NEARC Fall 2017

AUTHORS: Katrina Schweikert*, Blue Marble Geographics

ABSTRACT: In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that the availability of LiDAR data is expanding at a rate that is out-pacing the requisite knowledge and skills needed to effectively utilize the data. As a commodity, LiDAR is the raw material from which countless derivative products are created and, as with any production process, the quality of the raw material has a direct bearing on the quality of the final product. In this workshop, we will follow a series of workflows that address several of the inherent imperfections often encountered in off-the-shelf LiDAR data. We will begin by demonstrating several data editing and filtering techniques resulting from an initial analysis of the characteristics of the data. We will look at point classification types and how they can be visualized, queried, and manually edited. We will explore the process of automatically identifying and, if necessary, deleting noise points. We will walk through the steps required to automatically identify and reclassify ground and vegetation points, which form the basis for many 3D analysis techniques and volume calculations. We will show how to crop a point cloud to a predefined geographic boundary eliminating unnecessary points and reducing file size. We will explore the method for adjusting the LiDAR data, both horizontally and vertically, to adhere to surveyed ground control points. Finally, we will show how all of these data improvements can be incorporated into a new LAS or LAZ file.

AUTHORS: Angelo Marino, City of Nashua, NH

ABSTRACT: Most jurisdictions have the ability to utilize ArcGIS Online but are unaware of how to use it in conjunction with their CAMA (Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal) system to produce intelligent maps for an assessor's office to visualize property data, sales, neighborhoods, etc. and also perform quality control to increase assessment efficiency. The presentation will show how to use your CAMA data and GIS data to produce out of the box maps and apps to examine, display and quality control your assessment data.

Special Events can present unique challenges to the Public Safety community and require that different agencies work together to provide a safe experience for all types of Special Events.  This workshop will focus on how to support Special Events with ArcGIS Online.  This enables planners to operationalize traditionally static content in mission focused applications so that this information provides context for the situation during the event which results in fasters decisions during the event due to the thorough understanding of the context of the situation.  The presenters will share lessons learned and experiences from past events and discuss a range of ArcGIS information products that have proven very useful, including Operations Dashboard for the Command Center, Story Map Journal for briefings, and Collector for getting information in to and out of the field. Attendees will learn about the collection of ArcGIS resources, templates, and tools that are available to help their communities be better prepared and more successfully support Special Events, large or small, in their jurisdiction. This will be accomplished both through a short presentation as well as a hands on exercise where we will work through a scenario.

AUTHORS: David J. Kraiker*, Alexandra S. Barker – U.S. Census Bureau

ABSTRACT: This workshop is divided into 4 sections: (1) An introduction that describes the difference between Census (Decennial) data and American Community Survey Statistics--a survey that has deep demographics (2) How to search for data and interpret the different tables (3) How to Map the data found in American Factfinder (portal), and (4) exercises given to those in the audience so that they may practice what was taught. Attendees are urged to bring their devices.