Happy New Year everyone,

We open the 2012 portion of our season next week with a talk from Anne Stark from the City of Bellingham

As usual we will meet in the Dunsmuir Auditorium in the BC Hydro office
tower, 333 Dunsmuir. The meeting will start at 5:30. Remember, everyone
is required to sign in after 5:00 at the security desk in the main lobby.
For more information about the Vancouver GIS User Group, please visit our
website: http://www.vancouvergis.org.

The full line up for this season is listed below. We have a great selection of speakers and topics. We are still looking for a speaker for March. We welcome suggestions for topics and speakers either through the web site to me or, to any of our other steering committee members at meetings. Also, please start thinking about participating in our annual Poster and Show-n-tell Session in May. Speak up early and secure a prime location.

Regards,

Doug Hrynyk

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January 18, 2012

Topic: Island County SoundIQ - A collaborative effort to make citizen science easily accessible in a web mapping application hosted on an ESRI ArcServer system.

Speaker: Ann Stark, GIS Analyst, City of Bellingham, Washington; President of the Washington Regional chapter of URISA; Co-host NW WA GIS Users Group

The Island County Marine Resource Committee (MRC) has collected a variety of nearshore, geospatially-referenced data on forage fish, feeder bluffs, eelgrass and more. These, along with data collected by natural resources agencies, reside in many separate, isolated locations, largely unknown to the public, scientists, and planners at all levels to whom they might be helpful in making decisions.

In a collaborative venture toward improving archival of and access to these data, the MRC, with support from the Northwest Straits Commission, partnered with the City of Bellingham, Washington to create SoundIQ, an adaptation of the land-based Bellingham data portal called CityIQ. The result is a web-based Ecosystem Tool designed to consolidate disparate data, provide interactive mapping, and to produce data summaries of Island County's nearshore data. SoundIQ runs on ESRI’s ArcServer technology.っ

Previously unprecedented, a user can click on a map location and generate a report summarizing ecological studies done, have photos and descriptions of public beach access points, and have links to online scientific documents about the area of interest.

SoundIQ is a compilation of publicly available data layers developed by the Island County MRC, Puget Sound Nearshore Restoration Project, Washington State Department of Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and the United States Agriculture Department. Assistance with data acquisition was also provided by ESA Adolphson and by the Island County Planning, Public Works, and Health
Departments..っ

Bio: Ann Stark, GISP is currently a GIS analyst at the City of Bellingham, Washington. She has 15 years experience in GIS, at different times holding every position from GIS Tech to GIS Manager. She has primarily worked with local and tribal government and has degrees in geography, biology, and environmental science. She likes to dabble in python scripting.

Ann is currently the President of the Washington Regional chapter of URISA, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. She also co-hosts the NW WA GIS users group which meeting every three months. She invites you to mark your calendar for the upcoming WA URISA conference which will be May 7 - 9, 2012 in Tacoma, WA.

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February 08, 2012

Topic: The application of remote sensing data to support climate change adaptation decision-making

Speaker: Taylor Davis, LiDAR Applications Specialist, Terra Remote Sensing Inc.

Climate change is a ‘hot’ topic these days. It tends to invoke strong and often diverging views on whether climate change is going to happen (to what extent and when), is happening, should be mitigated, should be ignored, or has to be adapted to. The essential question that should be answered is:
how can we strategically place investments in our communities that mitigate future risks, increase community resiliency and address the uncertainties of climate change at the same time? Answering this question requires mapping out adaptation strategies that have benefits to our communities - irrespective of future climates. Justifying the investment decisions of today against the potential risks of tomorrow is a complex undertaking.

These investment decisions have to be based on the best information possible, and can to a degree be supported by up-to-date geospatial information. Cutting-edge remote sensing techniques including LiDAR, and Hyperspectral imagery yield multiple data sets capable of providing decision makers with comprehensive information regarding the health, species and physical characteristics of vegetation, abundance and type of impervious surfaces, floodplain characteristics, and assessments of our as-built infrastructure.

My talk will generally focus on the application of remote sensing data to support climate change adaptation decision-making. As the Insurance Bureau of Canada recently identified urban flooding as the highest natural disaster insurance cost in Canada, there will be a specific focus on rainwater management.

Bio: Taylor Davis, BA, MA, Environment and Management, LiDAR Applications Specialist, Terra Remote Sensing Inc.

Taylor has been working with Terra Remote Sensing Inc. since 2001, and has been involved with multiple aspects of the company during this time.
Initially, Taylor specialized in LiDAR data production and data management.
Following the completion of his Master’s degree in Environment and Management, he has transitioned into a business development and research role where he has published research into journals such as the IEEE, specifically on the application of high resolution remote sensing to climate change adaptation. Taylor has spent considerable time working on international projects, namely Chile, Colombia and China. Taylor spent over two months in China helping to oversee comprehensive training and the completion of two transmission line mapping projects for the State Grid Corporation of China. Taylor has been invited to present his research to various groups around the province, including the Fraser Basin Joint Flood Committee, the BC Ministry of Environment, the Capital Regional District and the Cowichan Valley Regional District.

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March 14, 2012

TBA

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April 11, 2012

Speaker:, Ryan Prox, Special Constable, Vancouver Police Department

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May 9, 2012

Topic: Vancouver GIS Users' Group May 2010 Show-and-Tell:

Our annual networking event is coming up soon.  This is a great opportunity to showcase your recent projects, learn about your colleagues' work, and catch up with friends and meet new ones in a casual, friendly environment.

You are invited to present your projects in a variety of ways: a poster, a map you made earlier this year, leaflets from a recent public information campaign, printouts from a web site, a sideshow on your laptop....

Anything you can think of that will catch people's attention and help start a conversation about your work.  It doesn't need to be fancy, it's okay if it only took you ten minutes to assemble, and it doesn't matter if you already presented it elsewhere (but please credit the original event, if that's the case).  Please, we request that presentations are project-based rather than vendor presentations  -- there are other forums for those.

The Show-And-Tell will take place 5:30 PM Wednesday, May 9 in the Dunsmuir Auditorium, BC Hydro office tower, 333 Dunsmuir Street.  There will be wall space and tables.  There may be one or two internet connection(s), which can be reserved. Please contact Doug Hrynyk through the web site to express your interest in presenting your work.