The new web application PortGIS Present Conditions takes the most valuable aspects of PortGIS Utilities and builds upon them. With this iteration, our view broadens beyond our utilities infrastructure to gain full comprehension of our surroundings as they currently exist. This new web application brings with it a few enhancements, the largest being the integration of new, more accurate reference points to our engineering drawings. RH, as an intern in the Engineering and Construction department, spent many painstaking hours opening scanned record drawings, identifying the location where the majority of work took place, and creating point(s) so we can quickly and easily access them via a map. The PortGIS Present Conditions web application also brings direct access to these drawings, via a clear and organized structure. If you know the IMP site and the record drawing number, you can get to these drawings directly without finding them in the map. Below is a video where I go through accessing these drawings.

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About a month ago, we were contacted by Dr. Muki Haklay about including an image from a previous %scratchworkspace% post in his upcoming book on Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and GIS. Wikipedia describes Human Computer Interaction as, “the study of interaction between people (users) and computers.” Dr. Haklay’s book focuses on the concept of usability, and the 5 E’s of usability: effective, efficient, engaging, error tolerant and easy to learn.

There is no question that our relationship to computers has changed the way we live our lives. Many of us carry around Blackberrys, own GPS units, have 2 or more computer screens and/or ergonomic keyboards. However, Even before computers entered our lives, we related to text or traditional data differently than maps/geography/geospatial data. Before computers, we related to text through a book; for some reason I envision a 1000 page copy of Tolstoy’s War and Peace as the ultimate method of conveying text.

Before computers, we had databases indexed by number (AKA unique keys).

And we had atlases, globes and wall maps. Physically each of these are drastically different. How hard would it be to read War and Peace if it was printed on a card catalog or a globe?

Computer software and hardware should be designed to make our lives easier. Thinking about HCI as applied to GIS is very interesting combo. At our world-class Port we have concerns like: What is the best way to design GIS software for use on a touch screen in our Harbor Police vehicles? What is the best way to share our aerial photos with AutoCAD users?

We want to congratulate Dr. Haklay, and his fellow authors, on submitting the manuscript for the book “Interacting with Geospatial Technology,” and we are very excited we could play a small part in the book’s success. Most importantly we look forward to reading it and learning from his research.

If you’d like to learn more about the book I suggest reading this post at Dr. Haklay’s personal blog.

You can also preorder it from the Amazon UK site here.

MaldivesPolitics Zen

At the Port of San Diego, our CAD Designers and Mapping Technicians can access our new 2009 4-inch aerials photos within AutoCAD in 2 ways. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. Understanding these pros and cons empower our CAD designers to be more efficient and effective. I suggest any substantial project would be best approached by utilizing both methods.

ArcGIS for AutoCAD- Great for everyday workflow
Pros
fast
access to content on other ArcGIS Servers, including ArcGIS Online
easy to create image with defined extent
Cons
Best resolution not guaranteed at all scales

mapiinsert command – Printing
Pros
best resolution guaranteed at all scales
CAD users more familiar
Cons
slow

As a footnote, it should also be mentioned that ArcGIS for AutoCAD has another powerful component; the ability to create GIS attribute data within AutoCAD. As the PortGIS Program matures it will require us to gain more information about our features which originate in AutoCAD. What is the material/width/flow capacity of this pipe? Collecting this type of attribute data will allow us to 1) display and symbolize this data across the enterprise and 2) do spatial analysis, such as identifying where weaknesses might be in our utility infrastructure.

ArcGIS for AutoCAD can be downloaded from ESRI at the link below.
http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgis-for-autocad/download.html

GeographyHuntingBinLaden Zen
and another

At a past division meeting our newly appointed President/CEO, Charlie Wurster, talked candidly and took questions about his past experiences. He also shared why he is excited to be at the Port of San Diego and expressed his management philosophy and guiding principals. At one point during this informal meeting, Mr. Wurster explained that we have to work closely with our tenants and 5 member cities. He went on to use the following example: if we were to be working with an adjacent government agency to build a new railroad, we would want the tracks to meet properly. Then he held up his hands like two like 2 guns point toward each other and explained that it takes collaboration, clear communication, and experience to accomplish our goals; we need to work closely within our organization and with companies, groups and interests in our region.

GIS will undoubtedly play a role in this type of effort, not only in support of our Engineers, CAD Designers, Construction Inspectors, Landuse Planners and the myriad of other in-house professionals at the Port of San Diego, but also as a means to share geographic information as a business process.

We are currently implementing this approach within the port through the PortGIS Program. Our CAD designers are responsible to create, update, and manage our utilities data. This data is then shared, as a service, through GIS based websites and across the enterprise to General Services, Real Estate, Harbor Police, Marine Operations and any other Port Employee who depends on this data. Our CAD Designers are the “owners” of the utilities data. In turn, we are working with our Land Use Planning Department to collect data to share it across the enterprise in the same fashion.

Sharing GIS data in this way is a fairly new concept, but it has been embraced with enthusiasm at many federal and state agencies. Below is a video of Jack Dangermond’s recent presentation at the Gov 2.0 Summit about how this integration will streamline the way we use, view, and share GIS data. He outlines a vision of how “owners” of data can share data between agencies. As the purveyors of spatial data, whether it be lease information such as renewal dates, police dispatch data, pollution numbers and statistics, it is important we embrace this vision as we work within our organization and interact with outside entities.

According to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s Federal Enterprise Architecture framework, 74 percent of government data is location based. At the state and local level the number is even higher – 80 percent – according to several organizations and publications.

Our region is a complex amalgamation of overlapping and intersecting interests. Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), California Coastal Commission and CalTrans each manage infrastructure and services. Local regulated utilities like San Diego Gas and Electric (SDGE) and Cox Communications have business interests and easements. Both the San Diego Convention Center and the San Diego County Airport Authority (SDCAA) manage tenants independently of the Port and are both undergoing their own respective land use planning efforts. Our 5 neighboring cities and the county manage parcel boundaries and tax information. And with a population of 1.3 million people, the City of San Diego manages a myriad of services, with which we work closely on a daily basis.

As GIS data services flow down from the federal and state government we will also embrace GIS Services as a method to share and collaborate. As governmental agencies, we each have a stake in managing our geographic interests in the most cost efficient and effective means possible. At the Port of San Diego we should begin with the end in mind. We should work towards Mr. Wurster’s goal of full integration so our geographic data flows seamlessly through GIS services, both between departments at the Port of San Diego and between the Port and the wide variety of agencies which effect our workflow.

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Requires this first
or just watch a video

“Hi Ari,

I attended your presentation at the UC last month which I found very interesting, and spoke to you briefly afterwards. I wondered if you’d be able to answer a couple of questions I have about your ArcGIS Server implementation. We are going through the implementation process ourselves at the moment. Our scope is global although right now we’re focused on data that is within the UTM Zone 10 area in southwest BC.

Do you still keep data files on your network? We anticipate that our network will be required for working shapefiles, MXDs, etc. But I’ve also learned that to publish MXDs the data within them has to have a UNC filepath, not a mapped drive. Is that the kind of setup you have? Because the data will be stored in single features classes for multiple projects and clients I anticipate having to create a lot of LYR files.

I am also interested in knowing more about how you deal with CAD data. We have been able to generate a test map service that included some basemap CAD topo, but I’m still not clear on the full power of integrating our CAD data. Our SDE database will have WGS84 projected data, and our CAD is mostly NAD83 UTM (e.g. zone 10). I think you mentioned you can edit CAD data directly within SDE or a map service – is that correct? Did you create any customization to do that?

If you have any time to get back to me with advice on those questions, or any other tips, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Kieran
……………………………………………….
Kieran Smith, M.Sc.
GIS Analyst
Knight Piésold Ltd. “

So you’ve just used the PortGIS Program to figure out the distance across Harbor drive is about 66 ft, or you’ve used the streetview tool to identify the utility box which needs to be repaired. But now you want to share this information through email or in a word document. Below is a video showing an easy technique to take a screenshot and do some minor graphic design work. This is only for non-presentation quality maps. If you need a map to include in a report or presentation please contact the proper engineer, architecture  and mapping technician, or the GIS Group. I find this technique saves me time and is more accurate than trying to portray the same information in words. You can also use Snagit instead of Microsoft Paint.

distance across Harbor drive by the B Street Pier is about 66 ft

utility box which needs to be repaired

AmazingInaugurationDayPhoneCallMap Zen

Malcolm Meikle and I have been offered the opportunity to present at the 2009 ESRI Users Conference. We will present our paper, “Creating an Enterprise GIS at the Unified Port of San Diego” alongside Fei Wang of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles and Reagan Airports in the Washington D.C. Area. Below is a link to the session details.

The focus of our presentation will be the technical details associated with implementing the PortGIS program. Here at %scratchworkspace%, we would like to further elaborate on the philosophy and concepts which drive the PortGIS program.

“How … can port managers and engineers best identify and prioritize projects among competing demands? We believe the key to successful port engineering is the integration of vital infrastructure information in a robust and functioning Geographic Information Sytstem (GIS). Regardless of the type of port facilities, similar basic facilities data is maintained, often in hard copy format only. Property surveys, facility base maps, soil-boring data, building plans and facility as-built drawings are fairly common types of records maintained by port engineers. All of such data can be reference and tied together using a spatial context – thus creating a geographic port data framework.

Applying an integrated GIS to a port offers facility management professionals the opportunity to catalog this disparate information using established standard and data conventions. The cataloged data can then be managed according to parameters set by the users to provide better integration of information and yield better decision support products. Information is no longer fragmented or isolated, and multiple data types and scales start providing critical and usable correlations to support both short-range and long-term decision making processes.”

From the book: Application of GIS Technologies in Port Facilities and Operations Management
Neal T. Wright and Jaewan Yoon
American Society of Civil Engineers
Ports and Harbors Committee

By using geography/place/location as the common factor it will allow us to bring together data that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to integrate. These tools have been available for a long time through proprietary, expensive and hard-to-learn GIS software. The ubiquitous nature of the internet and the web browser has given us the platform to share this data across the enterprise, touching every Port employee and every Port computer through a wide variety of clients, including ArcGIS Software, ArcGIS for AutoCAD, Mobile Devices or a plain-vanilla web browser.

The Dewy-Decimal System and our Port Geographic Information System (PortGIS) are used to answer questions, or in computer lingo-make a “request”. “Where are Vietnamese Cooking books?” is analogous to; “Show me the aerial photo for Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal?” The server works on the question and sends a “response”, or answer to our question. In our example the answer is the image which renders on your screen.

Our goal is to assist in streamlining the workflow at the Port of San Diego by identifying the tasks/questions/requests which are most advantageous to approach from a geographic perspective. By customizing the GIS interface we intend to empower all Port employees to independently accomplish substantial and consequential geography-based work.

Managing and Expanding an Enterprise GIS Session at the 2009 ESRI User Conference Details
http://events.esri.com/uc/2009/infoWeb/OnlineAgenda/index.cfm?fa=ofg_details_form&ScheduleID=222

NaturalResourcesbyCountry Zen

]]> http://posdgis.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/port-of-san-diego-presenting-at-the-esri-user-conference-2009/feed/ 1 Ari Isaak http://posdgis.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/introducing-the-2009aerialsfourinch-service/ http://posdgis.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/introducing-the-2009aerialsfourinch-service/#comments Fri, 29 May 2009 18:00:45 +0000 Ari Isaak http://posdgis.wordpress.com/?p=454 ]]>

Aerials are an integral part of any well rounded Geographic Information System. Aerials can be used as a great base to provide a context for other data, as part of a quality control effort, or as the source to create new data.

Our new 2009 aerials were flown between 11:20AM and 12:30PM on April 17th, 2009. They are 4 inch resolution meaning each pixel correlates to 4 inches by 4 inches (16 square inches) on the ground. Our new aerials are the highest quality I have ever worked with. They are on-par with the best aerials available today. Below is a table comparing some of the variables between the 3 main aerials we use here at the Port.

Below are 2 images showing measurements of one side of each pixel.

2005 Pixel Measurement

2009 Pixel Measurement

This is all great, but how does this correlate to the real world? Below are the 3 images of the Administration Building Parking lot. As you know the parking lot was recently repaved and reorganized.

March 2008 .3 Meter Resolution

2005 Half Foot Resolution

April 2009 Four Inch Resolution

Along with our parking lot there have been other changes on or around the Port tidelands since 2005, including the new Hilton between the Convention Center and Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.

Left 2005 - Right 2009

We have set up a web application where Port employees can examine the new aerial photos. You can get to this web application by clicking on the 2009 Aerials button at the PortGIS Resource Center. They are much larger images and therefore take a second or two more to render on your screen. Feel free to turn on and off layers in the “Map Contents” area. We hope to include them in the other PortGIS applications shortly.

CoolOldMap Zen

We have all used Google Maps and Google Earth with amazement. Google has done an incredible job of creating engaging and easy-to-use geography visualization tools. Streetview, a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth,  provides a 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic views from a row of positions along streets throughout the world. The Streetview images were collected by a camera mounted on a car or truck; therefore, the images are limited to streets. Below VS (See Docs: 315612) shows us how to use Streetview from within our PortGIS Explorer Web Application.

Data collection is the hardest part of any GIS. Google has collected an incredible amount of ground level information as geospatially referenced images. At the Port, this tool can be used to identify an unfamiliar area or be used as part of QAQC process, but the real functionality comes across when we combine Streetview images and our Port data, such as the TidelandsMapbook2007. For example, with this tool in their arsenal our Land Use Planning Department can explore areas before construction or demolition takes place. Without switching to another system, they could also research adjacent tenants, their frontage, and when their lease agreements expire.

We also wrote a blog post on how to use Streetview from within the Harbor Police Desktop Application based on ArcGIS Explorer. We want to thank ESRI, and the tool’s author, for making it available to the public through ESRI’s .Net ADF Code Gallery. See the links below to learn more about these topics

Streetview in PortGIS Harbor Police desktop Application
http://posdgis.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/the-streetviewer-custom-task/

More information about implementing this tool:
http://resources.esri.com/arcgisserver/adf/dotnet/index.cfm?fa=codeGalleryDetails&scriptID=15788

GoogleStreetViewWeddingProposal Zen

Our PortGIS Utilities Web Application is a useful tool to share our data created in AutoCAD throughout the Port. The data shown is held and managed as .dwg files, which are primarily accessible only by the Civil Designers in our Engineering Department. The output of much of their work are blueprints. It is a reasonable notion to assume that GIS based maps and blueprints can easily be integrated, after all they both show spatial relationships. In order to bring CAD data into GIS our CAD users must follow both CAD and GIS standards. Using CAD data within GIS  is one of the great obstacles we as GIS professionals work to overcome. We are tackling this obstacle 2 different ways 1) We have created a folder, dubbed “the vault” , where CAD data follows GIS standards and 2) We have created a GIS feature and a link to the digital blueprint. This video below shows how we have addressed both of these methods and goes into detail on how to track down blueprints, as PDFs, for projects within Port Tidelands.

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