2016 Texas GIS Forum Agenda

The presentation will detail the federal, state and local government collaboration to determine project specifications, high resolution buy ups, funding and contractor selection coordinated by the Texas Natural Resources Information System. Project execution by Surdex will include information about acquisition, ground control, aerotriangulation and orthophoto production. Project communication tools and reporting procedures will be outlined along with how product delivers were scheduled.

Presenter Bios:
Mr. Cornell Rowan, Project Manager Surdex Corporation Cornell Rowan is an ASPRS Certified Photogrammertrist with over 30+ years’ experience in the mapping industry. Cornell has successfully managed many orthoimagery projects for Surdex Corp. Cornell was the Surdex Project Manager for the Texas Statewide project, Ark-Tex Council of Government project, South Texas Ortho Image project and the Smith County 911 project in Texas. Cornell’s experience also includes topographic mapping, volumetric calculations, cadastral mapping and manipulating GIS databases for natural resources, infrastructure and cultural information.

Gayla Mullins is a Remote Sensing Specialist at the Texas Natural Resources Information System (TNRIS), a division of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). Under the Strategic Mapping Program, she coordinates and manages statewide and regional orthoimagery procurement projects. Prior to her employment at TNRIS, she was a research associate at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research. Ms. Mullins holds a Master of Applied Geography degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography, both from Texas State University. She is a certified Geographic Information Systems Professional.

Traditional methods for conducting habitat assessments can be time consuming and can be constrained by geographical barriers. Using unmanned aerial system (UAS) technology may provide more accurate and cost effective alternatives to these methods. We have conducted several vegetation and waterbird habitat assessments with our minion unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and phantom 3 quadcopter. Using NIR, RGB, and thermal imagery from the minion UAV, we are able to classify vegetation over large areas. High resolution imagery from the quadcopter has been used to map vegetation in the San Marcos River. This has increased the accuracy of assessments, decreased post-processing time, and almost eliminated the need to map the area using GPS in the field.

In addition to vegetation monitoring, we are currently using UAV imagery to assess the feasibility of using UAS technology to monitor colonial waterbird nesting sites on the Texas coast. Traditional methods can be inaccurate and disturb sensitive nesting birds. Preliminary results have shown that imagery from the UAV can provide high accuracy and causes no disturbance. Preliminary results have shown that there is increased accuracy, less time in the field, and faster post-processing.

Presenter Bio: Jacob Bilbo is an aquatic biologist and UAS safety pilot at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, where he specializes in restoration ecology and UAS operations. His primary duty is conducting habitat restoration in the San Marcos River. He is interested in using UAS technology to find more accurate methods of conducting habitat assessments in order to improve management and restoration strategies.

Del Mar (Community) College (DMC), in partnership with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, is creating a GIS UAS project under the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. The vision of the program is to prepare students for careers in the emerging field of unmanned aircraft system use in Geospatial Technologies and other emerging industries. The project goals are to:

1. Meet the emerging demand for a trained workforce in UAS Geospatial Technology (GST) and applications by developing a new innovative program;
2. Increase the quantity, quality, and diversity of the geospatial technology workforce with UAS expertise;
3. Become the recognized statewide model for UAS geospatial technology workforce education;
4. Obtain broader impact through development of partnerships and knowledge dissemination;
5. Ensure program sustainability and growth.

Presenter Bios:
coming soon

As GIS professionals (or professionals who value GIS), we arm ourselves with cutting-edge technology, terabytes of data, and loads of good intentions. The Art of GIS – Beyond the Mouse Click explores concepts that are not technology-based but if used in just small ways can greatly help your GIS programs effectiveness. It is about affiliating yourself with those who can support you; can offer insight and provide guidance. Awareness, examination, and implementation of these concepts allow professionals to navigate our ever-changing industry and political landscape more efficiently, and effectively. This session will provide examples from well-respected authors and experts; as well as personal and professional experiences in these areas. Join us to explore skills that do not require a mouse yet will make that mouse ever more effective for the world.

Presenter Bio:
Ilyanna Kadich graduated from Southwest Texas State in 1999 with a Geography degree. She is pursuing an Executive Master in Public Leadership at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. Her experience includes 9-1-1 database coordination; 9-1-1 GIS management; ArcGIS Online publishing and administration; municipal utility GIS and analytics; and MS4 storm water program support. She currently works at The City of Georgetown as a GIS Analyst. She is passionate about connecting people, building professional networks, and sharing knowledge.

Hugh Bender, Manager of Strategic Accounts for Sanborn, is a graduate of St. Louis University and Received a Masters in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas – Austin. Prior to TNRIS, Mr. Bender spent 10 years as Assistant Director of Planning for the City of Round Rock. Formerly co-owner/founder of Third Coast Geospatial Technologies 3cGeo. He is founder and President of the Texas Geographic Society, a non-profit supporting FEMA and rural communities in hazard mitigation planning. From 1997 to 2002 Mr. Bender Directed TNRIS (Texas Natural Resources Information System) and managed the 4-year $40 million dollar innovative StratMap or Strategic Mapping Program for the State of Texas.

Using a currently in-use application, we will discuss the process of using web sockets, NodeJS, and other technologies to create a data driven, real time spatial application. We will discuss the potential and real uses for the different features in the app that include - map view sharing (between users) as well as an open source solution for updating application features via web sockets and nodejs.

This presentation will share the advanced cartographic techniques used in creating an award winning map. The different aspects of the map that will be discussed are as follows:

1. Symbolizing the county borders with semi transparent negative buffers.
2. Creating the underlying basemap, including use of 90 meter SRTM raster data, hillshades, and creating custom color ramps for enhanced detail.
3. Creating a coastal vignette effect on a complicated coastline.
4. Creating an index grid and indexing the nearly 4500 surnames that appear on the map.
5. Creating custom marginalia content to enhance the map layout.

Presenter Bio:
Rebecca Broadbent earned a BS degree in Geography from the University of Utah in 1998. She spent the next 15 years raising her family. Rebecca earned her GIS Level I certificate form Austin Community College in 2015, and is currently working towards her GIS Level II certificate. Rebecca currently works as a GIS Tech I at DrillingInfo. In her spare time she is working to build her new business, Mapping Your World, wherein she makes custom maps and map products for clients, Rebecca's map Geo-Genealogy of England and Wales took first place in the TNRIS GIS Forum Poster Session in 2015.

The golden-cheeked warbler (GCWA) was placed on the Federal Endangered species list by means of an emergency rule on May 4, 1990 due to significant population decline, reductions in overall range, and escalating loss of nesting habitat. Single point-in-time assessments of golden-cheeked warbler (GCWA) habitat are inadequate to determine if available GCWA habitat is declining, remaining stable, or increasing, a primary consideration for determining whether further protection is required or whether delisting is warranted. Studies that use consistent methodology to assess habitat change over several decades would be most informative. Previous research (Heger 2012) has determined that significant habitat loss was evident from 1994 to 2004. This current phase extends our earlier work through 2015.

We used remote sensing (ERDAS IMAGINE 2015) and ESRI ArcGIS ModelBuilder to identify and document change in GCWA habitat over three decades (1986 to 2015). Supervised classification of Landsat imagery was conducted and used in a mixed and evergreen habitat-based model to rank Central Texas GCWA habitat quality from low to high. We validated our model by comparing model predictions of habitat quality to that of actual GCWA sightings in Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge (BCNWR). Our previous research (1986-2004) had shown that the greatest loss of GCWA habitat occurred along the San Antonio – Austin corridor just west of I-35, while the greatest gains were NW of Austin including the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge (BCNWR). This phase of the study (2004-2015) indicates this trend is continuing. In addition, habitat loss seems to be accelerating in certain areas that were previously stable in 2004. A story map created in ArcGIS Online will demonstrate habitat change results and causes for these recent changes will be discussed.s

Presenter Bio:
Nancy Heger earned her B.A. in biology and psychology and B.S in medical technology from Oakland University (Rochester, MI), her M.S. in Zoology from Oklahoma State University, and her M.S. in statistics and Ph. D. in zoology from the University of Texas at Austin (UT). She worked as a statistical consultant at UT for 5.5 years before gaining a tenure-track faculty position at Cameron University (Lawton, OK). Her research includes ecological, behavioral and conservation studies of fence lizards, tarantulas, and Australia’s largest monitor lizard, Varanus giganteus. Using radio-telemetry to obtain GPS points of animal locations, she soon became captivated by GIS and went back to school for a Master of Applied Geography (M.A.G.) from Texas State University. She completed her thesis using GIS and remote sensing to investigate trends in Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat gains and losses over time. She began working at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) GIS Lab in 2010 where she honed her skills in orthorectification and oversaw the Historical Ortho Photo Project. She is now a GIS Specialist in the TPWD Wildlife Division where she enjoys using GIS as a tool in conservation biology and habitat modeling. Her hobbies include hiking, photography, and native landscaping.

The percent of the uninsured population in Texas is among the highest in the nation. GIS allows us to visually explore relationships between variables such as health insurance rates, access to health care, income/poverty, demographics, and prevalence of disease/disorders.

Presenter Bio:
Jeffrey Jordan, Ph.D. has been involved in numerous research projects that investigate the relationship between demography and various other socioeconomic issues in Texas including transportation, energy conservation, labor force, education, criminal justice, and social services. For the past 18 years, he has provided data, programming, and GIS expertise on the various projects at the Institute and the Texas Demographic Center.

Saloni Rajput, Ph.D. has an academic background in Applied Geography and GIS, she presently works on GIS related projects that involve web applications using ArcGIS online resources and JavaScript programming. Her previous experiences involve assisting on geospatial projects with the City of Austin and US Fish and Wildlife services, as well as working with LIDAR data for a survey and mapping company in Austin.

The State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery program (STARR) at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) is dedicated to increasing severance tax income for the State of Texas, which has produced more oil and natural gas than any other state. This is accomplished by means of research projects that promote the drilling of profitable oil and gas wells by adding new or increasing existing production throughout the State of Texas. To date, the STARR program has completed or is currently working on more than 60 field studies and more than 15 regional studies. More than 50 Texas oil and gas operators have been, or are currently, involved in the STARR program over the project’s 22-year duration. We are developing a web-based, interactive mapping application that will provide information to STARR stakeholders on the special distribution of oil and gas production in Texas. The front-end of the web application integrates several free open-source and commercial closed-source software components to present data to the user. The user interface of the application is composed of a browser, which is supplied by the user, a series of open-source Javascript libraries, and several custom Javascripts that control integration of the disparate components. The web portal when completed will enable the general public to obtain a detailed understanding of STARR activities, the distribution of major active oil and gas plays in the State of Texas, and STARR’s impact on increasing oil and gas production in Texas.

Presenter Bio:
Harold Rogers is the GIS Database manager for the State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery Group (STARR) at the Bureau of Economic Geology. Along with helping STARR with various GIS projects at the Bureau of Economic Geology, Harold has worked with STARR partners using geothermal subsurface modeling, well analysis, animation, computer visualization and simulation. Harold holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio-Television-Film and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin. Harold also holds a Post-Bachelorette GIS Certification from Penn State University and has been working in the field of GIS for 9 years.

Aaron Averett is a software developer at the Bureau of Economic Geology, specializing in geographic data-driven applications for the web, mobile and desktop platforms. He earned of Bachelor of Science degree in Geography with a concentration on geographic information systems from Texas A&M University in 2006, and has nearly fifteen years of experience developing software applications for a variety of platforms using a diverse array of tools and programming languages, including C#, PHP, JavaScript and Python. At the Bureau of Economic Geology, Aaron has developed software solutions for many different projects, including online catalogs for the Bureau’s collections of various materials such as cores, cuttings and well logs, interactive thematic maps, databases for managing administrative and business processes and sophisticated remote sensing system control software.

In order to mitigate flood hazards, decision-makers require a quantitative understanding of what happens to the rain after reaching the earth’s surface. Hydrologic models aim to answer this fundamental question by simulating rainfall-runoff processes over a watershed. The Hydrologic Engineering Center’s-Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) is a widely-used program for the assessment of watershed hydrology, and typical applications include urban drainage design, floodplain mapping, reservoir safety, land use studies, and flood forecasting. GIS processing tools may be used to analyze watershed characteristics, but the speed of model development is often limited by extensive data input requirements. HMS-PrePro is a new GIS tool that uses Python programming to extract geospatial information from Esri’s Living Atlas.

The extracted data is saved in a local geodatabase which is used to estimate hydrologic parameters and initialize a HEC-HMS basin model. Combining GIS with data services, a spatial database for a watershed of interest may be created expeditiously. HMS-PrePro is used to derive basin topology and estimate a number of hydrological parameters in a streamlined approach. The improved GIS technology provides much-needed operational links between raw hydrological data and end users. By using cloud-based GIS data,this tool may enhance efforts associated with flood modeling for decision-making purposes.

Presenter Bio
Cynthia Castro works as an H&H engineer for Jones &apm; Carter. She developed HMS-PrePro while a master's student at the University of Texas.

Managing water quality concerns within the State of Texas takes a watershed approach. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) divides many of the State’s water bodies into defined segments identifying individual rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs, which are in turn subdivided into assessment units (AUs). These AUs are represented as polylines and polygons in a regional geospatial dataset. The National Hydrography Dataset, specifically the NHDPlusV2, is a national geospatial dataset that includes representations of flowlines and catchments (small watersheds) that are readily available for use in watershed delineation. The Total Maximum Daily Load Program of TCEQ sought a semi-automated watershed delineation tool that produces a relational geodatabase linking each of several thousand AUs to unique watersheds, composed of catchments. Using Model Builder in ArcGIS, we created a tool and methodology that achieves this objective. Over the course of the project, the team met with a range of challenges, many relating to incongruences between the AU and flowline layers. This presentation will highlight some of the lessons learned as a result of integrating these quasi-similar datasets.

Presenter Bio:
Stephanie Painter is a Senior Research Associate at the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research (TIAER) at Tarleton State University, the institution where she earned a M.S. in Environmental Science. Since graduating with a B.S in Geography from Texas A&M University 15 years ago, she has worked in the realm of hydrologic data collection, GIS analysis, and report writing at federal and state levels, as well as in private enterprise. Stephanie has a particular interest in monitoring and modeling water quality for microbial parameters related to recreational uses.