GIS Day 2015 - Agenda Announced

AGENDA

8:15 - Arrival at Marina Education Center - free Parking - Registration
8:30 - Coffee Breakfast - Networking
8:45 - Welcome: MPC President & Vice President, CCJDC Chair

9:00 Oral Pres 1 - Levey & Hughes: Mapping the implications of low oxygen (hypoxia) on available habitat for select species of flatfish in Elkhorn Slough
9:15 Oral Pres 2 - Endris & Aiello: Using Image Classification to Assess Marsh Sustainability in Elkhorn Slough, CA
9:30 Oral Pres 3-McCann STOQS: The Spatial Temporal Oceanographic Query System
9:45 Oral Pres 4- Shipton Using Maps: From underwater sonars to bike riding

10:00 Break-Networking

10:15 Oral Pres 5- Adelaars: Santa Cruz and Monterey County Sea Level Rise Adaptation and Planning Project
10:30 Oral Pres 6- De Beukelaer: Using Maps and Apps to explore the resources of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
10:45 Oral Pres 7- Peterson: Geospatial Data in the National Weather Service
11:00 Oral Pres 8-UAV Demo- Maher: Live demonstration of a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS)

12:00 Lunch Break-Networking

12:45 Poster Presentations-Networking: (Subcommittee Education members as judges)

Poster 1- Bassett & Martinez: GIS for Community Building and Confronting Food Security
Poster 2- Walton, Garcia-Garcia & Endris: Potential Marine Benthic Habitat Map of Elkhorn Slough, California
Poster 3- Alex Nereson and Noah Finnegan: The spatial distribution, persistence, and landscape impacts of earthflows in the California Coast Ranges
Poster 4- Kaitlyn Chow, Laura Luna, Doug Smith: From Trail to Sky: Moving away from terrestrial surveys to low elevation photogrammetry for ultraprecise erosion studies
Poster 5- Carroll, Maher & Endris: UAV Applications for High Resolution Remote Sensing
Poster 6- Chapman, Garcia-Garcia, Shipton, Eby & Levey: Mapping Gas in Sediments: Elkhorn Slough
Poster 7- Schweisinger: Making Maps using Data Driven Tables
Poster 8-Tsolis: TBA

14:15 Poster Winners

Thank You & Farewell from CCJDC Chair - Until next year!


PRESENTATIONS

Santa Cruz and Monterey County Sea Level Rise Adaptation and Planning Project

Jason Adelaars - Central Coast Wetlands Group

Current projections of climate change induced sea level rise around the Monterey Bay area suggests broad socioeconomic and environmental impacts to coastal cliffs and dunes, as well as agricultural land and developed tourist centers. To evaluate and quantify these potential impacts the Central Coast Wetlands Group and partners collaborated on a regional GIS analysis that incorporated land-use, infrastructure, building footprints, agricultural land, etc; along with extents of predicted cliff erosion, dune erosion, tidal inundation, and coastal flooding at 2030, 2060, and 2100 time horizons. In an effort to reproduce results and refine the methods throughout the project, we used Python geoprocessing techniques to rapidly evaluate input layers and calculate summary statistics by jurisdiction. The results will be disseminated to local planning agencies to inform their Local Coastal Plans and other planning documents. The subject of this talk will be to present the input layers and analysis methods; and display some results to the group.

We would be interested in getting feedback on the presentation of results. If you have feedback please contact Jason Adelaars (jadelaars@mlml.calstate.edu).

Mapping the implications of low oxygen (hypoxia) on available habitat for select species of flatfish in Elkhorn Slough

Matt Levey - Seaspatial Consulting

Brent Hughes- University of California Santa Cruz

Elkhorn Slough, a highly eutrophic estuary in central California, was assessed for hypoxia and its effects on two species of common flatfish found there. Available habitat for English sole (Parophrysvetulus) and speckled sand dabs (Citharichthysstigmaeus) during three different climatic regimes was determined using spatial analysis of twenty-three years of dissolved oxygen(DO) data from up to 22 sampling sites in Elkhorn Slough. Habitat availability was based on a logistic regression model correlating DO (mg/L) and flatfish presence or absence to generate a probability of occurrence model. Climatic regimes were determined by a three-month moving average of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index. To simplify the management and analysis of the 250+ month dataset Python, ArcPy, and Numpy scripting tools and modules were employed. Results indicate ENSO condition influenced flatfish habitat availability in Elkhorn Slough. Areas of low water turnover due to restrictions such as dykes had the lowest levels of DO and thus were the least likely to be available as habitat. Results from this study demonstrate the practical application of using spatial analysis with probability models to assess nursery conditions of coastal ecosystems.

STOQS - The Spatial Temporal Oceanographic Query System

Mike McCann - Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

STOQS is a free and open source geospatial database software package designed to provide efficient access to in situ oceanographic measurement data. It incorporates both 2D and 3D spatial data visualization capabilities in a standard web browser. This presentation with give an overview of the package and how the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute uses it to help understand data collected from the ocean.

Geospatial Data in the National Weather Service

Drew Peterson - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

A brief presentation showcasing the vital role that geospatial data plays in the numerical weather forecast process utilized by meteorologists, hydrologists, and climatologists within the National Weather Service. This will include a look at the connection between geography and weather, the visualization of remote sensing and observational data, the role of spatial and temporal data in numerical weather models, how a gridded weather forecast is created, and the dissemination of geospatial information to the public.

Using Maps and Apps to explore the resources of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Sophie De Beukelaer, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Virtually connecting to apps such as Seaphoto, Experience California and Whale Alert allows beach goers, students, researchers, teachers and others, to not just view a wealth of information but also contribute valuable information to manage natural resources of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries also builds customized Esri Story Maps to illustrate remarkable projects happening in California. This presentation will also showcase an online mapping tool that integrates static and real-time data to address environmental response programs. The presentation will conclude by highlighting useful ArcGIS Server-based map services provided by NOAA.

Using Image Classification to Assess Marsh Sustainability in Elkhorn Slough, CA

Charlie Endris - Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

Ivano Alello - Moss Landing Marine Labs

Using the ArcGIS Image Classification toolset and aerial imagery collected from three time periods (2004, 2008, 2012) in Elkhorn Slough, we have documented patterns of marsh vegetation loss and gain that are relevant to current studies assessing marsh sustainability. At Elkhorn Slough, approximately 36% of coastal marsh vegetation has been lost to marsh drowning between 1931 and 2000 (Van Dyke and Wasson 2005). Since Sarcocorniapacificia (the dominant plant in California salt marshes) is highly susceptible to changes in elevation and/or sea level rise, its recent changes in geographic extent can be used as a proxy in guiding studies related to physical factors (e.g. sediment supply and delivery) as well as biological factors (e.g. crab burrowing and salt panne/creek development) on marsh variability. This presentation will summarize the methods used to run a semi-automated marsh classification, the results of the classification in Elkhorn Slough, and the current studies using the results.

Using Maps - From underwater sonars to bike riding

Geoff Shipton - Triton Imaging Inc.

An original journey from mapping underwater structures and geology offshore for years to using the latest tricks of Google Earth to map trips on the road.

Live demonstration of a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS)

Norman Maher - Tahoe maps

We will demonstrate launching, flying a mission, and landing of a small unmanned fixed wing aircraft (weather permitting). The sUAS will collect overlapping photos along pre-determined flight lines. The photos will then be processed to produce an orthorectified image mosaic and digital surface model (DSM). The processed data will be made available to anyone interested, within a few days following the demonstration.


POSTERS

GIS for Community Building and Confronting Food Security

Sophia Bassett - University of California, Santa Cruz

Jacob Martinez - Digital Nest

UC Santa Cruz’s Everett Program and Digital NEST spent the summer and fall integrating GIS with food justice in South Santa Cruz County. This presentation will cover work by local students in collecting, analyzing, and displaying food access data through GIS. Through this participatory action research, students are directly engaged in policy issues and capacity-building to address their own community issues. We will address strategies and methods for integrating social justice research with digital mapping.

Potential Marine Benthic Habitat Map of Elkhorn Slough, California

Katherine Walton - University of California, Santa Cruz

Ana Garcia-Garcia - Monterey Peninsula College

Charlie Endris - Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

While marine benthic habitat maps have been created for a big portion of California’s coastline, the Elkhorn Slough Reserve lacks one. We have tentatively mapped its types of seafloor using a well-known classification system, which includes various types of large-scale and small-scale features, bottom in duration,vegetation, surface texture, and slope. Seismic lines and sediment cores were collected to create the map.CSUMB’s Seafloor Mapping Lab as well as the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve provided bathymetry, raster files, and shapefiles to be incorporated into the project. We divided the Slough into three main sections: the Lower, Central, and Upper Slough. Sand sediments were found in the Lower Slough, which is a high-energy environment, whilst mud or silt sediments dominated the rest of the Slough. Five classification categories were used to describe the Slough’s seafloor: flat sand sediments, sloped sand sediments,flat mud sediments, sloped mud sediments, and eelgrass on sandy sediment. Bathymetry data was used to discuss the Slough’s sediment erosion and accretion. This preliminary map can be used to understand the location of various marine habitats, which is important for the wildlife conservation and planning efforts in the Slough.

The spatial distribution, persistence, and landscape impacts of earthflows in the California Coast Ranges

Alex Nereson, Noah Finnegan - University of California Santa Cruz

Slow-moving landslides, or earth flows, play an important role in shaping the landscapes of the California Coast Ranges and present challenges to both the development of infrastructure projects and the management of water quality. We use spatial analyses to better describe these geomorphic features and constrain the physical processes responsible for their distribution and behavior.

From Trail to Sky - Moving away from terrestrial surveys to low elevation photogrammetry for ultra-precise erosion studies

Kaitlyn Chow, Laura Luna, Doug Smith - Watershed Institute, Division of Science and Environmental policy, CSUMB

At Hollister Hills off-highway vehicle park, trail erosion studies have typically be done by surveying many small trail segments annually with a robotic total station to assess a visual trail assessment protocol. The study includes eighteen trailsites with varying substrates (clay and granitic soils), usage (Road, ATV, and Single-Track),and slope. This year, we used very-low-altitude photos combined with a Structure-from-Motion, photogrammetric software as a way to decrease costs and to increase areal coverage in the survey sites. Eighteen photogrammetric DEMs were created in A gisoftPhotoscan (v 1.1) with RMS errors on georeferenced points ranging from 14 - 60 mm, point density ranging from 20 - 18,000 points/m2, and with an overall, average elevation change of 27 mm. DEMs from previous years were subtracted in ArcMap to quantify the average elevation change for each site and to assess the spatial patterns of erosion and deposition. Maps created from theresulting data sets visually express the changes. The benefits of photogrammetry over robotic total station data include higher 3D resolution,broader areal extent, a seamless orthophoto. Conversely, there is more analysis time required to create a photogrammetric DEM.

UAV Applications for High Resolution Remote Sensing

Julian Carroll - University of California Santa Cruz

Norman Maher - Tahoe Maps

Charlie Endris - Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

We’ll discuss in detail the use of personal UAV aircraft for high resolution remote sensing surveys. Data will be shown from surveys done in the Elkhorn Slough. The focus of this presentation will be on the ease of use and the accuracy of the data sets, with a goal of introducing UAVs as alternatives to traditional data gathering.

Mapping Gas in Sediments: Elkhorn Slough

Brendan Chapman - University of California Santa Cruz

Ana Garcia-Garcia - Monterey Peninsula College

Geoff Shipton - Triton Imaging Inc.

Ron Eby - Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

Matt Levey - SeaSpatial Consulting

The occurrence of shallow gas in coastal environments is not uncommon. In central California, the Elkhorn Slough has been recently studied through seismic analysis, in order to acquire an understanding of its infill during the last thousands of years. Within those seismic units, the occurrence of gas is widespread in the central and upper slough. The depth of these gas pockets range from 5m below the channel floor to almost the surface. In a few areas,there is also strong evidence of gas seepage directly above the interpreted gas pockets. A few push corers were recently taken to ground truth the seismic data.We map and discuss these gas accumulations and seepages, and their implicationsin this fragile environment.

TBA

John Schweisinger - TurfImage Geospatial

TBA

Kristen Tsolis - NPS