BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION THE

Volume 2, issue 2 FALL 2008

IN THIS ISSUE: n IMMERSIVE 3D SIMULATOR-BASED GIS: SHARING THE 3D EXPERIENCe ...... 3

n California Broadband Task Force: Mapping the State of Connectivity...... 5

n Migrating to New Web-based Geo-technologies for Forest Monitoring in the Bay AREA...... 7

n GIS EDUCATION AROUND THE BAY AREA: San Francisco State University and the Institute for Geographic Information Science...... 15

n ANNOUNCING BAAMA’S 2009 EDUCATIONAL AWARD...... 14 BAAMA.ORG

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

I have been contemplating recent geospatial news and activities that have caught my at- tention. Technology advancements have a huge impact on us as geospatial practitioners, and on our management’s expectation of what is possible. The core geospatial data sets that are being captured and processed are amazing. A recent news bulletin heralded the successful launch of the world’s highest resolution, com- mercial Earth-imaging satellite. The advancements of LiDAR aircraft- and vehicle-based point cloud data capture techniques brings natural and man-made features to life in our GIS platforms. The resolution and accuracy of image acquisition continues to increase as does demand by end users. We are talking about massive data sets. Conversely, the smart phone revolution forges ahead to place smaller, lighter, and faster technology capabilities in our hands. The numbers of smart phones being purchased is staggering. Smart phone technology supports a variety of social and business activities for users who want information, and want it now. Incorporate GPS and cell triangulation into the mix and the devices can know where we are and present what is around us. So, now we have Bay Area GIS Emergency massive data sets and ubiquitous handheld devices. What can we do Contact List with these divergent trends? GIS professionals in the Bay Area have been discussing the need for What we do with massive data sets and mobile technology is being influ- enced with the proliferation and use of digital maps and digital globes, an expanded list of GIS profes- public-facing web portals, and web mapping services. These sites are sionals that might be called upon setting or impacting expectations by our management, elected officials, for mutual aid support during and the public on what is available and the ‘ease’ to find and use the a natural disaster response. A information to solve our real-world business needs. Add to the mix the subgroup of BAAMA has taken desire by organizations to make their enterprise knowledge more avail- on this task and requests that GIS able to field employees, and perhaps the larger mobile community, and professionals who are interested in our challenges to operate and maintain enterprise geospatial solutions being added to this list to please are exacerbated. contact Phil Beilin at the City of Walnut Creek, GIS Program for Are you ready to serve or consume massive data sets? Have you enabled additional information (pbeilin@ mobile field staff? Have you considered how to make your geospatial walnut-creek.org). information available to the smart phone community within or outside your organization? Perhaps this is an opportunity to enhance your skills Interested professionals should to support these new and exciting technology trends. submit their: On the subject of massive data sets, there are several initiatives in the n Name geospatial world that are focused on implementing national framework n Agency/company themes with a goal of substantial nationwide savings. Imagery for the n Contact phone number Nation (IFTN) reflects a vision that the nation will have a sustainable and (work and/or cell) flexible digital imagery program that meets the needs of local, state, re- The list will be developed shortly gional, tribal and federal agencies. IFTN is well developed and actively and distributed to participating promoted and Transportation for the Nation and Parcels for the Nation GIS professionals only for the pur- are in early stages of development and evaluation. We all look forward poses of emergency preparation. to seeing even more new developments and initiatives in these areas in the coming years. Currently the Tri-Valley Regional GIS Group (Livermore, Pleasanton, What geospatial news and development are capturing your attention? San Ramon, EBRPD, Dublin, Ciao, Danville, Walnut Creek, SRVFPD) have added their names to the Malcolm Adkins list to jump start this emergency 2008-09 BAAMA President preparation effort.

 BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION

BAAMA Connecting People Who Need GIS with Those Who Know GIS

BAAMA is the vital organization of GIS professionals in the San Francisco Bay Region that promotes partnerships and teamwork with users of GIS technology to improve our environment and community. BAAMA is a proud chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA).

The mission of BAAMA is to be the primary forum of the San Francisco Bay Region geospatial community that provides education for professional development, networking opportuni- ties, leadership, coordination, and representation — and have fun doing it!

BAAMA JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD karin tuxen-bettman stella wOtherspoon Keep us informed Please send us your comments, ideas, and news. If you want to write an article about your recent project, let us know! We are interested in pieces that educate and inform the Bay Area GIS audience of innovative projects using geospatial technologies. Content Editor — Editor@ BAAMA.org

BAAMA Board of Directors Malcolm Adkins, President Phil Beilin, Vice President Pascal Akl, Treasurer & Webmaster Cristi Delgado, Secretary Jeff Hobbs Dennis Klein Becky Morton Karin Tuxen-Bettman Maggie Visser Stella Wotherspoon Dennis Wuthrich

BAAMA Volunteers Justin Anderson, Database Administrator Greg Bazhaw, Newsletter Editor Christine Bush, Podcast Sound Engineer Scott Gilliland, Connections Coordinator Michael Loconte, email Communications Editor

Many thanks to all of our volunteers for helping to make BAAMA a continued success!

Bay Area Automated Mapping Association P.O. Box 71073, Oakland, CA 94612  BAAMA.ORG

IMMERSIVE 3D SIMULATOR-BASED GIS SHARING THE 3D EXPERIENCE By BRIAN QUINN

I am not a gamer. Like other geophysicists, my back- ground in 3-dimensional data has emphasized the true solid volumes of the subsurface and structural geology much more than it has the graphic textured shells of video games and cinematic special effects. Yet in my experience with engineering field surveys, environmental site investigations, and exploration studies for resources or for science, 3D data visual- ization has always been a close companion of GIS. As a GIS person I first became oriented to the online virtual world Second Life two years ago, and one of my first reactions to it was to imagine (re)building GIS data in an immersive 3D graphic context that had physics simulation for gravity, solid 3D geometry with user-defined lighting, and the ability to share the experience and communicate with others logged in to the (GIS-based) model at the same place in real time. GIS-based Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVE) and public safety tactical training scenario builders. Some of these folks are a new class of geospatial product that can be ap- presently use 3D data to render fly-through movies in advance of a pre- plied to uses like terrain visualization, geographically sentation. Pre-rendered fly-throughs are a 3D analog of a static 2D map dispersed team collaboration, field project or urban product where end-users must cede control to the cartographer. In the 3D land use planning, or field data publishing — all ac- case, the end-user is ceding control to a cinematographer. Just as web cessed as web services of dynamically streamed 3D map services let us publish GIS work in a form that can be browsed at will graphic objects. In this context, GIS-based MUVEs by the end-user, a MUVE provides a framework for publishing our 3D GIS are 3D models published in ways that support third- content at up to floor-plan level of detail — where multiple end-users may person visualization, so that one sees not only the navigate the model at (their own) will, while having some awareness of rendering of the 3D model but also one’s own agent others nearby in the model who are exploring the same area. (a.k.a. avatar or character) in the context of that rendering near the user’s point of view. A MUVE’s MUVEs on the Move multi-user aspect implies that in it, any users’ agent is Following 3D graphics technology advances over the past 15 years, visible in real time to other nearby users. MUVEs have grown more specialized in the applications they serve. The It’s been asked: “Who needs MUVEs?” I won’t pre- earliest and largest non-GIS commercial application is gaming and in par- sume to offer a complete list. In fact many who need ticular, Massively Multiuser Online Role-Playing Games, or Metaverses. MUVEs are already using them — many without much These are non-GIS MUVEs that offer social interaction, shared experi- GIS connection. In this already-using-it category are ences and business relationships among players, users, or residents (see remote technology or business teams who benefit SecondLife.com for a local example). Paraverses are an umbrella term for from a shared 3D context for live discussions of a Augmented Reality and Mirror World MUVEs. You might find your reality product design or process that is complex enough augmented by driving to work with a live traffic report map delivered to a to benefit from augmenting a conference call with smart phone browser (along with many other simultaneously augmented a shared, manipulable 3D version of the subject in commuters). Mirror Worlds invert that scheme, as in modeling a 3D traffic question. A 1980’s genesis of proto-MUVEs was net- jam in real time and allowing users to see the traffic however they chose: worked battlefield simulation. flying over like a traffic helicopter, stuck behind the wheel, or jumping to In GIS, a MUVE is a means of publishing detailed 3D the best available model of the jam-causing crash in its actual location. For data of use to policy decision makers, economic de- GIS-based public applications, it is the Mirror World paradigm that seems velopment teams, land-use planners and architects, most relevant.  BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION

For the past two years, a certain mainstreaming of 3D graphic technologies has Glossary of Terms changed the way many people access both imagery and geospatial data as Agent Also called Avatar or Character, this is an object, services. The expansive swath of data and ease of use that is Google Earth has typically animated and possibly humanoid, that represents a user’s presence in a 3D environment. brought user-controlled perspectives of terrain-draped orthoimagery to millions MUVE Multi-User Virtual Environment, a 3D model that can of eyes, and in turn motivated some of us to install 3D graphics display cards be navigated in third-person, so that one’s presence in the as well. Although both Google Earth and MS Virtual Earth have established model is represented by a visible agent that can be seen by others who are also present in the model at the same time and data collections that could be a foundation of mirror worlds, neither client offers nearby location. a third-person viewing experience. Users do not see themselves in the data MMORPG Massively Multiuser Online Role-Playing Game, represented by an agent and can not see or interact with the agents of others a mode of online game that is designed for a very large number of simultaneous users, who may play fictional roles in who are viewing the same data at the same time. Also, the scales most efficiently the context of a set of game rules. Presently, this may include dealt with by Google Earth and MS Virtual Earth clients are those smaller than realistic agents in a 3D MUVE. about 1:2000 out to whole-globe viewing. While these are a tremendous range Metaverse A mode of MUVE that supports large number of simultaneous users who may interact (or not), and is a 3D of viewing scales, all these scales are somewhat smaller than those that fill virtual world that does not have game rules. The environment everyday human experience; they are the scales of GIS more than those of need not reflect any physical reality, nor do the agents, in an human evolution. environment that encourages certain types of creativity and does not require information from GIS. A popular Metaverse created by a San-Francisco based company is published Paraverse-Augmented Reality A false world mode of MUVE by Linden Lab. Linden’s Second Life Grid technology has been used to simulate that provides large numbers of simultaneous users with model information to be consumed as a supplement to, or many aspects of life. Users pay a monthly fee to lease a fractional share of simu- augmentation of, the real world. A limited example would be lator resources within the grid. Linden Lab manages the server grid, updates both live traffic maps delivered to mobile clients stuck in a traffic continued on page 10 jam. Paraverse-Mirror Word A false world mode of MUVE that allows multiple simultaneous users to experience presence in a recognizable analog of a portion of the real world. Users are represented by an agent that is visible to others present nearby at the same time and communication among the agents by text or voice is possible. NURB Non-Uniform Rational B-spline is a mathematical basis for a smooth curve defined by a set of anchor points and tangents. A common example in computer graphics is the Bézier curve. Frequently these are one-dimensional curves in two-dimensional space, but they can be extended two- dimensional surfaces in three space, in a form called sculpted mesh. Bumpmap A case of NURB that defines a gridded terrain, where single values of elevation are described over a two-dimensional area. In some MUVE clients, bump-maps describe a two-dimensional array of 24-bit RGB pixels mapped to describe [x,y,z] positions. Second Life A popular commercial Metaverse with well over 10 million user accounts, or Residents. The Second Life grid technology stack includes a persistent shared 3D world of over 1600 square kilometers, often over 50,000 simultaneous users, a physics engine for gravity and collisions, weather, and a functional in-world economy convertible to US Dollars. The icon for Second Life is the hamsa or eye-in-hand symbol. SLOGP Second Life Open Grid Protocol describes a standard communication that can be used by heterogeneous simulator grids, including both Second Life and OpenSim. OpenSim The Open Simulator project has created an open source adaptation of the basic server functionality of the Second Life servers. Although the source is in Microsoft’s C# language, many larger-scale users implement OpenSim servers in Linux using Mono. The iconic symbol associated with Open Simulator is a hippopotamus. Mono An open source project that has created a compatible environment for running the Microsoft dot-NET framework on any open source platform, mitigating Windows licensing. The icon for the Mono project is a stylized monkey head. to rez This verb is used when describing user experience with MUVEs based on streaming solid geometry, where the virtual world is delivered on demand and network bandwidth may cause complex scenes to render, or resolve, while one waits. It sometimes refers to the first rez or virtual birth of one’s agent in a given MUVE.  BAAMA.ORG

C ali f ornia B roadband T as k f O R C E : M apping the S tate o f C onnectivit y b y M alcolm A d k ins

“Much like our network of highways, broadband is a ubiquitous Leveraging Capital infrastructure that allows human capital to foster growth across The formation of the CBTF coincided with the California Public the board and allows us to be the competitive leader worldwide Utilities Commission’s (PUC) approval of recent telecommunica- in all sectors from education to healthcare and information deliv- tions mergers. In turn, the PUC required the surviving companies ery to economic delivery.” to collectively provide $60 million in shareholder contributions to the fund over the next five years to establish the California With these words, the California Broadband Task Force (CBTF) Emerging Technology Fund, based in San Francisco. launched an unprecedented statewide effort to assess and shape a high-speed Internet strategy that will digitally connect The CETF’s 12-member governing board — chosen by the PUC, all Californians. telecommunications members and the board itself — has the job of extending Internet broadband services to underrepresented The CBTF was originally formed by California Governor Arnold communities in rural and urban California. Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-23-06, “Twenty-First Century Government: Expanding Broadband Access and Usage in McPeak recalls, “It was a perfect confluence of events. The California” in fall 2006. Within this Executive Order, Governor governor’s announcement of the Task Force and its charge to Schwarzenegger commissioned the CBTF to “remove barri- put together a plan of action for California, coupled with the ers to broadband access, identify opportunities for increased capitalization of the CETF meant that the CETF, as a not-for-profit broadband adoption, and enable the creation and deployment organization, was able to support the Task Force agenda.” of new advanced communication technologies.” The governor The CETF’s goal is to leverage the $60 million initial investment at also requested that the CBTF “pay particular attention to how least four fold, providing closer to $240 million to help close the broadband can be used to substantially benefit educational insti- digital divide. As a first step, the governor’s Task Force needed a tutions, healthcare institutions, community-based organizations, clear understanding of the current state of broadband across the and governmental institutions.” state, namely availability, adoption and application.

Sunne Wright McPeak, President and CEO of the California Spheres of Influence Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) and member of the Governor’s The CETF, on behalf of the CBTF, retained Michael Baker Jr., Inc., Task Force, said, “Our challenge was to assess availability and Oakland CA, as the mapping consultant to assemble a com- access of broadband to the state’s 37 million residents — and prehensive, up-to-date map of statewide broadband availability then create a framework to bring the technology to all regions that would serve as a guideline for policies that will positively and all ethnic, age and income groups, in effect to bring broad- influence broadband availability and adoption. The CBTF faced band to everyone — to turn the “digital divide” into a “digital several major performance hurdles including ensuring the secu- opportunity.” rity of sensitive business and user information, determining the Shaping the Vision quality of the data to be collected, and determining the time and resources needed to collect, compile, and analyze the data. In forming the CBTF, the governor sought diversity in thought, expertise, and, most importantly, vision. The governor’s Task Working with CBTF and using state-of-the-art techniques and Force included 21 representatives with widely varying beliefs on technologies, Baker defined a project methodology to collect, the level of broadband availability from a number of local and load, and integrate data about broadband availability and use state governments, non-profit organizations, foundations, the from all broadband providers in the state. Key in this effort was legislature, rural and urban organizations, research institutions the introduction of an outreach program for telephone and cable and even broadband application developers. broadband providers that would ensure the security of sensitive broadband customer data in a highly competitive market. “Increasing both access to and use of broadband will build economic capital, strengthen public safety resources, improve With appropriate agreements in place, Baker developed an living standards, expand educational and healthcare opportuni- environment where the broadband providers could deliver sen- ties, and raise the levels of civic engagement and governmen- sitive data securely to Baker. The magnitude of the data that tal transparency,” explains McPeak. “The state must seize the was going to be collected was unknown by all parties, as an opportunity to promote private-sector investment and leverage address-based analysis had never been performed. public private partnerships to increase broadband availability Malcolm Adkins, Director of Baker’s Geospatial Information and adoption.” Technology (GIT) explains, “Ultimately, we gathered over 15.7  BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION

million address-based points and reference when you want to make boundary extents that equated to a trip. That’s not the case with the approximately another 8 million statewide broadband availability addresses. Broadband providers map. This is a dynamic, interactive, delivered data on where they could functional resource that will drive all serve, not just who they do serve, future programs to expand broad- and the corresponding combined band throughout the state.” upstream/downstream speed to pro- Final statewide and regional map vide the best map-based assessment products and supporting broad- of broadband availability.” Providers band availability statistics were de- delivered their source information as veloped and presented to the CBTF discrete address points (parsed- or to author the final report. Robert concatenated-address field format), Hanson, Senior Vice President, as polygonal boundaries provided of Baker Geospatial Information they were at the city block or smaller Technology observes, Ultimately, extent, and even as boundaries de- broadband technology reveals itself lineated on paper maps to enable as another segment of “critical infra- some of the smaller providers to par- structure.” Its advent can be put into ticipate in the program. perspective by tracing civilization’s Baker loaded and aggregated all the migration from huddling around source data and reported to CETF on sources of water, creating footpaths the quality of the source data and between these sources that tied com- geocoding match rates. Analysis of munities together. These advance- the massive amount of data revealed ments led to boats, carts, rail, and that by applying a one-kilometer by eventually to electrification of not one-kilometer grid across the state, only surface and air transportation, CBTF could depict broadband avail- but of communications. Broadband ability by speed tier (a combined up- has become an essential infrastruc- stream/downstream data flow rate) ture to economic development. in sufficient detail to make informed broadband decisions while protect- High-Speed Directions ing the confidential data. With a After detailed analysis of the broad- grid in place, Baker incorporated band map, coupled with indepen- other techniques into its broadband dent research, CBTF determined analysis to mask large water bodies that California is better positioned and barren terrain where services than most states on broadband would not be expected. availability and adoption, yet lags behind key foreign competitors. The final raster grid dataset de- livered to the CBTF included an Specifically, and perhaps surpris- interim map of broadband avail- ingly to many CBTF members and ability throughout the state sorted readers of the report, the map by broadband speed. The map analysis indicated that: product was unspecific to broad- n 96% of California residences band technologies, providers, have access to broadband. and/or addresses. n 1.4 million mostly rural U.S. Census housing units and house- Californians lack broadband hold information was then layered access at any speed. on top of the broadband speed n Barely more than half of map to help identify those communi- Californians use broadband at ties with limited or no broadband access. Mike Byrne with the home. California Department of Public Health, says, “This is so much n Only half of Californians have access to broadband at more than a traditional political map of the state. People hear speeds greater than 10 Mbps (including both upstream the word map and they think it sits on a shelf and you use it for and downstream speeds). continued on page 9  BAAMA.ORG

M igrating to N e w w E B - based G eo - technologies f or f O R E S T M onitoring in the B ay area B y M aggi k E L Ly, J o h n C onnors & S h ufei L ei

We city-dwellers in the San Francisco Bay Area are blessed with hillsides of green space surrounding our urban communities. Many of these forests are facing an epidemic called Sudden Oak Death. Have you ever driven along 101 in Marin and Sonoma Counties, or on 280 down the San Francisco peninsula, or through the east bay parkland, and wondered about the orange and brown canopies of the oak and tanoak trees in Bay Area hills? You may have seen this Sudden Oak Death (SOD), and have wanted to report it. You are not alone. A new system for mapping allows you to help map SOD in the Bay Area by submitting your siting online! Since the mid-1990s, SOD, caused by Phytophthora ramo- rum, has caused substantial death in tanoak trees and sev- eral oak tree species (coast live oak, California black oak, Shreve oak, and canyon live oak), as well as twig and foliar diseases in numerous other plant species, including

California bay laurel, Douglas-fir, and coast redwood. The OakMapper webGIS site, showing GIS database of disease distribution. The site In California, where SOD has been evident the longest, allows customizable map production, user interaction with the database, and public epidemic dieback of tanoaks, coast live oaks, and black submission of monitoring data. oaks occurs in large patches along the coast, presenting tographic portal, containing all SOD data available for public serious threats to the ecology, wildlife habitat, soil erosion viewing. However, all of these resources were dependent upon properties, fire regime, and the aesthetic value of thousands a project administrator to manually update their source data of hectares of forest (Rizzo et al. 2003). Although the first and reload the content to the web site on a quarterly basis. P. ramorum-infested California nursery stock was identified in 2001 (in Santa Cruz County), the U.S. nursery industry was not In October 2008, we launched the second version of our widely impacted by the disease until 2003, when the pathogen webGIS, OakMapper 2.0, offering a more dynamic, custom- was detected in California, Oregon, Washington, and British izable, and user-driven cartographic environment that is built Columbia nurseries. Currently it’s regulated at county, state, on a combination of open-source and proprietary software. and federal levels. OakMapper 2.0 allows user-specific interactions — including Public interest in SOD remains high as it continues to spread and scale-dependent zooming, customized map creation, hyper- impact more areas. Early in the infestation, information from linked photography, and querying functions — using the spa- active members of the public was key in locating new areas of tial database PostGIS. Users can report trees that might have infestation across the state. The California Oak Mortality Task the disease so that follow-up sampling can take place. Force, arborists, and university researchers were repeatedly The development of web-based efforts continues to prove effec- contacted with reports of new areas of suspected infestations. tive in communicating SOD information to researchers, regula- In response to this concern from the public, we created a web tors, and the general public by providing a readily available site in 2001 where visitors could submit the locations of trees avenue for viewing, searching, querying, and exporting data that were potentially infected. This site, OakMapper (www. and maps. The ultimate goal of OakMapper 2.0 is to empower oakmapper.org), has had thousands of visitors, who have sub- stakeholders to participate in disease monitoring. To this end, mitted hundreds of point locations of trees suspected of having the disease. In addition to this functionality, over time the first the application is designed with non-GIS experts in mind. An version of the OakMapper served as a clearinghouse for four online form is used to gather reports of potential SOD sightings SOD-related, spatial resources: 1) Google Maps, 2) Google by allowing users to: Earth, 3) ESRI ArcIMS, and 4) static maps. The OakMapper . Select a host and visible SOD symptoms (chosen from webGIS application is our comprehensive database and car- pictures and explanations that aid in identification),  BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION

2. Enter information about their professional background, User registration and comments and OakMapper 2.0 allows users to register into the system so that 3. Submit the location of the tree (i.e., GPS coordinates, ad- they can keep track of their SOD submissions. Given that users dresses, or location on map). The numerous submissions to might want to modify the descriptions or other information of their date have demonstrated the success of citizen-generated SOD submissions, registered users are provided with tools to edit data in widening the sampling effort for this disease. their submissions. Registered users can also provide comments to SOD submissions. The commenting features of OakMapper 2.0 A single database will facilitate more information generation and community build- OakMapper 2.0 integrates the features of OakMapper 1.0 into ing. Users can comment on the severity of SOD submissions. Like one package and then further extends to other new features. As the submissions of SOD, users can keep track of and edit their new open-source tools became available, we were interested in submitted comments in the “My Account” section. migrating to these more flexible solutions. The migration process begins with consolidating disparate data storage formats and Email confirmation sources, such as shapefile, MS Access, and Excel, into a single To improve the system’s responsiveness to users’ activities on the format and data source, the open-source database PostgresSQL, OakMapper 2.0 site, the system sends a confirmation email to with the spatial extension PostGIS. PostGIS, which is an open- the users when they register and when they submit an observa- source spatial database, allows us to perform spatial data query tion of SOD. The confirmation email will also contain the most and analysis. (Currently, OakMapper 2.0 is not utilizing the full recent SOD submissions and the most recent comments, which features of PostGIS; this is set for future development.) link back to OakMapper 2.0 for further exploration. Future ideas include improving the email functionality to enable sharing Dynamic data and map generation capability, i.e. to email a SOD point/polygon to a friend who OakMapper 1.0 had four distinct and primary compo- lives near the area. nents: static maps, ESRI ArcIMS, Google Maps Application Programming Interface (API), and Google Earth KML/KMZ. GeoRSS subscription The front page of OakMapper 1.0 functioned as a portal web RSS feed is a familiar tool in the Web 2.0 world. The GeoRSS page for each of these four components. As a result, there was standard provides a way to integrate RSS feeds with location no navigation and interaction between these four components information. OakMapper 2.0 generates GeoRSS feeds so that within the OakMapper 1.0 site. OakMapper 2.0 first integrates feed readers with spatial awareness can take advantage of the these four components by providing a navigation menu at the RSS feed of SOD submissions. The standard GeoRSS format top. The navigation system allows users to travel back and forth allows the SOD data to be integrated with other web-map among these components easily and provides a consistent feel mashup applications. and experience throughout the site. OakMapper 2.0 also allows different components to interact with one another. For example, Dynamically updated webGIS the static maps can be selected for download using the Google OakMapper serves as an important resource for researchers to Maps API download tool. Also, when you submit a point to the access the most up-to-date maps of confirmed cases of SOD. system via the Google Maps API, the Google Earth KML data OakMapper 2.0 improves on our former model of providing file will be automatically updated. PDFs for download and distributing shapefiles via e-mail by allowing users to export maps to their preferred format. The Geographic submission application is built on ESRI ArcGIS Server and utilizes ArcSDE to OakMapper 2.0 allows any user to come to the system and reference the PostGIS spatial database to display the most up-to- submit new findings of Sudden Oak Death to the database. A date data available. This new structure ensures that users have user-centered design philosophy was implemented to achieve access to all confirmed points and frees the site administrator ease of use for end users. When reporting a suspected case of from manually creating dozens of static maps. SOD, users simply 1) draw a point or polygon on the Google Map, and 2) enter relevant information, such as descriptions We need your help! What you can do? and pictures about the new finding of SOD. This easy-to-use The official map of Sudden Oak Death in California shows only system is built to encourage community participation in record- a few hundred individual trees with the disease. This is because ing more SOD occurrences, so that spread can be tracked more of the time and expense in officially confirming the presence of efficiently. And given that users’ submissions are open to the gen- P. ramorum: the California Department of Food and Agriculture eral public, the public can be alerted about the new occurrences and the University of California perform this confirmation process of SOD. The most recent SOD submissions will be displayed on on all samples collected statewide. This map of individual trees the homepage, so that users can view the most recent activity doesn’t show the complete extent of oak mortality statewide, and on the site. The interaction between these features is enabled by we are interested in getting public help in mapping other pock- their shared database. ets of oak mortality that are not shown on the official map. Not  BAAMA.ORG

WEB -BASED FOREST MONITORING CONTINUED

all of these areas can or will be officially confirmed to have the disease, but we are interested in further defining where oak mortality exists, with your help. For example, there are many clusters of oak mortality in the East Bay Regional Parks that have not yet been mapped (see image at right). OakMapper 2.0 can help. We’d like you to use this tool to map areas where you see pockets of oak mortality that might be connected to Sudden Oak Death. We hope this model of data acquisition, storage, analysis, and dissemination will be more widely used in forest health management in par- ticular and natural resource management in general. We would happily entertain communications with others developing or who have developed similar compre- hensive geospatial informatics programs for natural resource problem solving. High resolution imagery of an area with the disease; the orange and brown dead crowns appear throughout References the healthy forest. Rizzo, D.M. and Garbelotto, M., 2003. Sudden oak death: endangering California and Oregon forest With this in mind, the CBTF set forth Governor Schwarzenegger recently an- About the AuthorS strategies to address each of these areas nounced a $22 million grant award to Maggi Kelly is a professor in the of concern. the California Telehealth Network by the Department of Environmental Sciences, Thus far, at the direction of the Task Force, Federal Communications Commission. Policy and Management (ESPM), the CETF has committed about one-third Telehealth is a health care services initia- University of California, Berkeley. John of its initial investment capital of $60 mil- tive designed to bring health care advice Connors is a Staff Researcher in the lion and has made investments in rural and tips to patients and families through television. ESPM Department. Shufei Lei is a PhD demand aggregation, investments in ap- Student in the ESPM Department. plications in urban areas and partnered The California Public Utilities Commission with the organizations that serve and (CPUC) allocated $100 million over two represent people with disabilities. years to the new California Advanced Broadband Task Force Services Fund (CASF), which will pro- continued from page 6 CETF’s McPeak confirms, “We are part- vide incentives to companies to bring nering with other organizations, princi- broadband service to un-served and n Broadband infrastructure is pally the Children’s Partnership, to look underserved areas of California, many deployed unevenly throughout at getting computers into the hands and of which are rural, remote, or socioeco- the state, from state-of–the-art to homes of all middle school students in nomically disadvantaged communities. nonexistent. California of low income, in low perform- The CBTF mapping initiative, along with ing schools, so that whole generations of The Final Report of the Broadband Task additional supporting studies and litera- users do not get left behind.” Force , including maps, was released in ture, further indicate that the state should January 2008 and is available on the Continuing Advocacy focus on three primary consumer areas: CBTF website: www.calink.ca.gov. rural and remote areas not served at all While the CBTF has completed its mission by the infrastructure; disadvantaged to assess statewide broadband availabil- About the Author urban neighborhoods where the infra- ity, adoption and access, the members Malcolm Adkins is Director of Baker’s structure may exist but residents are not remain active advocates in the process, Geospatial Information Technology (GIT) able to use, afford or access the technol- helping generate support for broadband service area, and the current BAAMA ogy; and individuals with disabilities. initiative. President.  BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION

IMMERSIVE 3D SIMULATOR-BASED GIS CONTINUED server and client software, provides real-time physics simulation lation of entire cities within city budgets, and SLOGP-compat- and a secure environment with a real economy in the virtual ible grids demonstrate that OpenSim-based civic Mirror Worlds world in support of both collaboration and innovation. Pricing might one day interoperate. is geared towards users who might open a virtual office, retail Three things to do with your own store, or nightclub; but is not feasible for the 1:1 scale simula- virtual world tion of entire cities. Still, three factors align to make Linden Lab technology very relevant to GIS use: LibSecondLife, the release With control of your own MUVE system, the GIS experience by Linden Lab of the Second Life client as open source, and the differs from a bumpy globe. Rather than viewing GIS data from founding of the OpenSimulator project. your own first-person perspective as on a globe, it becomes pos- sible to experience much of that same GIS data in an immersive In mid-2006, a group of developers engineered an imitation third-person perspective, where you can see your agent expe- of the protocol by which Second Life clients communicate with riencing the data through a 3D perspective projection of your Second Life servers, resulting in a programmer’s library of choosing. You can also see your agent together with agents components called LibSecondLife. In January 2007, Linden Lab of others who are visiting the same place in the environment opened the source for the Second Life client. Soon afterward, at the same moment. Each user is represented by their own developers created protocol-compatible imitations of Second agent with freedom to move to a chosen position and each Life server functionality, which is what the OpenSimulator user also chooses their own viewing perspective independent (OpenSim) project has done since early 2007. Since early of their agent’s position. This is immersion, a key sense of what 2008, Linden Lab has been drafting the Second Life Open Grid distinguishes an “Immersive 3D” environment from a 2-1/2D Protocol to support interoperability between the commercial bumpy globe. Second Life Grid and external grids including those built with In other words, you could go into your map and walk around OpenSim. In August and September 2008, Linden Lab tested a there with other people who had also gone into the map with version of the Second Life client that supports Second Life Open you. At a minimum you would be able to instant-message one Grid Protocol (SLOGP) and allows agents logged in to one grid another. In some cases you also have a voice-over-IP audio to “teleport” among heterogeneous SLOGP-enabled grids. connection to augment your shared login to this shared virtual That bit of history might be summed up as OpenSim is growing environment that may be defined by GIS data. Don’t ignore this: into server technology that will likely be the first to support simu- a MUVE can be a lot more fun for all involved than looking at a globe when someone else is driving the viewer, and in the long run, fun matters because it can produce better collaboration. With that background, there are three categories of MUVE publishing of GIS data that I’d like to summarize for your consideration. For a Level 1 build, one must have gridded terrain data (a.k.a. digital eleva- tion model or DEM) and an ability to resample data so that it can be loaded into the simulator where it will be interpreted as 1-meter post- ings. Moderate familiarity with and access to ERDAS Imagine would allow one to avoid any custom pro- gramming; larger regions would benefit from ERDAS scripting. For a simulator machine running OpenSim, some have used Visual 10 BAAMA.ORG

IMMERSIVE 3D SIMULATOR-BASED GIS CONTINUED

Studio 2005 Express C# (C-sharp) edi- about one hour. This creates a walkable and would thus be capable of replacing tion on Windows, particularly for testing. GIS-based terrain. many maps and some field visits. With Dedicated OpenSim machines and most For a Level 2 build, both orthoimagery no building models to import, and by larger grids use Linux to eliminate operat- and a LiDAR point cloud were available creating content at real-world scale using ing system licensing cost. With moderate in addition to the gridded terrain. An the Second Life client built-in tools, about Linux experience available, an Ubuntu 500 hours per real-world square kilome- uncommon (to GIS) image data type--a 8.04 (Long-term-service) OS can be in- ter of a business district were expended bumpmap--was generated using ERDAS stalled and configured with OpenSim in in proof-of-concept. Imagine scripting and Adobe Photoshop batch conversion. Bumpmaps are ex- tremely versatile and well-handled in Autodesk Maya; for GIS applications a very specific subclass of bumpmaps, a regularly gridded mesh, was used. To simulate an entire city, it would be worth some custom programming to generate the features that fill the simulation. This creates a full-scale placeholder for a Level 1: Berkeley Marina and Aquatic Park Mirror World, where building and tree Level 2: Looking west towards the BART 1:4 scale OpenSim (2007 12 07) Station, Berkeley 1:1 OpenSim (2008 07 31) mass are accurately positioned and height-scaled, real lines of sight work, but imagery is far better on rooftop and ground surface than along the sides of the structures. Using ERDAS scripting, some 10 hours to 15 hours per real- world square kilometer was expended in proof-of-concept. For a Level 3 build, effort focused on a photorealistic true-scale model of build- Level 1: Hayward Fault Near Memorial ing exterior and interior, where solid Level 2: Looking north towards Memorial Stadium 1:4 scale OpenSim (2007 12 05) Stadium, UCB Campus 1:1 OpenSim (2008 geometry objects have real-world image 07 31) textures on their surfaces. Scaling up this proof-of-concept to larger extent requires a balance of available building models with the desired simulator publishing technology. At this time, it appears that COLLADA will be the standard format through which 3D designs can be aggre- gated into a Mirror World, whether the source model is from Autodesk Maya,

Level 1: Mt. Tamalpais and Phoenix Lake 1:4 Google SketchUp, Blender, or others. Level 2: Piedmont Ave and I-House, UCB scale OpenSim (2007 10 29) Building exteriors might be compiled Campus 1:1 OpenSim (2008 07 31) at a civic scale with technologies such as Earthmine.com, that provide both a georeferenced 3D mesh and building face texture images from street level. Building interiors will require floor plans at a minimum, and access to the inte- rior to obtain accurate texture images. All internal and exterior data must be scaled and integrated in a unified geo- referenced model. A Mirror World this Level 1: UCB Campus 1:25 in Second Life Level 2: Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Agni grid (2008 09 14) realistic would be instantly recognizable Civic Center building and park. 1:1 OpenSim to those who know the real-world site, (2008 07 31) 11 BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION

Level 1, plain terrain at around 1:10 put into a MUVE at between 1:25 and can be visited by any resident of Second scale, is the cheapest and easiest start- 1:4 scale, depending on the area of in- Life in the region named Gualala. To ing point for immersive 3D modeling of terest and the area available for publish- save monthly costs by a factor of 1/9, most sites in the continental US, as terrain ing the terrain in a MUVE. For a bit more the vector object construction or “build” is freely available at 10-meter postings realism, some horizontal surfaces have was created at 1/3 scale. The purpose from http://seamless.usgs.gov and is not been placed in these terrains, either to of the proof-of-concept was to show what too difficult to get into a MUVE. Screen- display orthoimagery as a graphic tex- level of realism might be achieved using shot examples show real-world terrain ture on the 3D object, or as an ambient Second Life Grid technology for a Mirror water surface. World application. Level 2, a raster model of an urbanized The practical application of this vector area at 1:1 scale, is a 3D technique for build would be to replace the raster model creating a quick model of a life-sized above at selected locations as more de- Mirror World-type Paraverse. An ortho- tailed plans or 3D models became avail- photo is simply draped over first-return able. Of course, the intention would be LiDAR data that has been tesselated to do this work in OpenSim at 1:1 scale, then gridded to create a roof-and-trees where the benefits of full-size construction surface. Representing these data in a can be enjoyed with very little marginal Level 3: Berkeley BART 1:3 Second Life (2007 06 15) MUVE involved some technical develop- cost for the full-size space required in the ment and an interesting graphic object virtual world simulator. type defined using a bump-map. This ap- So what does it take? proach is not too satisfying at first glance. Its trees have been described as melting For those GIS practitioners who have and orthoimagery of roof features often become conversant with open source op- dribble down the sides of buildings. But tions for doing GIS work, the threshold the base information is quite strong, and for standing up an OpenSim MUVE is ex- the building positions and scales, along ceedingly low. For an Ubuntu Linux user, with the canopy and mass of trees are the steps needed for standing up a single precisely rendered. This is a preferred 256-meter square OpenSim region with Level 3: Shattuck Ave, Constitution Square 1:3 approach for a first build-out of a Mirror default terrain (an appealingly hemi- Second Life (2007 06 15) World, as the effort is moderate and the spherical island) take just a half-dozen result is a very complete initial volume for command lines and might be completed every building and large tree. As more in 15 minutes. detailed 3D models (see next section) For those who are most comfortable with are built and made available, the LiDAR MS Windows, or who wish to explore raster can be flattened out and replaced just a 256-meter square region or two, with more precise vector models of spe- OpenSim has been written so that it can cific buildings. be compiled using the free Visual C# Level 3, a full-stop detailed model of build- 2005 Express Edition, and there is a ing exteriors, interiors, and subsurface solution file to automate the build. Level 3: Shattuck Ave, looking north from east spaces, unlike the quick and droopy but If newer hardware is available, doing side,1:3 Second Life (2007 06 15) very complete raster model technique, everything in a 64-bit Ubuntu environ- this is a vector model where content is ment involves about ten steps and might either imported from an existing 3D take an hour, but then be suitable for 40 design or hand-crafted from the graphic or more regions (2-1/2 square kilome- primitives available in the Second Life ters) on a single server. The extra effort Grid technology. As above, representing involves local 64-bit optimized builds of these data in the MUVE involved some Mono (open source .NET development technical development and interesting framework for multiple platforms), Open graphic object types, as well as a lot Dynamics Engine (an OpenSim alterna- of site visits to capture good-quality im- tive to the HAVOK physics engine used in

Level 3: Berkeley BART station view looking agery for textures. The proof-of-concept Second Life), and the MySQL relational south, 1:3 Second Life (2007 06 15 shown in the images was built on the database (an option for resource storage Second Life main grid, named Agni, and available to OpenSim). 12 BAAMA.ORG

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Getting the GIS data into an available tience. Import scripts can speed the pro- com/support/sysreqs.php OpenSim for a Level 1 build can be done cess if a 3D scaled model exists already, n You can download the most with Leica Geosystems’ ERDAS Imagine, although often the import process is inef- recent Second Life client for where DEM values are resampled to a 1- ficient versus a hand-designed equiva- Windows, Mac OS, or Linux from meter posting interval at the chosen simu- lent. Because MUVE technology may be http://secondlife.com/support/ lator scale. For example, a 1:4 model streaming the 3D solid geometry objects downloads.php. Then install the has single-precision floating-point terrain to the client, the efficiency of the import program and create a free Second values on a 4-meter posting interval that process matters both for server storage Life “Resident” account, which has are loaded into the simulator as 1-meter resources and for the responsiveness of a first and last name. data. the user experience. Many online free I hope to visit with you in-world, soon! Taking LiDAR and orthoimagery into training videos are available to explain OpenSim for a Level 2 build can be done how to build Second Life content. Acknowledgements with ERDAS used to process the Z-values Where can I visit this stuff? Thanks to the editorial crew at BAAMA for bumpmaps, and a simple spreadsheet Journal for many helpful comments. The The Level 3 pilot project is a 1:3 scale with formulas can be used to create the LiDAR data used in the Second type miniature model of the Berkeley BART X- and Y-values. ERDAS can stack the x, case study were collected for County station named “Berkurodam” that has y, and z layers. Adobe Photoshop is one of Alameda and provided through the existed on public-facing Second Life serv- option for exporting the resulting bump- help of Michael Munk in Community ers since early 2007, so that anyone with map into TARGA image file format for Development Agency and Rohin Saleh a broadband network connection and a loading into an OpenSim sculpted mesh in Public Works Agency. LiDAR data GIS workstation with 3D graphics card object. suitability was assessed with help from and meets these specs: Creating a large complex build using the UC Berkeley Geospatial Innovation only the Second Life client program’s n Second Life client hardware Facility, in particular Prof. Maggi Kelly built-in tools is a chore that requires pa- requirements, http://secondlife. and researcher Marek Jakubowski. continued on page 16

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E xtend y our G eospatial k N O w ledge : Become a BA AMA Member or Volunteer Today!

Individual Membership Benefits BAAMA members and board members. ($25 annual fee) Who knows? Your next business partner- Announcing n Free admission to bi-monthly ship, project, or job might be the result of the 2009 BA AMA BAAMA networking! educational meetings EDUCATION n Free admission to Technical Tours There are several different BAAMA tasks AWARD! n BAAMA Journal subscription via that need volunteers, including our bi- email monthly educational sessions, our semi- BAAMA is proud to announce annual journal, and our communication their 2009 Education Award! n E-mail announcements & reminders and outreach via email and the web. The BAAMA Education Award is for Bay Area GIS activities Volunteer for an educational session! We designed to support and encour- BAAMA Sponsor Benefits ($150 are always looking for people to give a age higher education students annual fee) who use GIS technology, both presentation, or help to find presenters n as a major field of study or as a Up to 10 individuals from the for a bi-monthly educational session. See specialized tool to support other organization receive all individual page 19 for a list of upcoming educa- degree or certificate goals. membership benefits listed above tional sessions! n Listing as sponsor on BAAMA web We are proud to offer the follow- The BAAMA Journal, our semi-annual site and in the BAAMA Journal ing awards: publication, needs writers, editors, and n Link to organization web site from designers for the next issue! Write an n 1st Prize of $2,500 BAAMA web site article, or interview someone for an n 2nd Prize of $1,500 n Once/year opportunity to send article! Or edit an article someone else n 3rd Prize of $1,000 an informational or advertising has written! Help find advertisers for the announcement to all BAAMA Journal! There are four competition members categories: Assist with our BAAMA communications! n Opportunities to conduct Technical Currently, our wonderful and talented n Web application Tours volunteers include Michael Loconte as Websites for all Download an application form from our email manager, Pascal Akl as our competition entries www.BAAMA.org/application.pdf webmaster, Justin Anderson as our da- must be active through tabase administrator, and Christine Bush April 2009. Interested in Volunteering? as our podcaster. These folks need back- n Poster Poster that Are you already a BAAMA member ups for those busier times! tells a geographic who’d like to get a little more involved? All BAAMA members are welcome to story and summarizes BAAMA welcomes members to take attend board meetings. As a board meet- a work or project. volunteer roles in the organization’s ing attendee and BAAMA volunteer, you n Map Map that tells a activities! will become a member of BAAMA’s geographic story and There are many reasons to be a BAAMA Advisory Board. After consistently at- summarizes a work or volunteer. First, you can learn something tending several board meetings and project. new. Perhaps you’ve never written a volunteering some time (e.g. helping with n Other GIS-related jounal article before, but would like the an educational session, writing a Journal business application. chance to do so and to see your name article, etc.), you can become a full Deadline: February 13th, 2009 in print. Now is the time to volunteer Board Member, if you wish! As a Board with the BAAMA Journal! Second, Member, you can influence the directions Winners will be announced in the volunteering for BAAMA will increase and initiatives of BAAMA, easily network Spring 2009 issue of the BAAMA your professional toolbox and enhance with numerous BAAMA members, and Journal and at CalGIS 2009! your resume. Add something to your have a lot of fun doing it. If you would Application and eligibility infor- repertoire that you might not normally like to get involved, please contact a mation are available at www. do at your job! Third, if you volunteer, BAAMA board member — see our con- BAAMA.org. you will get to better know your fellow tact information at www.BAAMA.org. 14 BAAMA.ORG

G I S E ducation around the B ay A rea : S an f R A N C I S C O S tate U niversit y and the I nstitute f or G eographic I n f ormation S cience b y J err y D avis , B arr y N ic k el & A N N E M CTAVIS H

Have you ever been hiking, backpack- mapping. These courses serve students organizations, academic institutions, ing, or mountain biking in the many in many academic programs, includ- and individuals. IGISc also maintains parks, forests, and wilderness areas ing Biology, Environmental Studies, site licenses and support for geospatial of California? Then perhaps you have Geology, Business, and Urban Studies. software across the entire CSU system, used a Tom Harrison Map, a well-known Responding to demand from students facilitates geospatial data access, and SFSU Geography alumnus who pro- and academics, the department is cur- offers an established training program duces popular full-color, shaded-relief rently proposing a Master of Science in including workshops, symposia, special- topographic maps of significant natural Geographic Information Science. ized contract trainings and a Professional areas in California. Have you ever Development Certificate program in Geography alumni from SFSU currently looked over an official San Francisco GIScience. serve as GIS, cartography and remote Street & Transit Map at a MUNI bus stop sensing specialists in many private firms Established in 1994, the Professional shelter or train station? Then you might and local, regional, state and federal Development Certificate program pro- thank Cartographics, a cartographic agencies. SFSU alumni hold important vides students with broad exposure to production firm also started by an SFSU positions in government agencies, in- geospatial techniques, technology, and Geography alumnus. San Francisco cluding the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, analysis. Classes are conducted as two- State University (SFSU) has a long his- California Department of Fish and day intensive courses taught and devel- tory in the cartographic industry, teach- Game, Caltrans, California Department oped by geospatial experts, all of whom ing cartography since the 1920s, and of Forestry, the San Francisco Bay have considerable practical experience geographic information science, teach- Regional Water Quality Control Board, in the field. Students completing the ing remote sensing since the 1960s and the San Francisco Planning Department program are well-versed in GIScience GIS since the 1980s. Since the earliest and SF Department of Public Works. theory and its practical application, with days of the university, SFSU faculty, staff, SFSU alumni and interns can also be skills reflecting those needed by GIS pro- and students have stayed on the forefront found at NGOs and private firms such fessionals. The program’s rich array of of the influential Bay Area cartographic as San Francisco Estuary Institute and 20 course offerings (see http://gis.sfsu. and geospatial industry. PG&E. Classes provided these students edu/cert/courses.htm) includes core and elective classes. Academic Degree Programs and with real-world skills they could use after Training graduation; internships helped them Research Agendas and launch their careers. As community col- Each year the Department of Geography Specializations leges are moving into GIS, SFSU’s alumni and Human Environmental Studies Through the many university centers, in- are also providing leadership, teaching (http://bss.sfsu.edu/geog/) at SFSU con- stitutes and special programs at SF State, GIS classes from Shasta College, to tributes skilled graduates to a growing faculty, staff and students continue to American River College, to City College geospatial workforce through Bachelor’s focus on applying state-of-the-art infor- of San Francisco and College of Marin. and Master’s degrees in Geography. mation technology to pressing interdisci- Students can focus in GIScience with Responding to the needs of the univer- plinary data, information, and research. classes such as Geographic Techniques, sity and working professionals outside GIScience at SFSU can be found across Introduction to Geographic Information degree programs, the Institute for many departments at its main campus Analysis, Cartography, Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Science (IGISc) near Lake Merced, at the SFSU Downtown Geographic Information Systems was started in 1988 as the center of geo- Center, at the Public Research Institute, at (Advanced), and GIS for Environmental spatial activity at SFSU. The IGISc works the Cesar Chavez Institute, at the Institute Analysis. Other courses, such as Field at the intersection of the social, natural, for Analytic Journalism, at the Romberg Methods in Physical Geography and and information sciences, and is actively Tiburon Center for Environmental Watershed Assessment and Restoration engaged in research programs with Studies, and even at the Sierra Nevada integrate field data collection and public and private agencies, non-profit Field Campus (www.sfsu.edu/~sierra/) 15 BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION

near Sierra Buttes where students inte- Applied GIScience research at SFSU development for zoos and botanical grate field studies of meadow hydrol- is diverse, including a broad range of gardens, environmental analysis, field- ogy and ecology with digital maps social, natural and physical sciences, integrated geomorphic surface model- and datasets. Cooperative agencies as well as applications extending into ing, remote sensing models of fire- where faculty and students pursue the humanities and media studies. landslide linkages, geotectonic studies applied GIS research projects include University faculty, staff and students of historic and recent fault movement, California Academy of Sciences, San are actively engaged in GIScience re- micrometeorological landscape analy- Francisco Estuary Institute, the San search focused on ecological conser- sis, urban population modeling from Francisco Zoo, and others. vation modeling, spatial data model satellite imagery, spatial analysis of health statistics, public participation GIS, urban planning applications, wetlands mapping, physical oceanog- raphy and decision support through Logic Scoring of Preferences. These research programs are aided by expertise in specialized and ad- vanced GIScience methods, many of which are focused on integration of field data and advanced modeling. Particular expertise areas include spa- tially-enabled web service and appli- cation development, custom desktop application and tool development, spatial database design and model- ing , cartographic design and map production, scientific visualization, LiDAR and terrain modeling, CAD integration, statistical integration with GIS, photogrammetry, object-oriented image analysis and GPS/field survey data integration. For more information about the IGISc and SFSU’s GIScience activities, please contact Jerry Davis, Director IGISc at [email protected], 415/338-2983, or Barry Nickel, Associate Director, [email protected], 415/338-3566.

immersive 3d simulator-based gis continued from page 13

About the Author Brian B. Quinn, Ph.D. is the GIS Coordinator for City of Berkeley, where he has worked since 2002. He blogs on the use of Virtual World simu- lators for GIS and posts related videos on YouTube as Darb Dabney, moniker of his Second Life avatar, who first rezzed in October 2006. http://blog. simgis.com. 16 BAAMA.ORG

w I N N E R o f L ast I ssue ’ s w H E R E in the B ay A rea ? C ontest

How did you do on our last Where in the Bay Area? Using his clever detective skills, Bill Clement, GISP, with the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, recognized the last image as being an aerial view of Forever Fernwood Cemetery in Marin County. Congratulations Bill! He also praised our article in the last issue about Forever Fernwood, and how they are using high-resolution GPS equipment and a GIS system to manage their green burial cemetery. You can read the article and see all past issues on our website at www.BAAMA.org/journal. We also encourage you to visit Forever Fernwood — it’s a beautiful open-space area, and a wonderful place for an afternoon stroll.

17 BAY AREA AUTOMATED MAPPING ASSOCIATION

A N O T E F R O M Upcoming BA AMA Events As you can see, we are already planning our 2009 educational THE EDITORS sessions and networking events! If you have ideas for events, or would like to suggest a speaker or help plan a session, come to a board meeting or contact a board member! Mark your calendars to save the dates! See www.BAAMA.org for up-to-date details.

November 19, 2008 April 6-9, 2009 GIS Day CalGIS 2009 Location: UC Berkeley Sacramento, CA KARIN TUXEn-BETTMAN Stella Wotherspoon (Mulford and Morgan Halls) Early-bird registration now open at www.calgis.org Located on campus near the After four issues of the BAAMA Journal, West Circle, two blocks from we are very pleased with the progress Downtown Berkeley BART. May 2008 Exact Date: TBD the BAAMA Journal has made. We are December 11, 2008 BAAMA Board Meeting happy to announce that we have now BAAMA Holiday Party Location: TBD Members welcome! RSVP “greased the wheels” enough to hand over Location: Beckett’s Irish Pub, to Malcolm at MAdkins@ many of the Journal production tasks to Berkeley, CA mbakercorp.com All BAAMA members and interested volunteers. It is now easy for you their guests are invited! to take ownership of an article — either to May 28, 2008 (Members get two free drink Educational Session: interview someone, write an article, or edit tickets.) Server GIS an article written by another author. Or, if Location: Metropolitan you prefer, you can write one or more short January 2008 Transportation Commission features, like our fun Where in the Bay Exact Date: TBD Oakland, CA BAAMA Board Meeting Area? piece. Location: TBD July 2008 Members welcome! Exact Date: TBD We have had several consistent advertis- RSVP to Malcolm at BAAMA Board Meeting ers, including Autodesk, Ideate, HJW [email protected] Location: TBD Geospatial, and MarinMap, and several Members welcome! RSVP to January 21, 2008 [email protected] others who have supports us in past issue Educational Session: including EarthData Fugro, GIS Academy, 3D Geospatial Tools July 23, 2008 and Policy Innovation Works. We are very Educational Session: Location: Metropolitan grateful for their support, which allows us Transportation Commission Disaster Planning and to get each issue printed and distributed Oakland, CA Response Location: Metropolitan at our two annual events, CalGIS and GIS Transportation Commission March 2008 Day. If you would like to work with adver- Oakland, CA Exact Date: TBD tisers for our next issue — communicate BAAMA Board Meeting September 2008 with them about the process and collect Location: TBD Exact Date: TBD their artwork, let us know! Members welcome! RSVP BAAMA Board Meeting to Malcolm at MAdkins@ Location: TBD Please contact us at [email protected] if mbakercorp.com Members welcome! RSVP to [email protected] you are interested in doing helping out for March 26, 2008 the next issue, due out at CalGIS in April. Educational Session: September 24, 2008 Field/Mobile Mapping Educational Session: Thank you, and enjoy the Journal! including GPS Real Estate Location: Metropolitan Location: Metropolitan Your mighty editors, Transportation Commission Transportation Commission Oakland, CA Oakland, CA Karin & Stella

18 W HERE IN THE BAY A R E A ?

It’s amazing what you can see with today’s high-resolution aerial photography and satellite imagery. There are places in the Bay Area that most of us may never get to see… unless we see them from an eye in the sky! One example is the area pictured here. Can you guess what (and where) it is? Aerial photography like this also allows us to see nearby urban, land, and water features, so we can take com- munities and the environment into account when we make decisions and plan for the future. Identify this location and win a prize! Send your answers to [email protected]. One lucky winner will be randomly selected from all correct entries received by April 1st, 2009. The winner will be announced in the next issue, due out at CalGIS 2009.

B A A M A E xtends S pecial A ppreciation to its C orporate S ponsors

• AC Transit (www.actransit.org) • Farallon Geographics, Inc. (www.fargeo.com) • Aerial Archives (www.aerialarchives.com) • Geodesy (geodesy.net) • Autodesk, Inc. (usa.autodesk.com) • GIS Academy (www.gisacademy.net) • Bay Area Air Quality Management District • GIS Consultants (joffes.com/GIS) (www.baaqmd.gov) • GreenInfo Network (www.greeninfo.org) • California Water Service Co. (www.calwater.com) • Ideate, Inc. (www.ideateinc.com) • Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (www.centralsan.org) • Lohnes & Wright (www.lohneswright.com) • City College of San Francisco (www.ccsfgis.org) • Marin Municipal Water District (www.marinwater.org) • City of Oakland (www.oaklandnet.com) • City of Palo Alto (www.city.palo-alto.ca.us) • Metropolis New Media, Inc. • City of Pleasanton (www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us) (www.metropolisnewmedia.com) • City of San Jose, Planning (www.sanjoseca.gov/planning) • Michael Baker Jr., Inc. (www.mbakercorp.com) • City of Stockton (www.stocktongov.com) • Microdesk (www.microdesk.com) • City of Walnut Creek (www.ci.walnut-creek.ca.us) • MoosePoint Technology (www.moosepoint.com) • County of Alameda, Public Works Agency • Munsys, Inc. (www.munsys.com) (www.acgov.org/pwa) • PSOMAS (www.psomas.com) • County of Marin, Community Development Dept • San Jose Water Company (www.sjwater.com) (www.co.marin.ca.us) • San Jose International Airport (www.sjc.org) • County of Santa Clara, ISD (www.sccgov.org) • San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District • County of Santa Clara, Planning Office (www.srvfpd.dst.ca.us) (www.sccgov.orgportalsiteplanning) • East Bay Regional Park District (www.ebparks.org) • Santa Clara Valley Water District (www.valleywater.org) • EBMUD (www.ebmud.com) • Stamen Design (stamen.com) • Ellis Geospatial (www.ellis-geospatial.com) • Vallejo Sanitation & Flood Control • EOA, Inc. (www.eoainc.com) • ValueCAD (www.valuecad.com) • ESRI (www.esri.com) • WRA (www.wra-ca.com)