Fall NEARC 2024

Innovate enhanced the geospatial products by incorporating technologies such as AI feature extraction and 3D modeling. We used geoprocessing methodologies and web-based applications to create planning decision support frameworks from a neighborhood level to the national scale. We employed server-side geoprocessing tools to further generate analytical derivatives that we then used within cartographic products, dynamic web-based and mobile applications as well as supported graphics for technical reports. Innovate used Esri’s ArcHydro software to process overland stormwater flow data from DEMs and DSMs to model how water travels, accumulates, and gains velocity over topography. The by-product of this analysis provides a municipality with the ability to identify how changing its infrastructure from impervious to more green spaces can impact the potential for flooding.

Everyone is talking or attempting to use Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or AI. Industry leaders would say that data is the most important ingredient to 'make' AI work. A common theme for the proper or efficient use of AI is a need for 'good data' or data of the highest quality. GIS Practitioners have coined the phrase 'Garbage In and Garbage Out' as a rallying cry for better data since the formation of the discipline. Most organizations have some set or repository of data they utilize for their business, and some even create their data. The state of quality of these data repositories can fluctuate from abysmal to pristine. So how can organizations improve the quality of existing data or ensure that the data being collected now, is the best the organization can make it? This presentation claims that data must be valued as highly as revenue or profits if data quality is to improve. If data are valued highly, then care is taken as it is collected, compiled, and collated, and arguably, quality will improve, and there is a fighting chance for the use of AI to succeed for whatever purposes is required.

The UVM Spatial Analysis Lab has a long history of high quality and high impact GIS work. In the last year alone the SAL has performed emergency response to multiple major flood events, taught numerous workshops for first responders, state/federal employees, and highschol students and produced tens of thousands of square miles of high resolution land cover data, mapping areas that contain more than 9% of the total US population. In addition to producing these high quality services and datasets the SAL has employed upwards of 350 students/recent graduates/new GIS professionals in the past 15 years and currently has a robust work force of 40 technicians/GIS operators.

The SAL would like to share some lessons learned and insights gained from decades of work in the geospatial field and running such a complex, flexible and high achieving organization in the rapidly changing technological landscape.

In this presentation, Brian Hebert will work through several workflows using and comparing both ArcGIS Pro and Google Big Query, focusing on classic geoprocessing tasks including import, export, append, spatial join, buffer, dissolve, intersect, etc. using high volume vector data. The full US Tiger Edges (All_Lines) polyline network and Meta (Facebook) sponsored high resolution population point data will be used to map out flood and evacuation scenarios. Arcpy and Google Big Query SQL source code examples will be reviewed. Particular attention will be given to getting data in/out of ESRI formats before/after processing in Google Big Query. This presentation would be of interest for anyone who is challenged with high volume vector data manipulation and will highlight leveraging the awesome power of big-database cloud engines for geospatial processing.

Learn how to use JavaScript frameworks, data structures, and design principles to make your own custom, reusable Esri widgets in ArcGIS Experience Builder.

Stone Environmental’s Geospatial and Data Solutions Team will share its strategies and code for customizing ArcGIS Experience Builder widgets to push your web and mobile applications to the next level. We will share our New York Geographic Information Gateway web app, which aims to democratize New York’s geospatial data for educational, recreational, and citizen science purposes. This app brings Esri mapping to everyone, regardless of experience. It was built with ArcGIS Experience Builder, but unfortunately Experience Builder did not offer the State everything it wanted out-of-the-box, and there is little documentation on customizing this state-of-the-art Esri suite.

Join our presentation as we share what we’ve learned about customizing Experience Builder widgets and how to optimize custom code in your Esri applications. We will share how JavaScript, TypeScript, React.js and Redux can integrate cleanly into your development experience. We will also demonstrate how to access and build on open-source widget code from Esri. We will share helpful tricks we discovered in our work, as well as explore principles of design and accessibility to make a sleek and stylish front-end experience. Finally, we will unpack helpful strategies for data manipulation and control within and across Experience Builder widgets which will help any GIS developer in their projects.

This presentation will require experience with JavaScript, TypeScript, React.js, CSS, JSX, Redux, Git, and ArcGIS Experience Builder.

Co-Presenter: Andrew Flynn

Join us for a discussion on developing a comprehensive Power BI dashboard designed to report all published content on ArcGIS Portal. This dashboard, created using FME, Python, and Power BI, is an essential tool for managing and understanding your GIS resources.

The session will cover:

1. Integration and Data Flow: Learn how FME and Python are utilized to extract, transform, and load (ETL) data from ArcGIS Portal into Power BI. We will explore the automation processes that ensure the dashboard is updated daily.
2. Dashboard Features: Discover how the dashboard provides a centralized view of all published services, web maps, and other content on the ArcGIS Portal. The discussion will highlight key functionalities such as:
   • Service Identification: Easily locate and identify all services and web maps published on the portal.
   • Impact Analysis: Understand which services are affected by schema changes to underlying layers.
   • Usage Metrics: View metrics to determine the most frequently used layers and services.
   • Service Monitoring: Quickly find stopped services to ensure uninterrupted GIS operations.
3. Benefits and Applications: Understand the practical benefits of having a holistic view of your GIS content. The dashboard enables efficient resource management, proactive problem-solving, and data-driven decision-making.

Whether you are a GIS analyst, data manager, or IT professional, this session will provide valuable insights into leveraging Power BI for effective ArcGIS Portal content management. Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your GIS operational efficiency with a powerful, automated reporting solution

With a significant number of GIS users across our organization, our Data Solutions team encountered a challenge related to the abundance of data available on our portal. We faced the issue of distinguishing between high-quality and low-quality data, with the aim of enhancing data utilization.

Our primary objective was to optimize resource utilization by eliminating data that was either unused or of low quality, ensuring that our users have access to the best available data. To address this issue, we developed a comprehensive dashboard that provides insights into all the data within our portal. This platform empowers users to gain a deeper understanding of their data and facilitates our efforts to educate them about improved data standards.

Through the implementation of this dashboard, we have successfully directed our team and users towards a focus on data governance, data literacy, and data quality, thereby fostering an environment of enhanced data maturity.

Monitoring performance and scalability in a large, multi-server environment can be difficult. Learn how we use ArcGIS Monitor in our Enterprise GIS to identify bottlenecks and create alerts for when things don't go as planned.