Nicholas De Monchaux

Local Code : Real Estates Proposal

Location : Major US Cities with city-owned abandoned lots, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC. Case study developed for San Francisco.

Local Code uses geospatial analysis to identify thousands of publicly owned abandoned sites in major US cities, imagining this distributed, vacant landscape as a new urban system. Using parametric design, a landscape proposal for each site is tailored to local conditions, optimizing thermal and hydrological performance to enhance the whole city’s ecology—and relieving burdens on existing infrastructure. Local Code’s quantifiable effects on energy usage and stormwater remediation eradicate the need for more expensive, yet invisible, sewer and electrical upgrades. In addition, the project uses citizen participation to conceive a new, more public infrastructure as well —a robust network of urban greenways with tangible benefits to the health and safety of every citizen.

Nathan McClintock

Cultivating the Commons: Urban Ag's Potential in Oakland

Cultivating the Commons is a n inventory of open space with potential for agricultural production on land both owned by public agencies and within the city limits of Oakland, California. The inventory was conducted between the summer of 2008 and spring of 2009 and is part of an ongoing movement to develop a more resilient, sustainable, and just food system in Oakland. This project aims to locate Oakland’s “commons”—land that is owned by public agencies and therefore a public resource—and assess the potential for urban agriculture (UA) on this land. We hope that this assessment can be used 1) to inform policy decisions that concern Oakland’s food, health, and environmental quality, and 2) by non-profit organizations and city officials as a tool with which to identify potential sites for UA programs.

Ron Ondrejka

Satellite Remote Sensing & Mapping Systems for National Security (1960-1983)

A brief overview by Ron Ondrejka, former Project Photogrammetrist for the imaging and mapping systems on CORONA, LANYARD, and KH-9 "Big Bird" (MAPPER). 1960-1983

In 1952 the Soviets tested a hydrogen bomb. In August '57 they successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile and orbited the SPUTNIK satellite in October of that year. In February of 1960 the CIA predicted the Russians would probably be capable of putting 140-200 ICBM's on launches by mid-1961. In May of '60 they shot down our U-2 spy plane and we were "blind" again.

We had a "missile-gap" and were without a reliable information source about the capabilities and intent of the USSR. What did they have and where was it? A massive TOP SECRET military GIS was needed. In August of 1960 we orbited our 1st successful imaging satellite...the photo-optical CORONA system and we were in business.

The presentation describes the early imaging satellites with emphasis on their contributions to mapping and targeting. A reminder. We had no computers for spacecraft or payload design of CORONA, no computers for navigation and commands, and no computers for the early years of producing maps.

Ray DeLeon

GIS Corps - Volunteer Based GIS Services to Underprivileged Communities

Since 2003, the GIS Corps has been coordinating short-term, volunteer based GIS services worldwide to support humanitarian relief, humans rights efforts, environmental analysis, economic development, community planning, health and education and help strengthen local GIS capacity. This presentation will showcase past projects and highlight current opportunities for future volunteers, from entry level to advance professionals.

Jeff Surry

Mobile mapping technology integrating Laser Scanning, GPS,inertial measuring,and imagery

Presentation of the latest mobile mapping technology integrating Laser Scanning, GPS,inertial measuring,and imagery. GIS data accurate to 5 centimeters can be collected while driving 65 mph.

Silas Toms

Using Spatialite and Python to add a spatial database backend to Google Earth

Spatialite (the spatial extension to SQLite databases) and the Python programming language are both Free and Open Source technologies that are finding many uses within GIS. This talk will describe a useful application of the two technologies: enabling interactions between Google Earth and a spatial database to automatically generate KMLs. Previous programming and database experience is helpful but not required.

Chris Nicholas

Technical overview of the new UN-SPIDER knowledge portal

Technical overview of the new UN-SPIDER knowledge portal effort, as per: http://www.un-spider.org, its position relative to GEOSS, and various other United Nations, USAID, and EU efforts currently underway.

Bruce Joffe

Are County GIS Basemaps Public Record?

Are County GIS Basemaps Public Record? Over the last few years the scope of California's Public Records Act has been analyzed by the courts to determine if Santa Clara County's GIS parcel basemap is subject to public record distribution requirements (public agencies can charge no more than direct cost of duplication). The California Superior Court said it was. Then, the County appealed. Now, the California Appeals Court affirmed the decision. Hear what the implications are for counties in California and throughout the country; learn about the Homeland Security and copyright issues.

Ruth Askevold

Clues on the Map: Using Historical Maps to Recreate California Indigenous Landscapes in a GIS

Historical maps and narrative accounts of the San Francisco Bay area hold clues about the landscapes inhabited by California's indigenous peoples before Euro-American colonization. But because these maps and descriptions were created to protect colonial interests—and are not simply objective mirrors of what existed—they reflect the biases and perspectives of those who made them. Mapping practices included replacing California's Indian and Spanish/Mexican place names with new place names, imposing township and range lines over natural features, and using precision surveying techniques that replaced more descriptive maps. In this way, cartographers attempted to overwrite tribal environmental and cultural knowledge and impose a new order on the land.

This presentation examines how the Historical Ecology Program at the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) uses maps in a GIS to reconstruct historical landscapes, and how using these maps can help us understand native land management and landscape conditions at the time of colonization. SFEI’s approach includes georeferencing historical maps and textual data (explorer's narratives, newspaper accounts, and related map attributes) and allows for multiple interpretations of sources, as maps are combined and recombined in a GIS. Through examples from various San Francisco Bay Area watershed-based projects designed to support environmental restoration and management, I show how we can find clues on maps and traces on the land that allow us to consider native land management practices. Additional methods such as interviews with tribal members and large- scale eco-archaeological research are also considered.

This presentation has been endorsed by the Indigenous Mapping Network.

Steve Spiker

Social Justice Goes Geospatial: How nonprofits can use GIS to build healthy, safe communities

Urban Strategies is a nonprofit intermediary that supports community change efforts to build healthy, vibrant neighborhoods. We have a strong research and technology team and use GIS heavily to empower low income communities of color, promoting data-driven decision making processes in local government and to aid resident groups and community building partners to access information on their communities. We use web mapping and data warehouses to further our goal of data democratization and also provide training to nonprofits and community groups on the use of GIS in their efforts. We conduct advanced spatial analysis to help health services understand their users/communities and study accessibility of government services. We use GIS to examine the changes in our social fabric and to help people understand the issues of development, community safety, population migration and economic security. Social Justice is about empowering people and GIS is a powerful tool for this goal!