Measuring the Oregon landscape: An update from the Oregon Lidar Consortium on data collection, analysis, and distribution The landscape of Oregon is varied and dynamic, the product of past and ongoing earth system processes. High resolution topographic data characterize earth surface morphology, vegetation characteristics, and the built environment. The Oregon Lidar Consortium (OLC), formed in 2007, is mandated to collect high quality, dense (≥ 8 points/sq m) lidar data across the state and to make these data available to the public. By late 2024 78% of the state had publicly available lidar coverage, while the remainder of the area has been collected and is being processed. Additionally, many areas throughout the State of Oregon have now been covered by one or more repeat lidar datasets, allowing detailed measurements of landscape changes including those driven by coastal, landslide, riverine, vegetation, fire, and urban processes. Opportunities for future collection include targeting known topographic changes as well as to maintain recent observations over wide areas. Another important direction is topobathymetric lidar collection for areas of shallow water including rivers and estuaries to better resolve flood and tsunami hazards and aquatic habitat. This presentation will review the status of lidar acquisition and data availability across the state, example applications to resolve diverse hazards, change detection, and best practices for efficient access to OLC data.
ORURISA Board MeetingORURISA Friends and Members Meeting
The Chapter was founded in 1992 and serves as a forum for geospatial professionals and students to meet, share ideas and encourage the advancement of Geospatial and Open Source technologies.
The vitality of the organization is in its local Sections and Special Interest Groups. Local sections are geographically disbursed throughout the bi-state area and meet to discuss local geospatial topics and technologies. Participants include public sector and private GIS professionals, educators, and students. The chapter also has Special Interest Groups that serve varied topics and areas of interest.
Our mission is to inform, educate and promote the geospatial industry to support and strengthen geographic diversity in our community. We offer legitimacy with other organizations, authority of knowledge, leadership development and career support. We encourage you to participate in local and statewide events and to get involved in the organization.
To learn more, join us, visit our table at the Vendors area or at our website www.orurisa.org
From Point Clouds to Web Maps: Utilizing ESRI ArcGIS and Autodesk ACC technology to create a seamless 3D digital twin of the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant (CBWTP) facility.
Disasters don’t wait—so why should we? While many organizations rely on GIS for post-disaster response, the real power of geospatial technology lies in proactive preparedness. By leveraging ArcGIS and Esri Disaster solutions before disasters, agencies can predict risks, optimize response strategies, plan evacuations, and mitigate damage, ultimately saving lives and resources all this while having Business continuity. This session will explore the transformative role of ArcGIS in disaster resilience, showcasing possible scenarios where predictive analytics, real-time data, and spatial modeling can empower agencies to stay ahead of emergencies. We’ll discuss best practices in risk mapping, scenario planning, and evacuation mapping. From government agencies to utilities and emergency management teams, organizations that shift from reactive to proactive ArcGIS strategies gain a critical edge. Join us to learn how to future-proof your operations and build a smarter, more resilient response framework—before disaster strikes.
Instant Apps offers a set of purpose-driven templates that can be quickly configured into powerful tools for engaging citizens in your community. Learn how Instant Apps can help you share information about local points of interest, collect and manage reported issues, and provide critical updates during disaster scenarios, all from within your ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise organization.
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) provides a valuable means of assessing ground and structural changes using satellite-based radar imagery. This presentation walks through the workflow of acquiring, processing, and preparing coherence data for use in a building damage assessment study.
We begin with data acquisition using the Alaska Satellite Facility’s Vertex tool, selecting and downloading InSAR coherence products. Next, we outline the use of ArcPy to automate key preprocessing steps: applying masks, clipping coherence rasters to building footprints, and structuring the dataset for statistical analysis. Challenges in handling large datasets, dealing with null values, and ensuring spatial alignment are discussed.
With processed coherence values linked to individual building footprints, we then explore initial statistical methods for assessing damage patterns. The goal is to establish a foundation for classification, setting the stage for more advanced spatial and statistical techniques. This workflow provides a replicable approach for integrating InSAR data into disaster impact studies.
Well, it finally happened. ESRI has retired JavaScript 3.X API, and with it goes a whole suite of highly successful tools and applications. JavaScript 4.X is nothing new, but how does it stack up? Can you replace your Web Appbuilder apps? Should you replace them? This session is a look at the complexities of Experience Builder, and how to replicate common workflows from Web Appbuilder.
In today’s fast-paced technological landscape, GIS leaders are increasingly finding themselves trapped in a reactive cycle—managing mounting technical debt while barely keeping pace with relentless technological advancements. This presentation is designed specifically for those at the helm of GIS operations who face the dual challenge of maintaining legacy systems and adapting to rapid innovation. Attendees will gain insights into practical strategies that not only address the immediate pressures of technical debt but also pave the way for a robust, forward-thinking GIS strategy. The session will explore methodologies for balancing urgent operational demands with long-term planning, enabling leaders to reclaim time and steer their organizations toward sustainable growth amidst continuous change.
Mara Stoica is the CEO and majority owner of dymaptic, an award-winning GIS Service Provider. In addition to having more than a decade and a half of technical GIS experience under her belt, Mara possesses extensive leadership experience within project- and staff management. Prior... Read More →
Thursday April 24, 2025 1:00pm - 1:30pm PDT Auditorium
High-accuracy GNSS corrections are more accessible today than ever before. Accuracy levels from sub-meter to sub-foot to centimeter, with some being free as a public service. These corrections enable users to achieve down to centimeter horizontal and vertical accuracies in real-time, and be utilized on any iOS/Android/Windows mobile device.
GNSS correction providers in the Pacific Northwest include; ORGN, WSRN, Galileo HAS, Point One, Atlas, WAAS, and self-hosted RTK base stations. Understanding the capabilities of each service is important to achieve the desired level of accuracy and productivity. This presentation will begin with an overview of the GNSS landscape, then dive into the correction options available in the Pacific Northwest, summarizing the tradeoffs of each service.
GNSS/GIS Solution Engineer, Discovery Management Group
Tyler Gakstatter is a GNSS consultant and software developer based in Portland, Oregon. Having been in the industry for over 10 years, Tyler has gained extensive experience in GNSS, GPS, RTK and base station solutions. In addition, he is well-versed in the entire Esri ArcGIS suite... Read More →
Thursday April 24, 2025 1:00pm - 1:30pm PDT Atrium
The Hillsboro Public Works Department’s robust GIS program has managed publicly owned underground sanitary sewer assets for decades. While the public system is mapped accurately, the location of private lateral service pipes is often unknown beyond the point of connection with the public system. Prior to the 1990s, developers did not indicate where laterals crossed into the right-of-way en route to the public sewer system making accurate utility locating difficult or impossible. In 2021 the Public Works Department began the Lateral Accuracy Project (LAP) to address these issues. Contractual services have been enlisted to inspect and locate private laterals and install permanent curb tags. Public Works staff collect tag location data with GNSS equipment and integrate the information into GIS with the help of ArcGIS Field Maps. This multi-year project brings Hillsboro into adherence with state utility locate law, ensures laterals are not damaged during excavation or direction drilling, and increases lateral condition awareness.
The Marbled Murrelet is an endangered seabird that relies on forests for nesting. Traditionally, a species survey crew would be sent out to see if the species is present. However, that is labor and time intensive. This project explores using high resolution LiDAR data to determine the possibility of Marbled Murrelet habitat in the area. Using characteristics derived from the LiDAR data such as canopy height, density, etc. we can make calculate the probability of habitat in the area and confirm in person. LiDAR technology can be used to speed up the environmental analysis process in what is presently a costly and timely endeavor.
The Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive pest first detected in the United States in 2002. Since then, the Emerald Ash Borer has spread, killing over 100 million ash trees in the eastern U.S. alone and causing over $2 billion in damages. EAB was first detected in Forest Grove, Oregon in 2022 and is has now been detected in Marion, Yamhill, and Clackamas counties.
With EAB spreading in Oregon, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) Forest Health group wanted our GIS team to build an interactive map to give members of the public a place to view and interact with Emerald Ash Borer data in Oregon. The map needed to combine data from multiple agencies, allow users to turn reference layers on and off, change basemaps, and have a quick way to display information about layers on the map, all in a publicly accessible location.
To meet these goals, we used ArcGIS Experience Builder to create an interactive web application. This application utilizes a web map with all the layers we needed as feature services, with custom pop-ups to show information that was requested and obscure fields that aren’t needed. This application also allows users to turn layers on and off, change basemaps, provides links to more information, and more. This presentation will show an “under the hood” look at the Experience and webmap, focusing on the settings and widgets we used to build the Experience and how the pop-ups were built using a combination of HTML and Arcade scripting.
Carl Swanson is a GIS Specialist with the Oregon Department of Forestry in Salem, Oregon, where he has worked since 2018. Carl developed a love for cartography through studying field geology in graduate school and has been in the GIS world ever since. In summers Carl works on ODF’s... Read More →
Thursday April 24, 2025 2:00pm - 2:10pm PDT Classroom
Arcade is a portable, lightweight, and secure expression language used to create custom content in ArcGIS applications. In particular, it can replace the standard toolbox in ArcGIS Pro to perform on-the-fly calculations and keep field values up to date dynamically as feature geometries change. This presentation includes a high-level overview of Arcade’s capabilities and syntax and several examples of how to include it in a spatial analysis workflow, based on real-world examples from my GIS work at Oregon Metro.
Cloud GIS is transforming how organizations manage geospatial data, offering scalability, accessibility, and cost efficiency. But what drives this shift, and what lessons can we learn from those who’ve made the move? This session explores the benefits of Cloud GIS—real-time data access, automated updates, and seamless integrations—while diving into key cloud migration models: hosted (ArcGIS Online), non-hosted, multi-tenant, and hybrid. We’ll compare their pros and cons, including administration, security, and performance differences. Real-world case studies from government, utilities, and private enterprises will highlight successful migrations and how organizations overcame regulatory compliance and data governance challenges. Whether starting your cloud journey or optimizing an existing deployment, this session will provide technical insights to help you make informed decisions. Don’t just adapt—lead the change.
This study explores land cover classification methods using high-resolution UAV imagery collected at Lakeside Farm, Oregon in July 2024, with a focus on mapping land cover types. The goal is to assess the effectiveness of multiple supervised classification techniques: K-Nearest Neighbor, Maximum Likelihood, Random Trees, and Support Vector Machine. Object-based and pixel-based classification methods were applied to RGB imagery collected using the Parrot ANAFI drone. The study area provided a unique array of land cover types, including varied vegetation, unvegetated areas, water, and wetlands, which help provide insight as to the advantages and disadvantages of the different classification methods when dealing with each land cover type. This research provides insights into the optimal conditions and methods for UAV data integration in agricultural land cover mapping, contributing to enhanced precision agriculture practices.
This study assessed the accuracy of spatial data collected through a simplified PPGIS tool that uses circles as the sole input method to mark points and areas on a map. A survey of 59 participants completed mapping exercises to locate buildings, parks, and geographic regions.
Results showed participants successfully marked point locations with 90% accuracy and area locations with 95% accuracy. Areas typically exceeded target size by a factor of 1.5 when boundaries were visible on the basemap. Statistical analysis revealed a significant relationship between map zoom level and data accuracy. Users entering data with phones also had higher error rates approaching statistical significance.
These findings validate the simplified PPGIS approach for collecting reliable spatial data with minimal participant training, while suggesting interface improvements like enforcing minimum zoom levels for data entry to enhance accuracy.
In this lightning talk, I will delve into the latest updates to Metro’s online mapping application, MetroMap. I am the lead cartographer for the MetroMap project and we have some new functionality that I think would be really important to share with the GIS in Action attendees. The primary focus on this lightning talk will be on the new enhancements that have been implemented to improve user experience and accessibility. Key updates include the addition of a Print tool, Spanish translations, and new map layers. I will also discuss the significant changes made to meet WCAG Accessibility requirements, ensuring that MetroMap is more inclusive for all users. Additionally, I will highlight improvements related to SEO and findability with hopes that it will make it easier for users to discover and utilize the application. My hope is that this presentation will help showcase an important tool for our region but also inspire other jurisdictions to consider sharing this application to help answer important questions from the public.
There are a number of tools built into ArcGIS Pro: geoprocessing, networking, and wide number of other analytical tools that give ArcGIS Pro the power to do so many things. Did you know that you can publish these tools to consume in a web app? GeoBlazor harnesses the power of the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JS to connect and bring the capabilities of these tools to your .NET web applications. We will discuss the capabilities and limitations of 'publishing' ArcGIS Pro tools and their usefulness in web applications. We will then demonstrate how GeoBlazor can connect to a published tool with minimal code to create a customized routing capability in a .NET web application.
Street signs are one of the core transportation assets the City of Hillsboro Public Works department keeps track of, however, due to new development, replacements, and evolving technology, it has been challenging to keep an accurate inventory. A partial street sign inventory and workflow had existed for several years, but due to staff turnover and challenges field staff had with the data collection technology available at the time, the extent of missing or incorrect asset records was uncertain. In early 2020, there was a focused effort to improve the data entry process, along with implementing more user-friendly technology. As a result, sign replacements and new installations since then have been more consistently and correctly entered. We will be sharing how we are leveraging various tools and services that we already have access to (such as Cartegraph, FieldMaps, ArcGIS Dashboards, and PowerBI) in order to complete an accurate street sign inventory, and how we will be maintaining accuracy and quality moving forward.
Recent federal actions have disrupted access to key datasets, raising concerns about the long-term availability of some essential public data sources. In response, Metro has launched an internal initiative to track changes, assess impacts, and share knowledge across departments. This lightning talk will outline our approach, which included the creation of a Public Data Watch SharePoint site and Teams channel to facilitate collaboration. We will share key takeaways, challenges, and resources, including archives and data preservation efforts. Attendees will gain practical strategies and access to a one-pager with links to helpful resources.
Since we have seen a lot of climate change around the world with snowfall being one of them it brought up the question of how snowfall has changed for the Contiguous United States. In this project I was looking at snowfall trends for the Contiguous United States over the last 10 years from 2014 to 2024. Using NOAA’s National Weather Service’s National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center’s National Gridded Snowfall Analysis to collect the data needed to analyze the snowfall trends for the last decade. There has been a rise in snowfall over the past decade with each year increasing in snowfall amount. Using state boundary lines showed changes in the amount of snow a state has gotten over the last decade. The results have shown that with the uptick in snowfall over the last decade, there are states that do not necessarily get snow are receiving snow like Georgia and Alabama. The effects of this uptick in snowfall can mean that states that normally do not get any snow will receive snow over the following next years. There is also the concern that there will be severe flooding depending on how fast the snow melts and the terrain of the areas that have received snow. Potentially looking at temperature patterns over the last decade will help provide an understanding of the reason for the uptick in snowfall.
The submitted StoryMap considers the construction of solar panel canopies over parking lots at Portland Community College's Sylvania campus, analyzing drone imagery to measure area which used to estimate both potential kilowatt hours of solar panel generated and also estimated construction costs.
In a world where AI has become as ubiquitous as towels are to interstellar hitchhikers, Christopher Moravec stands ready to guide you through the galaxy of possibilities and pitfalls.
"Don't Panic, It's Just AI: A Developer's Handbook" is your essential guide to navigating the often bewildering landscape of artificial intelligence. More controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy "Where AI Came From," "Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes," and "Who is this Siri Person Anyway?", this handbook is for any developer looking to harness AI without resorting to Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters to cope with the absurdity.
Through real-world examples, Christopher will show you how to use AI as a practical tool—from writing code with chatbots to generating sensible map names—while also revealing what AI excels at, where it falls short, and when to leave it out of your toolkit entirely.
Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, join us and, remember: Don't Panic, and always know where your towel is.
Christopher Moravec is the CTO and founder of dymaptic, where he leads a team of skilled professionals in creating innovative GIS and AI solutions. With years of experience in software development and a deep understanding of geospatial technologies, Christopher is known for his ability... Read More →
Thursday April 24, 2025 3:30pm - 5:30pm PDT Auditorium
