then, we have developed an in-depth analysis that relies extensively on GIS to understand the impact of school redistricting and proposed highway routes. Key to these efforts were the digitizing of historical block-level data from printed census tables, which could then be dissolved into the areas of interest, allowing a much more precise characterization of the affected communities.

Presentation: PDF PPT

GIS will be used to map the recent recession illustrating the state-by-state nature of the recession. A methodology will be shown for grouping the states into economic regions based on their economic behavior. The states will then be dissolved into these economic regions to show the regional economies of the contiguous states and their behavior during the recession.

Presentation PDF

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis; EAB) is a non-native invasive species that has been found in ash trees from the central United States to the East Coast. Concern about EAB infestation in New York is focused on green, black, and white ash trees, and its spread facilitated by the transport of infested ash logs, trees, or firewood to non-infested, vulnerable areas. This project examines the current and future potential of EAB infestation within the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Region 4 (Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Montgomery, Otsego, Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Schoharie counties). The main objectives of this project are to evaluate the potential EAB infestation areas within Region 4 based on white, black, and green ash tree distribution and the connectivity between currently infested areas and the presence of DEC campgrounds within Region 4. GIS analysis is used to explore the connections between ash tree distribution, location of DEC environmental recreation facilities (campgrounds), and current EAB infested areas. Current infestation extents related to vegetation distribution are examined and areas predicted to be most susceptible to EAB infestation are assessed in order to determine the levels of risk (high, moderate, and low) associated with this invasive species. These assessments show which areas have not been infested already but could be in the future, and also suggest that human influence is a contributor to the spread of EAB in Region 4 of NYS.

Presentation PDF

Currently the bog turtle has been listed as a threatened species in the United States and has been listed as an endangered species in New York State. As we speak, the NY Department of Environmental Conservation is working with owners of private land to help restore bog turtle habitat in New York counties including Columbia, Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, and Putnam. It may also be possible to restore the bog turtle population in Albany County. Research has shown that the bog turtle needs an environment categorized as early succession habitat surrounded by slowly moving water and deep soft muck soil, all of which are present in Albany County. This project aims to identify the potential for bog habitat restoration within Albany County by (1) determining specific habitat needs for the bog turtle to thrive, and (2) using GIS to determine the land areas that meet these habitat needs. Criteria were developed that rates how hospitable an area would be to a bog turtle and the criteria were applied to parcels in Albany County using ArcGIS ModelBuilder. Results of the project provide insight into where potential bog turtle habitats exist within the County.

Presentation PDF

The Kromma Kill Watershed, located in Albany County, New York, is prone to flooding and other water quality issues. Previous research suggests that alterations to the stream channel network and conversion of open space to suburban land uses is the likely cause of this flooding. Our study addresses these problems through GIS analyses of stream channels, storm water pipe networks, retention ponds, terrain profile, and detention basins. ArcGIS software is used to analyze development in the watershed over the last hundred years and to analyze drainage network structures. Historical maps were georeferenced on data layers that we obtained to show changes that the area experienced over time. Efficiency of the drainage network was determined using width functions, drainage densities, and impervious area curves. Results provide insight into the urban and geological features that influence flooding in the Kromma Kill Watershed.

Presentation PDF

Wildfire and abandoned mines both have profound geochemical effects on a watershed. However, the combined impact of the two disturbances is not well-studied. In September 2010, a severe wildfire burned 26 km² of the Fourmile Creek catchment in the Colorado Front Range. Located in the Colorado Mineral Belt, the area was historically mined for gold and is still affected by mine drainage and the erosion of tailings. This study, which takes place soon after the first storm event following the fire, examines how the combined disturbances of wildfire and mining affect water and sediment chemistry in this catchment.

Water and sediment samples were collected from 22 tributaries of Fourmile Creek, as well as ten locations along Fourmile Creek. ArcGIS was used to quantify the fire intensity, degree of mining disturbance, underlying bedrock, and slope of each tributary watershed, and these results were used in conjunction with chemical analyses of samples.

Streamwater concentrations of most major solutes and trace elements increase in burned and mined watersheds relative to unburned and unmined watersheds. Mining intensity correlates positively with SO₄^2– and negatively with HCO₃^– in tributaries, while fire intensity correlates positively with SO₄^2–, NO₃^–, and major cations, but notably not with HCO₃^–. Acidity from mine drainage and local carbonate deposits reduce the effect of wildfire on streamwater alkalinity. Sulfate concentrations are 6.2 times higher in burned than in unburned tributaries, and this exceptional increase is likely due to additional SO₄^2– input from mining. Downstream changes in water chemistry along Fourmile Creek reflect substantial influence from burned and mined tributary input, with especially large increases in conductivity, SO₄^2–, and Ca²⁺ through the disturbed area. Stream sediment from burned watersheds has increased percentages of most major oxides, and less SiO₂ and nutrients. Mining is not associated with substantial changes in major oxides or nutrients in stream sediment but supplies increased mercury. In the short-term, the Fourmile Fire, exacerbated by historical mining, dominates the chemistry of Fourmile Creek and its tributaries.

Presentation PDF

In August 2011 Hurricane Irene struck the northeast US, a part of the country where hurricanes are not unheard of but whose devastating energy is usually blunted by travel over land or colder ocean waters, and steering winds that move them out to sea. Irene was therefore unusual in that it hugged the coastline and rotated heavy rainfall inland, to often mountainous areas. New York’s Catskills and Vermont’s Green Mountains were hardest hit, with many roads and bridges washed out and electricity being lost for days or longer. This map plots Irene’s path and total rainfall amounts during the event, revealing the affected areas.