GIS in Action 2021

Practical Use of U.S. Census 2020 & American Community Survey Race/Ethnicity Data to Support Public School Districts and Redistricting Efforts
Alex Brasch
With fewer than ten questions and the goal of simply counting each person in the U.S., the Census might sound mundane, but it is vitally important. The Census helps to determine how billions of dollars in federal funding are allocated to states and communities each year, and also impacts our representation by determining how many seats in Congress each state receives. Not to be outdone, the American Community Survey (ACS) serves as the foremost source of information on the changing social and economic characteristics of the U.S. population, including housing, education, jobs, and racial/ethnic diversity. This presentation will include a brief overview of the 2020 Census and ACS, a primer on data retrieval and wrangling methods, and examples of how geospatial data analysts, governing bodies, and local organizations can leverage these premier sources of demographic data. Of particular focus will be the incorporation of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic attributes to better recognize the diversity of places during geospatial analysis and to create data visualizations that support equity and social justice initiatives. Public K-12 school districts and County redistricting efforts will serve as case studies to highlight some of the innovative tools and techniques used by geospatial data professionals (e.g., Esri ArcGIS, Alteryx, Tableau, and R) to obtain, prepare, and visualize Census & ACS data.

A Spatial Identification Of Urban Agriculture With An Object Based Remote Sensing Approach In Portland, Oregon  
Elise Mazur
There are currently only manual methods for mapping urban agriculture (UA), which makes it difficult to analyze their patterns at a large scale. Many low-income neighborhoods rely on UA for food security, but researchers are beginning to question their success in creating food security because of their potential contribution to gentrification. It is thought that gardens may catalyze rising prices in their neighborhood and lead to the displacement of those who rely on them for food. Correlating UA with gentrification has been possible in a few cities where databases of gardens exist, but many cities do not have such databases. This research aims to create an algorithm for classifying UA with aerial imagery in Portland, Oregon. High spatial resolution imagery is spatially segmented and then classified to conduct an object based image analysis in Google Earth Engine. Once gardens are mapped, it is possible to study their distribution and density over time and correlate these metrics with changing demographics and property values. This method of mapping UA can be scaled up to other cities and used in spatial analyses to understand the dynamics with and potential contribution to gentrification in previously low-income neighborhoods.  

GIS Analysis of Volunteered Homeless Campsite Reports in Portland, Oregon
Krystle Harrell
Homelessness is a complex social issue that is affecting many urban areas in the United States. A robust understanding of how and where the homeless population survives is essential for developing effective means of engaging with and supporting this dynamic and varied population. Through this research we examine the spatial patterns of homeless campsites and their relationship with urban features in the form of zoning, transit stops, and support services for the homeless in Portland, Oregon. Based on a large, multi-year dataset of citizen-volunteered reports of homeless campsites, we employ a combination of spatial analysis, statistical methods, and digital mapping to elucidate prevailing spatial patterns and relationships. Our findings indicate significant concentrations of homeless campsites and significant spatial proximity relationships between reported homeless campsite locations, zoning, transit stops, and homeless support structures.

GIS in Hospital and Healthcare Emergency Management 
Umme Laiba Raha
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is being used in healthcare emergencies such as in the time of epidemics because of their capability of surveilling disease. GIS is a significant intelligence source for the information which is needed to make decisions by emergency managers but still has remained underutilized despite having these abilities. At the early phase of an emergency, GIS identifies the major areas that are needed to be managed. Studies revealed that the GIS system provides data for early identification of clusters of disease in a particular region or a hospital and processes spatial health data in cyclic order that includes the stages of (1) collection, preparation, and mapping of disease data, (2) identification of spatial disease patterns at a variety of scales, (3) application of objective statistical tests to consider whether the variation is significant or not. Epidemics and clusters of the disease have become a natural and problem in healthcare settings and therefore, in this time of technological advancement, GIS is enormously vital in handling sudden occurrences and emergencies.

We are at a period of time where visual stimulus is in great demand. Do you have wonderful examples of your work that showcase your skills, resources and abilities to produce quality maps or projects? Do you have a digital professional portfolio that creates visual interest and intrigue? If you don't, that is all the more reason to join this session on building a professional portfolio. Alicia Milligan will guide you through the process of how you can easily develop your own portfolio. A series of steps will help get you on your way to promoting your work that may just get you noticed for that future job or project. Not only will a professional portfolio demonstrate your work, it also builds self-confidence and self-promotion, which always makes feel one accomplished. We can all use a little positive self-talk in the current state of our world lately. Alicia is a faculty instructor at Portland Community College where she teaches GIS classes and Building a Map Portfolio. Come join her in learning how to build or improve your professional portfolio.

Submission in GIS in Action's annual map posters and online applications competition will be on display. Come check out this year's entries and chat with conference attendees. Feel free to drop-in at any time to explore the Map Galley and network with new and old friends and colleagues. Viewers will have the opportunity to talk or type without any pre-planned structure. Can visit the room while you eat lunch. The room host can give some more details about any of the maps from abstracts.

The Map Gallery will remain open for the duration of the day for attendees to review at their convenience. Winners will be announced on Thursday, April 22 during the morning plenary.

Conference participants will have an opportunity to present their map, discuss map topics, and engage in a competition, which includes prizes in map categories online. Participation in the contest gives individuals an opportunity to present their work, skill, and knowledge. The organizers look forward to seeing many outstanding maps and posters. Maps will be judged by virtual conference attendees according to the following categories:
1. Cartographic - The quality of the visual display
2. Analytic presentation - Communication of meaningful patterns in data
3. Web Applications – Such as StoryMaps, ArcGIS Online, Tableau, Mapbox, or Power BI
4. Student - Any enrolled in classes pursuing a degree or certificate

Please join us for an hour long social to connect with our Map Gallery sponsor, chat with old colleagues, and make new friends!

Digital Engagement with Interactive GIS Solutions
Morgan Sapia
During these unprecedented times, being able to build trust and encourage transparency while digitally engaging with community members, is more important than ever before. But how can you do this in a streamlined way with tools you currently have? During this session, Esri will share examples and best practices of using GIS enabled systems to build trust, increase transparency, and utilize the community to achieve city goals

Empowering Context, Collaboration, and Community with High-Res Aerial Imagery & GIS
Carrie Wiley
2020 was a challenging and devastating year nonetheless. It changed the way we work and perhaps even the way we view the world. However, in the midst of these challenges, the GIS industry proved pivotal in keeping our nation safe. GIS and location technology rose to the occasion and demonstrated their importance to the world around us. So, in 2021, how do we rebuild? Digital transformation has enabled GIS teams across industries to continue serving the public, even while everything around us is changing. Emergency response teams assisting with protests, assessor’s offices completing annual tax appraisals, and even urban development project teams working while social distancing — more departments than ever are using frequently updated, high-resolution imagery-as-a-service and location content to solve problems and prepare for the future.

Workforce development involves providers at multiple levels of government, as well as non-profit and other non-governmental organizations working together to provide a coordinated response to the widely varied needs of their clients. Those needs may include housing, childcare, transportation, healthcare, training, etc., in addition to employment assistance. This session will explore the ways in which GIS and geospatial data can be used to assist workforce providers in supporting their clients. We will also examine the hurdles and issues that must be overcome to provide a consistent level of workforce development statewide. In addition, every organization that wants to build a successful GIS program must be concerned about the development of their own workforce, so this session will also include implementation of a workforce development strategy and use of an internship program.

Monitoring & Early Detection of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs ) in Oregon from Space: Case Study of Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities
Brian Fulfrost
The analysis of satellite imagery provides a promising, cost effective method to help monitor and detect Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Here, we outline research summarizing both satellite data collected by the Sentinel 3 Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) and in situ time series data to assess how well satellite imagery captured the timing and magnitude of toxin-producing cyanobacteria blooms. During the summers of 2019 and 2020, we monitored temperature, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, phycocyanin, and pH at 15-minute intervals in Odell Lake, a eutrophic lake in central Oregon that experiences blooms of toxin-producing cyanobacteria. For comparison, we monitored Crescent Lake, an oligotrophic lake in the same physiographic setting. We acquired corresponding OLCI-derived cyanobacteria cell counts from the US EPA CyAN project. The Oregon Health Authority issued a public health advisory for toxins in Odell Lake from August 2 to 18 , 2019, whereas Crescent Lake remained bloom free during the study period. The in situ data indicated cyanobacteria bloom formation in Odell Lake two weeks prior to the issuance of the advisory. Satellite derived cyanobacteria cell counts exhibited the same temporal pattern as in situ data for both lakes in both 2019 and 2020. Our results suggest increasing the use of satellite-derived information can help improve the timing of public health advisories for blooms of toxin-producing cyanobacteria and help identify factors that trigger blooms.

Using Analytics to Drive Freshwater Conservation
Tommy Franzen, Maddee Rubenson, Elliot Hohn 
The Freshwater Trust (TFT) uses a variety of GIS and spatial analysis tools to support our conservation efforts. Transparency and reproducibility are key components of many of our analyses, which can be improved through the scripting and automation of oft-repeated procedures. One example of this is the SISL-R tool – an R Shiny web application developed by TFT to estimate soil erosion on flood irrigated agricultural fields in southwestern Idaho. This app takes the original Surface Irrigation Soil Loss (SISL) model -- a spreadsheet tool developed by the Idaho Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for estimating soil erosion for a single agricultural field at a time -- and automates the application of that model to all fields in a watershed at the click of a button. Relying heavily on spatial data to determine field-scale characteristics such as slope, soil type, and crop type, SISL-R uses scripted GIS procedures to make the erosion estimation process faster, more transparent, and less prone to user-error. Our presentation will describe the evolution of TFT’s use of SISL, from a manual calculation for a single field, to a watershed-scale assessment using GIS, spreadsheets, and relational databases, to the fully automated and transparent web-application that is SISL-R. We will discuss the GIS tools and methods used, the benefits of our chosen approach, and the challenges we encountered and lessons we learned throughout the process.

Geospatial Education for the 21st Century
Christina Friedle and Lauren Sinclair
Geospatial education is essential to creating a workforce that is prepared to use GIS and other geospatial technologies to work on local, regional and global issues. The constant evolution of geospatial technologies, the multidisciplinary nature, and its reliance on spatial thinking, present us with the challenge of developing new ways to teach in this field. In this presentation, we will look at how Portland Community College has built a successful Geospatial program, including a GIS certificate, UAS certificate, and Associate’s degree in Geomatics. This includes unique classroom design; working collaboratively with other disciplines; and creating partnerships with local NGOs, businesses, and government agencies.

Mapping Epidemics with Teenagers & Geospatial Education for the 21st Century
Lauren Sinclair
We've all looked at dozens of GIS dashboards over the course of the pandemic, but have you tried mapping COVID-19 yourself? My 8th graders have, and you can too. Join us to learn what the teens in Mrs. Sinclair's GIS Design class explored this past year: how maps can help us understand and manage epidemics like the one we're living through right now.

Creators of map posters and applications submitted to GIS in Action's annual competition will provide brief presentations on their work and be available to answer questions. After this session, the Map Gallery will remain open for the duration of the day for attendees to review at their convenience. Winners will be announced on Thursday, April 22 during the morning plenary.

Conference participants will have an opportunity to present their map, discuss map topics, and engage in a competition, which includes prizes in map categories online. Participation in the contest gives individuals an opportunity to present their work, skill, and knowledge. The organizers look forward to seeing many outstanding maps and posters. Maps will be judged by virtual conference attendees according to the following categories:
1. Cartographic - The quality of the visual display
2. Analytic presentation - Communication of meaningful patterns in data
3. Web Applications – Such as StoryMaps, ArcGIS Online, Tableau, Mapbox, or Power BI
4. Student - Any enrolled in classes pursuing a degree or certificate

Using information theory to extract patterns for categorical raster data
David Percy
Watch again here.
Reconstructibility Analysis (RA) is an information theory based procedure for quantifying the relationship between categorical variables in a data set. It is common to analyze numeric data using regression analysis, and RA provides an analogous tool for categorical data. RA accepts tabular data in standard row and column format with cases as rows and variables as columns. This study concerns converting raster spatial data into the format that RA can handle and analyzing the results. Raster data are stored as a grid of adjacent space-filling cells with attributes reflecting some measurement. Multiple measurements over time constitute a space-time data cube, and these data provide an opportunity to analyze changes. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) contains classified landuse/land class data starting in 2001 and captured every two to three years with a 16 class legend. In this study we further reduce the classes to 4 for computational purposes. Many different areas of inquiry can be explored using the RA technique, in this study we focus on evergreen forests and how the land use patterns affect the outcomes in this study area.

Data Governance and Location Master Data Management (LMDM) How it can be applied for Emergency Management (NG911) Los Angeles County Use Case
Tony Lafferty, Melissa Ubaldo, and Kyle Rayo
States and Counties are preparing for Next-Generation 911 (NG911). A large component of NG911 is to migrate from a non-spatial type system to a GIS based system. However, most addressing GIS systems are not currently in a state that is good enough to support emergency management. This has posed a challenge, as counties are required to submit relevant data following national data standard formats and quality up to statewide authorities to build a comprehensive NG911 data set.
In the case of Los Angeles County, the GIS team set out to meet this challenge by engaging with all the cities in the county to provide them with their most current/accurate address and road network information. There were many challenges with multiple cities that had data in different formats and levels of geospatial experience. In addition, the data needs to meet NG911 data standards set forth by NENA guidelines.
The presentation today will provide an overview of how the county with support from 1Spatial built a robust address and road centerline validation. This includes both the data stewards and local data contributors to support new NG911 services to save lives and property. To close the discussion, we will highlight the scalability of data governance and LMDM as it relates to local and state collaboration (the state of Michigan and California Governor's Office of Emergency Services).

Terrestrial LiDAR Collection and Analysis in Urban and Master Planning
Erik Ferryman, Lourdes Ginart, Eric Knobelspiesse
As the applications of LiDAR continue to grow, additional opportunities for the integration of this method burgeon. We've identified the use of terrestrial LiDAR in urban planning as a new area of integration and application. In this presentation, we will discuss how we're currently using terrestrial LiDAR methods in a planning context to produce floorplans, update geospatial data, and survey study areas; review our methodologies for converting point cloud data into workable CAD and GIS outputs; and, examine the advantages of such technologies in the field, as well as, areas for improvement and future application.

Santa Monica Pier Inspection Goes Digital Using Collector 
Kyle Landon 
Maintaining the structural integrity of this landmark coastal attraction is a top priority for the City of Santa Monica. Collector for ArcGIS was used to assess over 6000 structural components of the Santa Monica Pier. The Collector-based approach increased productivity, improved accuracy, ensured completeness, and streamlined the task. The inspection data was then used to prepare a condition assessment report and prioritize maintenance efforts. 

Using ESRI HUB for Citywide Open Data Program
Matthew Fried
Open data sites often largely consist of GIS data with few tabular datasets.  The City of Portland is implementing a citywide open data program using ESRI's HUB application and including non-GIS data as well for the first time.  Since the City was already using HUB for it's spatial data it made sense to leverage it for all of it's data and used our existing ETL and publishing architecture to move data from source to web services and then to our HUB site though some modifications were needed.  The project includes providing metadata and data visualizations as well as documents on data policy, privacy and access.  

GeoEvent Server and Automated Vehicle Location Integration 
Kristin Judy 
The City of Hillsboro Public Works Department is required to report the number of curb miles swept monthly to meet MS4 permit requirements.  Historically the City has used an Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) vendor for capturing the data and reporting curb miles swept.  However, this methodology has multiple limitations including a lack of integration into the City’s Enterprise GIS.  Using Esri’s GeoEvent Server and custom processors, Attribute Rules, and Python scripting the City now captures these data, storing it in the City’s Enterprise GIS.  An application was created using Web AppBuilder in the City’s Enterprise Portal to support sweeper operators and their supervisors to track their monthly progress in real-time, while a Dashboard provides real-time, up-to-date reporting metrics. 

Cyber and Infrastructure Security of GIS Pros
Micah Babinski and Kelly Stone
For many organizations, GIS maps, data, and applications are among the most visible (and critical) aspects of the overall IT infrastructure. As demonstrated by the coronavirus pandemic and 2020 Oregon wildfires, GIS resources are essential for informing and engaging the public. However, as public-facing web GIS products proliferate, the attack surface expands considerably, introducing new sources of risk for organizations large and small. Meanwhile, threat actors including organized crime, malicious "script kiddies", and even nation-state adversaries have increased access to sophisticated and commoditized hacking tools capable of wreaking havoc on vulnerable systems. The steady drumbeat of ransomware stories in the news should concern everyone - not just the InfoSec team. Firewalls and antivirus software are not sufficient in the modern threat landscape, and human beings - particularly knowledgeable, tech-savvy GIS pros - have an important role to play. This presentation gives an overview of cybersecurity concepts relevant to GIS pros and introduces small, simple actions that can convert your GIS program from a cybersecurity liability into a cybersecurity asset.

Modernizing how you work with linear referenced data 
Matt Vaillant 
Whether you're managing a road network, water pipeline, or utility network, chances are you're working with linear referenced data. Linear referenced data represents events (point and range) along a linear network. Working with this data inside a web GIS has historically been difficult: once you start layering events such as intersections, speed limit, road type, and elevation on top of a line feature, you almost immediately lose the ability to visualize that data in a meaningful way. 
To get around this, most organizations export this data into straight-line diagrams or alignment sheets that allow you to look at bands of the data. The challenge with this is that the data is instantly stale and can’t integrate with other tools and data that live in your GIS.
Geocortex Inline represents a major innovating in this space. You can now visualize and interact with your linear data dynamically inside your web mapping applications, opening up new possibilities for how you work with this data. Join me to see the innovative way Geocortex has addressed the challenges of working with linear data.

The ORURISA EP Mentorship Program introduces new GIS professionals (0-5 years of experiences) and students (college seniors) with established GIS professionals (5+ years experience). The program’s goal is to help connect professionals, foster continuing relationships, and share resources that create opportunities for success for emerging professionals. This informational session will provide details about the EP Mentorship Program including previous cohorts projects, when then next cohort is scheduled to begin, a program outline and how you can apply to be a mentor or mentee. At the end of the program outline, we will hold a Q&A session to answer any questions that arise.

ArcGIS Experience Builder: Development, Implementation, and Associated Considerations
ArcGIS Experience Builder is Esri's latest web mapping application development technology and has the same look and feel as, for example, the new ArcGIS Online Map Viewer, ArcGIS Hub, and ArcGIS StoryMaps, all of which are built using the React JavaScript library, Version 4 of the ArcGIS API for JavaScript, and TypeScript. The purpose of this collaboration session is to introduce this technology, especially for the benefit of anyone interested in extending the capabilities of Experience Builder through the development of and use of custom widgets. The session will consist of four parts: (1) An introduction to the builder capabilities; (2) An overview of the development technology and implementation options; (3) A review of associated considerations regarding adoption of Experience Builder; and (4) An opportunity for audience engagement, with support from Esri representatives. For the technical part of the session, a balance will be struck between explaining widget development to those who are new to the topic, either as potential developers or as widget users, and providing helpful guidance to those who are already familiar with the widget development process and may have experience in developing widgets for ArcGIS Web AppBuilder. A simple example widget will be used to illustrate the development process and concepts and to highlight the substantial differences between the widget development frameworks for Experience Builder and Web AppBuilder. Naturally, some users of Web AppBuilder may have concerns regarding what the availability of Experience Builder means for their installations and operations, especially with respect to custom widgets. Parts three and four of the session will address these concerns.

Workshops require separate registration. To participate in this workshop, signup here by Friday, April 16.

The aim of this workshop is to present the latest developments in which community and citizen science are creating and contributing open-access geospatial data. With the proliferation of mobile technology that are location-enabled, there are emerging opportunities to teach foundational geospatial concepts, engage communities in quality-controlled data collection, and developing the ‘people’ component of a geographic information system (GIS). To demonstrate a process for using a citizen science tool, you will be introduced and use a mobile app developed by the NASA-supported Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program. Weather and local regulations permitting, you can go outside and collect data related to tree height, land cover, and clouds. Then we will explore and compare this type of data to authoritative geospatial data maintained by local, state, and federal organizations. Finally, we will facilitate a discussion on recommendations for key areas in which communities could continue involvement in building and maintaining maps, GIS, and the needed open access data. This workshop is sponsored by OregonView.

Please join us for an hour long social to connect with our conference sponsors, chat with old colleagues, and make new friends!

GIS Solutions for Wildfire Mitigation and Response at an Electric Utility
Ben Hillam and Amber Staley 
As wildfires are becoming more threatening and increasing in frequency in the Pacific Northwest, utilities have had to increase their efforts to mitigate and respond. In the past wildfire programs were limited or only required for a short time during the year. The extent of GIS support might have only meant printing a paper map for field crews to orient themselves to a wildfire event. Current wildfire trends require the incorporation of more advanced geospatial data, tools, and real-time analysis. At PGE, the GIS team has played a major part supporting the building of our wildfire program. In this discussion we will present some of the analysis, solutions, and products the GIS team has provided to help PGE proactively mitigate, respond to, and increase public safety regarding wildfire events.

NW Natural Emergency Response Efforts
Laurel Garrett and Ashley Moran
Communicating information through maps is an integral part of emergency response at NW Natural. Unprecedented events in 2020 gave the GIS team an opportunity to aid the company throughout multiple disastrous situations. In this session, we will highlight our efforts to assist our first responders, construction crews, executives, and customers in two specific situations where location accuracy and geospatial analysis were imperative. We will provide an overview of the cartographic exhibits and analytics our team at NW Natural put together in response to last year’s wildfire season as well as a car crash that led to the largest outage our company has seen in 65 years.

Oregon Grown - Dispensary Diversity 
Randi Bolt
One of the few industries to see growth through a year where most others saw decline, without more mindful spending practices buying cannabis will be as associated to big chain stores as buying burgers. While the country inches closer to federal legalization, legislation in Oregon has already approved plans for transport across state lines making it even harder for the average home grown Oregonian to profit off plants grown in our own fields and backyards. In 2020 the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) reports making over $140 million is state taxes, meaning Oregon's cannabis industry gained almost 3 billion dollars in sales of THC containing products alone. This study done towards the end of 2020 uses data of active dispensary licenses from the OLCC and cartography to further investigate the who and where of Big Canna-Biz in Oregon.

Map-Meaning-Making: embodied mapping to evaluate the emotional cost of driving my son to school
Emma Colburn
Can a map be read by being worn?
Can Geographic Information Science (GIS), as a medium, be used to communicate “soft” qualities of space, like the emotions, connections, and relationships signified by physical places? Do the materials that maps are made with - the blue backlighting of a computer screen compared to the patina of a cotton T-shirt - affect their capacity for spatial analysis?
Examining the intersection of critical cartography and apparel design, this presentation incorporates spatial theory with geospatial analysis. I use the material of everyday life as market research for a mapproduct that can emote relational aspects of space beyond a 2-dimensional plane. Presenting a 2019 cost-plus analysis of houselessness in Portland, Ore, I consider the origin of this project alongside its output to suggest that GIS (and the spatial analyses it offers) is an embodied research mode and discipline.