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PSW News
June 30, 2015 Volume 1, Issue 2
ASPRS Region of the Year! IGTF 2015 in Tampa
By Alan Mikuni
The PSW Region was awarded the 2015 ASPRS
Region of the Year Award. Members from the Region
attending the awards ceremony were asked to pose for this
photograph with the "Region of the Year" banner.
Left to right: Jim Wang, MIRA Solutions; Tracy Zhou, MIRA Solutions;
Alan Mikuni, GeoWing Mapping, Inc.; Lorraine Amenda, Towill, Inc.;
Stewart Walker, BAE Systems; Riadh Munjy, CSU Fresno; Taylor Preece,
CSU Fresno; Becky Morton, GeoWing Mapping, Inc.; and Qi Chen,
University of Hawaii. (Photo courtesy of Lori Ballard, Christie's
Photographic Solutions) Please visit http://nationaleventpix.com/igtf for
additional photos from IGTF.
The ASPRS Annual Conference was held on May 4-8 at the Marriott Waterside Hotel in Tampa and was
attended by around 650. There were several competing geospatial events also occurring during the May 3-8
timeframe, resulting in a lower-than-normal attendance. This year's conference was co-located with the Joint
Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) workshop, similar to past events, and which proved to be a
successful partnership. The annual conference, now uniformly named Imagery and Geospatial Technology
Forum (IGTF) 2015, 2016, 2017, etc., was designed to accommodate recommendations received from attendees
over the last several years for more networking time, fewer concurrent sessions, extended exhibit hall time, and
having ASPRS divisions, committees, and partners playing a more active role in technical session development
and management. The 2015 technical program in Tampa was formulated through this collaborative effort, and
resulted in a diverse and vibrant array of presentations and discussions. Pacific Southwest (PSW) Region
member Becky Morton was installed as ASPRS Vice President, and several other Region members received
awards and scholarships. Please visit www.asprs.org for more details.
Inside This Issue ASPRS Region of the Year! IGTF 2015 in Tampa 1
Streamlining ASPRS 2
Students at UAS Reno 2015 2
New Members 2
UAS Mapping 2015 3
Upcoming Events 4
CalGIS 2015 and UAS Workshop 5
SDSU Technical Session Recap 6
UC Davis GIS and UAS Presentations 7
GIS Research Methods: Incorporating Spatial Perspectives 9
Identify an Historic Aerial Photo Contest 10
Your Region Council 11
PSW News
Page 2
Streamlining ASPRS
By Alan Mikuni
A major streamlining of the governance structure of ASPRS underway. Declining membership and declining
attendance at conferences, resulting in declining revenues, are forcing ASPRS to restructure itself, starting with
reducing the costs of operations. Currently there are 4 Officers, 15 Regions, 7 Divisions, and several Councils
currently represented on the National Board - nearly 30 people - all incurring expenses for travel, support, etc.
A Task Force has submitted its streamlining and restructuring recommendations to the ASPRS Board of
Directors, and there will likely be a severe downsizing of the Board. Included among the recommendations are
eliminating the Executive Committee and several suggestions as to modify how the Regions will be represented
on the, now, much smaller National Board, through a Regional Council.
There is much more to happen over the next 6 months. Hopefully, the changes will result in a more nimble
ASPRS with more responsive service to the membership.
New Members
The Pacific Southwest Region ASPRS
Membership Committee offers a Big
Welcome to the following
NEW MEMBERS!
April 2015 Michael Beland
Larry Empleo, II* James Graham
Kadeem Reynolds* Brendan Smith*
Yiying Xiong*
May 2015 None
June 2015
None
* = Student Member
Students at UAS Reno 2015 Dear Student Chapters: Would you like to get FREE student registration to the upcoming UAS Technical Demonstration and Symposium (September 29-30, 2015) in Reno Nevada? The Pacific Southwest Region of ASPRS is offering reimbursement for Student Member’s symposium registration! The Region will fund up to 5 students from each campus’ student chapter in our Region. The student chapter president or advisor is responsible to compiling a list of the 5 students from their chapter who may request reimbursement. If you are selected to represent your student chapter, just save your receipt and give it to Lorraine Amenda (Region Treasurer) at the conference or email a photo or PDF copy of your registration receipt to Lorraine at [email protected] along with your mailing address to receive your reimbursement. NOTE: Only current student members of ASPRS are eligible for this award. If you are not a current member, join before you register for the conference at http://www.asprs.org/Join-Now/Membership-Online-Application-Form.html Email me at [email protected] for any questions. Sincerely, Scott Miller ASPRS Pacific Southwest Region President
PSW News
Page 3
change is in the air ASPRS UAS Technical Demonstration and Symposium September 29 – 30, 2015, Reno Nevada
The conference program for the second annual technical UAS symposium sponsored by the American Society
for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) is now available. The dates of the conference are September
29-30, 2015 at the Reno Ballroom in downtown Reno, Nevada. ASPRS is also sponsoring a workshop on UAS
Data Processing on Monday, September 28.
The ASPRS symposium is focused on UAS mapping and this year’s program is organized to provide the latest
information on UAS technology and software development as well as looking at ancillary issues that impact the
UAS mapping industry. The program includes keynote speakers Jonathan Evans of Skyward.io who is working
toward the integration of aerial robotics into the worldwide airspace, and Keven Gambold, CEO of Unmanned
Experts, a combat pilot now heading a leading UAS consulting company. Symposium attendees will be brought
up-to-date on the state of the industry by UAS analysts Colin Snow of Drone Analyst and Mike Tully of Aerial
Services, Inc. A special session is included to highlight education and training of UAS geospatial professionals.
Speakers have been selected to provide the latest information on mapping tools and advances in computer vision,
data processing, and software applications, as well as a look to the future in equipment and supporting
technology. From popular demand, the program is designed to bring presentations highlighting real-world UAS
mapping applications – transportation, survey design-build, infrastructure assessment, natural resource
monitoring, and agriculture. In addition, the program will include live demonstration of UAS technology in
flight at the ASPRS UAS Calibration Test Range.
The technical program outline is available online; bios and abstracts will be online soon. Register now and enjoy
early-bird registration rates through August 15, 2015.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND REGISTER TODAY Visit UASReno.org for additional program details and links for registration and hotels.
Extended Schedule 9/26 – 10/1 – Includes test flights, UAS data processing and workshops:
Saturday – 9/26 UAS Test Flights
Sunday – 9/27 UAS Test Flights
Monday – 9/28 UAS Test Flight Data Processing Workshop Exhibit Set-Up Opening Reception (hosted by ASPRS)
Tuesday – 9/29 Symposium and Technical Demonstration – Reno Ballroom UAS Live Demonstration
Wednesday – 9/30 Symposium and Technical Demonstration – Reno Ballroom
Thursday – 10/1 UAS Meetings and Workshops (open for vendors and agencies to host)
PSW News
Page 4
Upcoming Technical Sessions
The 2015 slate of officers are looking for assistance in
planning future sessions as well as locations in which to
hold sessions.
If you would like to suggest a topic for a future meeting,
can provide a location in which to hold a session, or offer
yourself as a speaker, please contact
3D Mapping Forum, ESRI User’s Conference
July 18-19, 2015, San Diego
The ASPRS Past-President Stewart Walker is part of the opening plenary session for the 3D
Mapping Forum. His presentation is described as follows:
ASPRS: Providing a Framework for 3D Mapping- Stewart Walker
In its 81st year, the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
is enhancing its value proposition to align with the times. Its UAS Division was inaugurated
in 2015. Its certification program includes LiDAR and will be extended to UAS. It is
assisting states with the licensure of photogrammetrists. Its stewardship of the industry
standard LAS format continues actively.
GIS Day 2015 GIS Day will once again be observed throughout the Pacific Southwest Region of ASPRS. If
you are involved in the planning of GIS Day activities and would like to have the Pacific
Southwest Region partner with you, please send information on our organization and their plans
for GIS Day to [email protected]. We will be happy to promote your event in this
newsletter. In addition, the Region has typically provided assistance with refreshments at events
held throughout the Region in exchange for making ASPRS membership materials available.
Upcoming Events of Interest:
July 18-19, 2015 3D Mapping Forum
San Diego, CA ESRI User Conference
September 26 to ASPRS UAS Technical Demonstration and
October 1, 2015 Symposium
Reno, NV
November 18, 2015 GIS Day 2015
PSW News
Page 5
ASPRS PSW hosts a highly successful UAS Workshop at the 2015 California GIS Conference
On June 1st the ASPRS Pacific Southwest Region, in
coordination with the Urban and Regional Information
Systems Association (URISA), conducted a workshop on
unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) prior to the California
GIS Conference (CalGIS) at the Grand Sheraton Hotel in
Sacramento. The PSW organizing committee, chaired by
PSW and SoCal URISA Board member, Steve Steinberg,
organized an all-day, six-session workshop.
This first-time collaboration between ASPRS PSW and the
California URISA chapters was attended by over 20
participants. Session speakers represented a variety of
industry and application areas with topics ranging from the
state of the industry, to data acquisition, platforms, data
processing and applications.
Speakers included: Colin Snow of Drone Analysts,
Jeremiah Johnson of 3DRobotics, Sean Headrick and
Adriano Garafulic of Aerotestra, Antoine Martin of Pix4D,
Paul Veisze of the California Department of Parks and
Recreation, and Cody Benkelman of Esri. PSW Board
member, Alan Mikuni served as the moderator for the
workshop, with assistance from ASPRS Vice President,
Becky Morton and PSW Board member, Bill Zeman
serving as session moderators.
A successful CalGIS Conference was held following the
June 1 workshops, also at the Grand Sheraton on June 2-3.
PSW News
Page 6
ASPRS Technical Meeting in conjunction with SDSU 17 April 2015
By Scott Miller
We had another good meeting organized by Doug Stow and the student ASPRS chapter at SDSU on April 17.
We had four main speakers and our ASPRS Region banner thanks to Lorraine Amenda. Lorraine also brought
down the new USB drives with our ASPRS label that we gave to each speaker. The meeting ended with
refreshments on the SDSU patio with good discussions and some networking among the participants.
The following are a few quick notes about each speaker.
The highlight speaker was E. Lynn Usery on the "Semantics of Topographic Information: Capture,
Representation, and Application". Lynn is our President Elect for the ASPRS National organization and leads
the research group at USGS. The presentation was very interesting and discussed the implementation and study
of using RDF Triplets to encode topographic map data for the US including the generation of semantics for
terrain features (geomorphs…etc.) He summarized the 3DEP program which is using object detection and
neural networks to automatically identify terrain features for semantic encoding. This type of encoding enables
computerized analysis of topographic data that could lead to substantial automation of topographic displays,
analysis, and studies.
Raj Nagaraj of Deccan International talked about: "Applying Mathematical Models for Assisting Decision
Making in Public Safety- the Deccan Experience". This was a very interesting talk about applying Operations
Research to problem solving across organizations such as fire and 911 systems. Also of interest for us was his
transition from city employee doing operations research to private practice.
Marie Kennedy from the Fusion Center of the Department of Homeland Security gave a talk on "Remote
Sensing Resources in a Fusion Center Environment". The Fusion centers are scattered around the US and
Marie is from the San Diego and Imperial county Fusion Center. Their main goal is one of information sharing
and dissemination of qualitative and quantitative information. She concentrated on access, enhancement, and
dissemination of imagery (and related remote sensing information) for events. The fusion centers enable rapid
access to data such as from Digital Globe, EROS and others during crisis events.
A related item to the fusion center mission is the Volunteer Hazard Mapping Core (VHMC) at SDSU. This is a
volunteer group from SDSU with access to the geomatics processing labs at SDSU that can be called upon
during a crisis to make geomatics products to support a response.
Pat Landrum from SANDAG talked about: "The San Diego Regional Imagery Acquisition Partnership:
Building a Sustainable Regional Collaborative". SANDAG is a regional organization across 10 cities and the
county of San Diego that supports transportation, planning, borders, and public safety. He primarily discussed
the coordinated acquisition of high resolution imagery and LiDAR data for the county that supports needs across
most of the agencies of the county and cities. He emphasized that coordination and communication across all the
disparate customers of geospatial data enabled them to bring free and open data, at relatively low cost, to all the
partners. This includes image data down to 1 foot and 4 inch resolution 4band color imagery, Level 2 Lidar data,
and 2 foot contours.
Stewart Walker (ASPRS President) gave some nice wrap up remarks about ASPRS and the upcoming National
Conference.
If you get a chance in the future to attend this meeting…I recommend it as it is always interesting.
PSW News
Page 7
UC Davis GIS and UAS Presentations By Steve Barton
UC Davis hosted two separate events this spring of interest to ASPRS members. The following are recaps of the
events.
UC Davis hosted a postponed GIS Day event on campus on 1 April, 2015. The event was sponsored by the UC
Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, the campus Geography Graduate Group, the campus
Geospatial Consulting Services, the campus Information Center for the Environment, and the Northern
California chapter of URISA. Karen Beardsley of the UC Davis Information Center for the Environment was
the coordinator of the event.
Mark Nechodom of the State of California,
Department of Conservation was the first
speaker in the morning session. The
Conservation Department includes several
programs that do geospatial work including the
state Geologic Survey. He spoke about the
recurring use of maps in his career as a common
reference point for stakeholders—especially with
regard to controversies or emergencies. The
policy world he works in tends to care about
facts (data), and maps provide shared facts. He
also spoke about a geospatial enterprise
“framework” at his department that consists of
data stewardship, editing, authorization for data quality, and data interoperability. In addition to this framework,
there is a shift in his department from GIS “users” to GIS “providers”. He encouraged the audience to think in
“five” dimensions. Space and time are the conventional four dimensions, and he added that the fifth dimension
is imagination—where will something be in the future?
Susana Crespo of ESRI gave the second presentation in the morning session. She added to Mark Nechodom’s
talk on the five dimensions of GIS by stating that the sixth dimension of GIS is the user/consumer of GIS. She
viewed the GIS symposium as a group of problem solvers. She emphasized the objective of the use of GIS to
address problems is to master space and time and also to minimize risks. She spoke about the evolution of GIS
from her career perspective, including the current “service” model of GIS. Her briefing presentation was on the
topic of “Emerging Trends in GIS and Agriculture”, and she described several case studies of GIS applications
in her slides.
Remaining sessions at the GIS symposium included a presentation on data visualization with Michelle Tobias of
UC Davis. Nate Roth of UC Davis gave a workshop on the use of the open source software Quantum GIS
(QGIS) in conjunction with ArcGIS. Two Davis High School students gave a presentation on “The Great
California Drone Debate” about the drought and precision farming practices. The afternoon program included a
session on web mapping and also a workshop on online mapping and web application creation (with ArcGIS
Online). There was another session on data gathering and another workshop on do-it-yourself remote sensing
with kites, drones, and aerial photography. The all-day event concluded with a poster session and social hour.
PSW News
Page 8
UC Davis GIS and UAS Presentations (Cont.) The UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies hosted a UAS
presentation and demo as part of its regular seminar series on 15 May 2015.
Sam Miller and Brandon Smith (shown in the photo to the right) of Skycatch
were the presenters. Skycatch is a start-up UAV manufacturer based in San
Francisco, CA. They are developing a small quad copter that was
demonstrated, and they are also developing a low altitude glider that was not
demonstrated. They have received FAA exemptions on some of their projects.
The presentation started with a video of a small quad copter with a camera
flying autonomously over a construction site (at UC San Francisco) to make
periodic inspections. A ground station consists of a box shaped holding bay
that can fit in a truck bed. The UAV is launched from and lands into the
holding bay. A flying pattern/route is uploaded to the UAV via a wireless
communication link. Some of the data processing results made with the
imagery collected in the demo were change detection, volume estimation,
CAD model integration, and 3D model generation.
Most of the Skycatch presentation consisted of the technical solution they are
aiming for with their system and some of the general design and construction
issues with their UAV.
Skycatch is aiming for an “enterprise” solution from a data gathering platform to software tools to make use of
the data collected. It is designed to be a fully autonomous system (versus human-in-the-loop) including takeoff
and landing with the base station. The data collected offers timeliness, high spatial resolution (from a low
altitude platform), and customized site collection in comparison with Google Earth or similar archived data.
After the data is collected, it is uploaded to the cloud and processed (ortho-rectification, mosaicking, etc.) to
finished imagery products. There are three broad UAS markets: military, hobbyist, and commercial. Skycatch is
aiming its UAS solution to the commercial market, and within this market they are looking to provide solutions
for construction, agriculture, and mining. Examples were given of their UAS applications to construction and
agriculture. Other potential general UAS applications discussed were disaster recovery, security, pipeline leak
detection, bird/animal dissuasion, wildlife protection, package delivery, compliance, survey, cinematography,
stockpile measurement, and emergency response.
Some of the general design and construction issues with UAVs and the Skycatch quad copter were also
discussed. There are three key questions for vehicle design (that include UAVs): payload, speed/acceleration,
and energy requirements. For the Skycatch quad copter, the payload is a camera, and even 2-3 pounds of weight
cuts into the observed flying time. The quadcopter speed has been observed at ~60 mph following a car. Energy
requirements were not discussed other than their system has about 30 minutes of flying time with an equal
amount of charging time at the ground station. They have included a system to automatically swap batteries at
the ground station to facilitate battery charging and replacement. Another key discriminator in their technology
is that they are building their own flight controller electronic boards. The boards include a 3-axis accelerometer,
a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis magnetometer, a barometer, and a GPS receiver.
PSW News
Page 9
GIS Research Methods: Incorporating Spatial Perspectives
Publisher: Esri Press; 1 edition (May 1, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1589483781
Steven Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP, Past President of ASPRS NorCal
(2008-2011) and SWUS (2012-2014) and current PSW Board
Member recently co-authored GIS Research Methods: Incorporating
Spatial Perspectives with his wife Dr. Sheila Steinberg. GIS
Research Methods provides practical advice on how to incorporate
spatial thinking and geographic information system (GIS)
technology into research design and analysis. The book released in
May 2015 is targeted to researchers, practitioners and students
seeking to incorporate geospatial methods in a wide array of
disciplines. Topics include research design, digital data sources
including remotely sensed data, volunteered geographic information,
analysis using GIS, and how to link research results to policy and
action. The concepts presented in GIS Research Methods can be
applied to projects in a range of social and physical sciences by
researchers using GIS for the first time and experienced practitioners
looking for new and innovative research techniques.
About the Authors
Dr. Steven J. Steinberg has been an active member of ASPRS since 1993. He is a principal scientist at the
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, a public environmental research agency. He received his
Bachelor of Science degree from Kent State University, his Master of Science degree from the University of
Michigan, and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He applies geospatial technologies in both
environmental and human contexts, and in a variety of disciplines exploring space and place.
Dr. Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg is a full professor of social sciences at Brandman University, Irvine California.
She received her bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara; her master of science degree at
the University of California, Berkeley; and her doctorate at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research
interests include interdisciplinary research methods, environmental sociology, applied sociology, community,
geospatial research (GIS), culture, and policy.
Follow Steve and Sheila: @steinbergspace
PSW News
Page 10
Identify an Historic Aerial Photo Contest If you can identify the area shown in the
photo to the right, send an email to
[email protected] and be entered
into a drawing for a Pacific Southwest
Region ASPRS USB Drive. Eligible
entries must be received by July 30,
2015.
All who correctly identify the scene
shown in the historic photo will be
identified, along with the winner, in our
next edition of the newsletter.
Hint: The site is within 100 miles of the California State Capitol.
Can you identify the area shown in this photo from the Towill, Inc., archives? Email your answer to [email protected] to
qualify for the prize drawing.
Paul Kokes of Lompoc, California, was the only reader to correctly identify
the photo as that of San Quentin, California. He received an PSW 8 GB USB
flash drive. Congratulation Paul!
San Quentin, California
April 26, 1957– This photo is of the infamous San Quentin maximum
security prison located in Marin County, California at the western end of the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
PSW News
Page 11
Your Pacific Southwest Region Council
The officers for the Pacific Southwest Region are working hard to provide you with quality technical
presentations near to home.
In the last few years we’ve offered technical sessions in San Diego, Fresno, Reno, and Davis. We are currently planning
sessions for 2015. If you have suggestions for locations and topics for a session near where you live, please contact one of
our officers or the region email at [email protected].
President: Scott Miller, CP [email protected]
Vice President: Matt Coleman, CP [email protected]
Past President: Bill Zeman [email protected]
Secretary/Treasurer: Lorraine Amenda, CP, PLS [email protected]
National Director: Alan Mikuni, CP, PE [email protected]
Directors: Steve Barton [email protected]
John Erickson, CP, PLS [email protected]
Todd Mitchell, CMS [email protected]
Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D., GISP [email protected]
Sam Perez [email protected]
Ross Winans [email protected]
Webmaster: Jeffrey Miller [email protected]
We welcome any suggestions that would allow us to better serve ASPRS membership in Arizona, California,
Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands.
Can you suggest a better name for our
Newsletter? Send your suggestions to
[email protected]. If your
suggestion is adopted, you’ll receive a
PSW Region USB Drive as a prize!
