Category Archives: Conference

IowaView Staff Make STEAM at Art Educators Fall Conference

Celebrating the “Mother of Landsat” – Virginia T. Norwood

“I have seen further by standing on the shoulders of giants.” ~ Sir Isaac Newton

This week is the virtual American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) conference. At today’s conference, the ASPRS Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Virginia T. Norwood.

Virginia Norwood is known as the “Mother of Landsat.” When interviewed by Laura Rocchio for a NASA Landsat Science article, Ms. Norwood was asked if she is comfortable with this title and she replied, “Yes. I like it, and it’s apt. I created it. I birthed it; and I fought for it.” In recognition of her contributions to satellite communications and optics for over 40 years, including the design, building, promotion and operation of the first multspectral scanner (MSS) on-board Landsat-1, Ms. Norwood was awarded the 2021 ASPRS Lifetime Achievement Award.

To learn more about Virginia’s story: https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/virginia-t-norwood-mother-landsat

Congratulations, Virginia! Thank you for all your contribution to Landsat and Science!

IowaView Staff Present at ISU Research Days

This year IowaView Staff are presenting their research at a virtual university research conference. Staff built a poster using a tool called iPoster. Click on the poster below to interact with the virtual poster (available for a limited time, through March 2021).

Not ITAG 2020: Tales from the Geospatial Bunker

This year due to safety concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic the Iowa Technology and Geospatial (ITAG) Conference 2020 was cancelled. Instead of the typical four-day in person event, ITAG hosted a half-day virtual event. Here is the link to the recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y31tVqT2Y2dt68kFsefBqSNOTzq0ycIj/view?usp=sharing. Below are descriptions of presentations and links to presenters’ powerpoints:

What’s New with Collector for ArcGIS
Jay Riester and Gale Shea, Seiler Geospatial
Collector for ArcGIS is an ever-evolving field app. Learn what’s new with both the iOS and Android version of Collector.

DEMs – Which One Do I Choose?
Brian Gelder, Iowa State University
The ready availability of Lidar and Phodar datasets has vastly increased the types of Digital Elevation Models that are now available. One can now generate or choose from surface models and elevation models with some having various levels of hydroflattening or hydrocorrection applied. There are also numerous algorithms which can be used to generate the different types of DEMs. So, how does one choose which one is best for the needs of one’s project? We will discuss general DEM types, the underlying assumptions, best choices for certain applications, and sources for prebuilt DEMs for the state of Iowa.

Mapping the Rural Hitch – How One Fire Department Is Utilizing GIS to Prepare for Rural Structure Fires
Adam Gebhart, Johnson County
Traveling around most urban areas, you see fire hydrants or access to a continuous water supply every few hundred feet. However, when traveling around rural portions of the state, these types of continuous water resources are rarely found. This lack of continuous water resource poses a
considerable challenge for local fire departments when responding to fires in rural areas. When a fire occurs, response time is everything. Given the considerable challenges in effectively responding to fire emergencies in rural areas, North Liberty Fire Department (NLFD) is one place utilizing GIS
technology to improve these response times. This presentation will provide background information on mapping the rural hitch to help other fire departments understand how GIS can improve their response to rural fires.

How Data “Moves” in a Versioned Enterprise Geodatabase Workflow
Nathan Teut, Cedar County
The ability to branch child versions off of other versions in a multiuser geodatabase tree structure gives us the ability to edit without stepping on each other’s toes or eating each other’s brains. This also allows QAQC protocols to be put into place when migrating those edits (reconcile and post operations) into the parent versions. To better understand these editing operations, it is necessary to understand the version tree and the concept of state IDs which can be easily viewed through SQL Server Management Studio. In a demo-based presentation, let’s go through an editing example, tracking the advancement of a zombie apocalypse upon Cedar County, by two simultaneous users, and check the state IDs to better
understand how the data “moves” from child to parent. Finally, lets quickly review the arcpy methods for automating reconcile, post, and geodatabase maintenance (rebuild, analyze, and compress operations).

Playing Nice with Your Neighbors NG911
Jeff Miller, Dubuque County
This will be a county focused meetup to discuss boundary and alignment issues between counties. For Next Gen 911 to work as expected the boundaries need to be edge matched and roads need to be connected at county boundaries.

GIS Leadership in an Organization and Best Practices for GIS Success
Matt Hoehn and Dan Haag, Esri
Esri’s Dan Haag (St Louis Region Manager) and Matt Hoehn (Account manager for Local governments in Iowa) will be presenting on lessons learned and best practices for GIS and IT professionals to use Location Technology to become leaders in their organizations. Presentation and discussion topics include; GIS and technology strategy, focusing on capabilities, establishing GIS value with business focused solutions, overcoming technology challenges, and implementing best practices.

Consider Presenting at ITAG 2020

Interested in presenting?
The ITAG planning committee invites the submission of abstracts from professionals, educators, students and others participating in the latest developments in information technology and GIS.

SUBMIT NOW

Example topics might include:
• ArcGIS Pro
• GIS Web Applications
• Drones
• Next Gen 911
• Python
• SQL Server
• VMware
• Windows Server 2019
• Project Management

Presentation types:
• General Session – (Select 60, 45, 30, or 15 minute time-slots)
• Lightning Round – (15 minutes)
• Round-Table or Collaborative Session

Abstract Guidelines:
• Abstracts cannot exceed 1,500 characters
• Abstract submission is online only
• Please fill out separate forms for each presentation submittal
• Presentations should be informative and educational and not sales oriented

Gift Cards for Presenters:
• Will receive $50 gift card for 60 minute talk, $25 for 30 minute talk
• If a presentation has multiple presenters, they will only receive one gift card for the group
• If presenter is presenting two or more times, they will only receive one card
• Not valid for exhibitor or student presentations
• Must submit presentation by April 15 and must register for conference before May 8
• Only applied if presentation is accepted for the conference
• Card will be given at the conference

ITAG 2018 :: June 12-15, 2018 :: West Des Moines, IA

This week we are highlighting a number of upcoming geospatial conferences and the organizations that they representing.  Conferences are a moment to learn something new, hear about great work that our colleagues are doing, find opportunities for collaboration, share knowledge, and have fun.

ITAG is the Iowa Technology And Geospatial Conference.  The ITAG conference is a joint effort between the Iowa Geographic Information Council (IGIC) and the Iowa Counties Information Technology (ICIT) organizations.  This conference is unique, in that it offers two GIS tracks and two information technology (IT) tracks. This is helpful as many GIS professionals are also involved with IT as part of their job.  This is the second year of the joint conference.

ITAG is June 13-15, 2018 at the West Des Moines Sheraton Hotel in West Des Moines, Iowa.  There are pre-conference workshops on June 12.  For registration information, click here.  For a detailed agenda, click here.     

UMGEOCON 2018 :: May 23-24, 2018 :: LaCrosse, Wisconsin

This week we are highlighting a number of upcoming geospatial conferences and the organizations that they representing.  Conferences are a moment to learn something new, hear about great work that our colleagues are doing, find opportunities for collaboration, share knowledge, and have fun.

The Upper Midwest Geospatial Conference 2018 (UMGEOCON 2018) has been touted as being the only geospatial conference in the nation to be hosted by multiple state and regional associations. Those organizations (click on an organization to learn more) include: the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing – Western Great Lakes RegionGeospatial Information & Technology AssociationIowa Geographic Information CouncilIllinois GIS AssociationMinnesota GIS/LIS ConsortiumSharedGeo, and Wisconsin Land Information Association.  This conference is an opportunity to meet with people from different states and discuss what is working well and what could be improved.  LaCrosse, Wisconsin is also a beautiful conference location, nestled in the Driftless Region of the Upper Midwest along the Mississippi River. One of our own AmericaView members, Dr. Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, will providing a keynote address entitled, Into the Future We Go.

UMGEOCON 2018 will be held on May 23-24, 2018 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin at the UW-LaCrosse campus. Registration is $195 for regular registration and $50 for students.

For more information about the conference agenda, click here. Register here!

FOSS4G NA :: May 13-17, 2018 :: St. Louis, Missouri

This week we are highlighting a number of upcoming geospatial conferences and the organizations that they representing.  Conferences are a moment to learn something new, hear about great work that our colleagues are doing, find opportunities for collaboration, share knowledge, and have fun.

FOSS4G NA stands for Free and Open Source Software for(4) Geospatial North America 

FOSS4G is hosted by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) which is a non-profit non-governmental organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. It brings together all the members of the open source community – developers, contributors, extenders, users, teachers, service providers, consumers, and business and research organizations to learn from, collaborate, and communicate with each other.  This is a great opportunity to learn something new, ask questions, and make new connections.

This year FOSS4G NA is being held in St. Louis, Missouri, from May 13-16, 2018 with a fourth optional day May 17 devoted to Workshops and a Code Sprint.  The FOSS4G community is global, there will be the world-wide conference this year in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in August 2018.

MAGIC Conference :: April 23-26 :: Omaha, NE

This week we will be highlighting a number of upcoming geospatial conferences and the organizations that they representing.  Conferences are a moment to learn something new, hear about great work that our colleagues are doing, find opportunities for collaboration, share knowledge, and have fun.

Today the spotlight is on the MidAmerica GIS Consortium (MAGIC) – which is celebrating their 30th birthday this year.  Their first conference was held in 1988.  MAGIC is a volunteer run organization dedicated map-making, location services, and data development.  The organization officially includes nine states in its region: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.    

The conference will be held April 23 – 26, 2018, in Omaha, Nebraska at the Omaha Doubletree Hotel. This conference offers a number of fantastic half day and full day technical workshops on wide variety of topics including unmanned aerial systems (UAS), python, R, ModelBuilder, legal issues in GIS, spatial statistics, and many others.  The conference will include sessions ranging from environmental remediation to city and county GIS to law enforcement to software innovations and tricks. ESRI also brings their Mobile Lab so you can brush up on your ArcGIS skills. To find out more, see the detailed schedule, click here.  Past MAGIC symposiums have included festivities such as fireworks, amazing prizes from vendors, and great food.  Come for the learning, stay for the fun!

  • Full Conference: $425, $525 after March 23
  • Student Registration: $150

Early registration ends March 23, so register today!