WLIA 2017 Fall Regional

Special interest group meeting locations will be announced at registration.

This talk will discuss the reason for creation of this task force and how it will be structured. The chair of the task force may be on hand to discuss any relevant topics such as: Define a process in which the taskforce will select a nominee to be appointed to the 911 Subcommittee, report to WLIA on happenings in the 911 subcommittee, support the appointed member of the 911 Subcommittee, and perform outreach to groups, organizations and individuals who need or have relevant information regarding NextGen 911.

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Study was conducted to identify high-crash corridors and intersections within the LAPC planning area and recommend countermeasures to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians in those areas. Crashes are analyzed as a matter of course when corridor studies are conducted, but crashes are generally broken down as rear-end crashes, angle crashes, left-turn crashes, etc. Vulnerable users are mostly considered only in bicycle and pedestrian safety and modal plans. The study relied heavily on motor vehicle crash and count data obtained from the state DOTs and bicycle and pedestrian crossing count data obtained by LAPC staff. In order to compare intersections with varying attributes, a formula was developed to assign a crash value to each intersection. The result was that one of our major north-south facilities — Hwy. 35/West Ave., which was reconstructed in 2008 for traffic safety reasons — is now one of the least safe facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians. While the number of motor vehicle crashes decreased by 11 percent between the five years prior to the project (2003-2007) and the five years of this study (2011- 2015), bicycle and pedestrian crashes increased 36 percent. This facility also includes five of the six identified high-crash intersections for bicyclists and pedestrians in the region.

Determining the exact location of the boundaries between states can be a challenge — especially those with water bodies serving as boundaries. The majority of Wisconsin’s Westerly boundary is the main channel of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. Since that line was established nearly 170 years ago, the exact location of the state boundary has become clouded, creating difficulty and turmoil for entities that need to know exactly where that line is. In this session you will find out how our boundary came to be, how it got “lost,” situations where exact location is needed and how it might be clearly defined and established again.

Accurate school district boundary information is important for realtors and home buyers, critical for the determination of state and federal aids, and vital for taxation and voting purposes. The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) manages the boundary change process and has the authority and responsibility to issue boundary change orders to county and municipal clerks and to inform the federal Census of district boundary changes. State efforts now underway to collect parcel information and boundary maps from the counties through WISE-Decade may create a valuable resource for government officials and members of the public in the future. This presentation will include an overview of boundary change options, describe the resources available from the DPI to help county officials resolve school district boundary questions, and identify the role of state and county officials in recording, and mapping, school district boundary changes.

The multi-entity Wisconsin Regional Orthophotography Consortium (WROC) allows counties and other agencies involved in the program an efficient and collaborative means of collecting and sharing important imagery, elevation, and mapping data throughout the State of Wisconsin. Operating in five-year cycles, WROC is now approaching its sixth rotation and has increased participation, streamlined its processes, and expanded the amount of digital orthophotography and elevation data gleaned with each passing cycle. Participation has grown from seven entities in 1995 to 78 in 2015 – touching every corner of the state and allowing for an unprecedented amount of available data. The WROC team, along with its members and partners, acquired and processed nearly 45,000 square miles of high-resolution orthoimagery and over 15,000 square miles of aerial LiDAR throughout the state in the 2014-15 flying season alone. This presentation will outline the benefits, check in on the current status, and predict future developments of the WROC program as it steamrolls towards 2020.

Vernon County had a need to create an improved administrative PL566 dam breach flood boundary data layer. The 2010 LiDAR data, dam breach analyses performed by Ayres in 1995, and several ArcHydro tools were used to create this GIS data layer. The presentation will cover the general steps involved and several lessons learned during the process.

Almost three years ago Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) gained legal authorization for commercial applications in the US. Since then, thousands of companies are realizing first hand that along with the promising capabilities of UAS technology, there are also important limitations to consider. Industry pioneer, Peter Menet will discuss both the successes and challenges he’s experienced working with UAS technology every day for the past three years.

Adoption of the US National Grid (USNG) continues to grow. It is imperative that all state, regional, and local government agencies implement it by developing map products and providing training in their use to increase geospatial interoperability across jurisdictions. Fundamentally, this is about teaching people the basic skills of map reading and land navigation. In many ways, the value of those basic skills has been lost among all the technical sophistication of GIS. Furthermore, the need for a standardized location referencing system can be easily demonstrated through the pervasive availability of GPS on cell phones. Demonstrating the wide array of coordinate systems, notations, and conventions available for GPS location display quickly leads to a conversation about the need for standardization. This presentation will cover the basic concepts of the USNG, its foundation and importance as a National standard, and provide practical examples of its many benefits.

The Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) Highway Division is responsible for maintaining more than 2,000 lane-miles of county, state, and interstate highways. Work along these roadways includes plowing, mowing, pavement repair, lighting, traffic signals, signage, and painting. The department is collecting GIS data through a variety of techniques and integrating it into Cityworks asset management software to track work orders, map work completed, and bill various parties for work performed. This presentation goes through the various methods used to collect data as well as the unique customizations needed to generate efficient and accurate billing reports.

Special interest group meeting locations will be announced at registration.

Special interest group meeting locations will be announced at registration.

There are many different platforms that can be used to collect data for high accuracy mapping projects. These include terrestrial LiDAR, mobile LiDAR, aerial LiDAR (fixed wing and helicopter) and traditional photogrammetry. On many occasions, no single platform can meet all of a project’s needs. Utilizing multiple acquisition platforms and technologies to secure data for a single project has proven to be a safe, cost effective and schedule friendly alternative for our transportation clients and is becoming more common. There are both advantages and disadvantages to a multiplatform approach. Some advantages include a cost savings for clients, achieving high accuracies in key locations of large project areas, and capturing a more complete coverage footprint by reduction of obscured areas. Integrating multiple technologies, the secondary collection platform often compliments and expands the coverage within areas found to be impenetrable in the primary acquisition dataset. The down side to a multiple technology approach is the challenges associated with the merging of the different data sets to create a seamless product. These can include mismatches in the calibration or alignment of the different data sets; gaps, overlaps, issues caused by different collection times; and multiple resolutions causing variations in surface models. These challenges can be overcome by upfront coordination with the design team to thoroughly understand their requirements and expectations and with well-coordinated mission planning and data collection. In this presentation, we will explore the advantages and challenges in which multiple technologies were used for a single deliverable for transportation projects.

This session will look at currently available tools within ArcGIS Desktop and Esri’s Local Government Information Model that can be used to update and maintain site addresses points and road centerline data. Take control of your address data and be prepared for what’s coming.

Van Der Wielen will discuss all aspects of local and legislative redistricting in Wisconsin. He will also give an update on statewide municipal ward collections.

The 2020 Census is fast approaching, and the first Geographic Partnership opportunity that the Census Bureau offers to local governments is the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) operation. LUCA is an opportunity for tribal, state, county, and local governments to compare their address list with the Census Bureau’s Master Address File (MAF) to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the Census address list that will be used in 2020 Census operations. This 30 minute presentation will introduce and explain the program, define participation methods, and give a brief overview of the LUCA operation. A question and answer period will follow.

Panelists: Jeff DuMez, GIS Coordinator/LIO, Brown County; Mike Friis, Program Manager, Wisconsin Land Information Program and Wisconsin Coastal Management Program; David Hart, Assistant Director for Extension, UW Sea Grant; Andrew Struck, Ozaukee County; Scott Galetka, Land Records Administrator, Bayfield County

Coastal grants and outreach play an important role in the development of land information in Wisconsin. This panel discussion will cover the type of funding available to address coastal data needs and issues, as well as the range of NOAA-funded partnerships that operate in coastal states. The panelists will also cover how coastal grants programs fit within the framework of WLIA and how these grants benefit various sectors of the land information community.