So tragic to once again see the winds picking up in SoCal and an active wildfire outbreak to go with them. Two fires erupted overnight in Southern California. The Thomas fire in Ventura County started last night and has burned 45,000 acres and destroyed more than 150 structures. The Creek fire is burning near Sylmar and has prompted officials to evacuate more than 8,000 homes. [Read more…] about Interactive map of the Southern California Wildfires
California
GIS Response to the August 2016 California Wildfires
In late August the Clayton arson fire added yet another chapter to the long-running saga of devastating California blazes. The conflagration destroyed at least 299 structures, including 189 single-family homes, 40 businesses and a range of other structures such as sheds and smaller outbuildings. More than 4,000 people were evacuated in the course of the fire, which raged for several days. It’s no surprise to GIS pros that GIS plays a huge role in the response and aftermath of these devastating fires. FireWhat of Bend, Ore. was called in by CalFire to help in the aftermath and asses the damage . Read on about the role that GIS and geotech helped crunch the data.
GIS professionals help the damage assessment (Source: emergencymgmt.com)
Wondering, Why are California’s high tides higher this year?
If you’ve visited California this fall or perhaps you have friends that live on or near the coast, perhaps you’ve heard stories about the extremely high tides and epic wave action – enter some explanations from NOAA. Californians living on the coast may be used to seeing so-called “King Tides,” a regular phenomenon where high tides are higher than normal on certain days of the year. This winter, King Tides — known to scientists as perigean spring tides — are even higher due to El Niño, causing flooding in low-lying areas of California’s coast.
[Read more…] about Wondering, Why are California’s high tides higher this year?
The Ultimate Story Map for #ESRIUC in 3D from Esri, TomTom and SmarterBetterCities
Here’s something pretty nifty for those of you heading off to the 2015 ESRIUC in San Diego, a venue Story Map in 3D. Wander the virtual San Diego Convention Center and see exactly where the plenary session is located, the Map gallery, you can even locate where the yoga takes place! Spin the map around, tilt it, and view the entire Convention Center in wonderful 3D – it really is awesome!!
Jump directly to the story map HERE or read more about it HERE
San Diego Trolley Map Shows Realignment of Route #ESRIUC
Are you headed to San Diego the week of July 6 (2013) for ESRIUC? If so then take note of this San Diego trolley realignment map shared with my trusty contact Rupert! Great stuff – enjoy your UC! FYI, be sure to consult our GISuser ESRIUC news archive for news and updates!
Need a GIS Job? The Job Board at 2012 #esriuc (sound fixed!)
A popular stop in the exhibition hall at esriuc is always the Job board, a community bulletin board where job seekers and employers can come together. This year, at the 2012 esriuc, the boards were a little smaller than in years past, however, the traffic in front of them was pretty huge. Here’s a quick-look video at the job board.
San Diego Gaslamp Map – Print it or grab it as a PDF Map for iOS while at ESRIUC
Here’s a fine map of the San Diego Gaslamp district for you. Created with local knowledge by Martha and Jim Rodgers, the pair have been maintaining this fine resource for several years now and I’ve been sharing it with you since the start… enjoy! Print out this map or store the PDF on your iPad and bring it with you to locate any restaurant, bar or club in the Gaslamp. The pair being San Diego locals also have some great suggestions for you and highlight a few new must visit places – enjoy and thanks Martha & Jim! See more info Here
Go to www.Gaslampmap.com to download the PDF or view it on your pdf-enabled mobile device – I’ve already got it on my iPad! To help with their bandwidth, we’ve hosted the PDF map file on our server also and you can download the 2 MB PDF Map HERE
NOTE: I felt the gang at Avenza would be interested in this data in order to produce a nice product for users of PDF maps in iOS. Basically, using this version on PDFmaps has more intelligence (like georeferencing – although it hasn’t been field verified yet). The map is now available online in the PDFmaps map inventory and available for free download. Users of PDF Maps can access the map via their iOS device HERE. Need PDF Maps? Get it right here in the iTunes store! Here’s a handy QR code you can also use to grab the map!
Oh, a reminder… bookmark our designated ESRIUC news/feature archive to stay up to speed on the news from San Diego.
What One thing MUST You Pack for #ESRIUC
Esriuc conference week in San Diego is coming at us fast. this is year #14 for yours truly and as a seasoned traveler and veteran visitor to San Diego for UC I know there’s always a couple of things that I would likely freak out if I forgot. So, to help out others, please share with us what your must have item to bring along with you is (make it good, not just socks or shorts…) and for added fun, what one place to drink, eat, or have fun is ALWAYS on your things to do list while in San Diego?
For yours truly I absolutely must have my handy HD flip camera, but I also make sure that I have at least one light, comfy short sleeve button up, dressy, Hawaii’n style shirt. As for places I HAVE to go… I never miss a visit to the Star of India restaurant (no not the sailboat in the harbor) for some killer chicken Tikka and I’ll always try to get to the Strip Club (it’s a steak house beside Dick’s, not that kind of strip club!!) to grill up a piece of Tuna! How about you??
SANmap mapping San Diego Airport
Here’s an interesting, new WMS for those who fly in/out of San Diego airport – A clever ArcGIS Viewer for Flex from SanMap (sanmap.san.org) for San Diego Airport. The app enables users to easily and quickly pan, scroll, and zoom in and out around the San Diego Airport facilities. Click on a terminal; icon and you’ll be presented with a detailed map of the facilities. Hover over any icon to reveal more information like locations of restrooms, checkin areas, the USO, or get hours of operation for restaurants and services – this is a great example of facility mapping as we converge towards more detailed indoor mapping services (the next-gen!)
From the main navigation, users can also have immediate access to parking information and locations, current weather (although isn’t it always 72 and sunny??) , check flight status updates and even print maps.
Santa Clara County slammed with $500K fine for not sharing data
An interesting bit of fall out in California as Santa Clara County has been ordered to pay up for essentially trying to hoard their data and “stick it” to those who want access to it. Fees for data, cost recovery, ownership, public information, national security, you name it, all these points have been brought up at some point in this case (and others that are similar). Of particular interest (and quite laughable) is the fact that the county tried to charge $250K for a “duplication fee” – ya I guess dumping all that data on an external drive is quite labor intensive – and then when that failed they played the national security card. Oh, and also a bit laughable was the fact that in addition to the $250K the purchaser was supposed to sign an NDA and guarantee they would not redistribute the data… ohboy! The result of the county trying to lock-down their data.. they have been ordered to shell out $500,000 to the non-profit org that was seeking the information from them… Dang, that half a mill could have built you on hell of a fine GIS for the tax payers, perhaps the California First Amendment Coalition will take all that cash and invest it in a state of the art GIS and webmapping portal to serve up all that public information… hmmm! take that tax payers! You have to wonder how many counties have the same feeling and seem to have forgotten that the tax payers have paid to collect and distribute that data already. See more on Wired or see the San Jose Mercury News
