Borders & Frontiers

Jason Krueger, manager Ayres Associates Geospatial Division, catches up with Jake Schneider, President and CEO of Cartegraph

Ayres Associates is excited to be sponsoring and attending the Cartegraph National Conference in Denver, Colorado, this week.

We partnered with Cartegraph earlier this year to bring our clients improved asset management solutions and offer the best outcomes possible to our many municipal and private clients around the country. While at the conference, we’re among the more than 300 attendees who are networking with and receiving training from industry experts on a wide range of topics, from organizational productivity and field time maximization to best practices and performance-driven decision-making. We’re hearing real-life examples, tips, tricks and more – all of which will help us better help our valued clients.

One of the aspects of this conference that piqued my attention is the wide range of backgrounds and job responsibilities amongst the users here. it ranged from administrators of holistic Cartegraph solutions within large cities to folks that have just launched their early implementation to solve very discreet issues within smaller communities.

The theme of several of today’s breakout discussions was a high-level look at analyzing the effectiveness of asset management solutions within organizations. The ability to easily and effectively manage assets and their attributes is changing the way local government services operate. However, simply implementing an asset management solution may not go far enough in determining if it’s being used effectively. Analysis starts with establishing a baseline level of information from which future decision-making is founded upon.

To help reinforce the importance of these baselines, an attendee in the session from Lone Tree, Colorado, shared their approach. They started with establishing their road network and conditional analysis using geospatial technology and well-established processes for rating condition. All maintenance and repairs to their City’s road networks going forward will now be informed by the data they collected and built into their Cartegraph OMS (operations management system) platform.

Ayres Associates can provide the key expertise needed to establish these baselines for municipalities. The first step in building the baseline in many cases starts with spatially locating above-ground assets such as road networks, water utilities, signs, and trees, as well as below-ground assets. Ayres offers a robust suite of survey services using aerial, mobile, and ground-based technology in addition to subsurface locational equipment. We also have expertise in providing municipalities with inspection services, which is critical for the initial attribution of the condition of the located assets.

Quint Pertzsch, Cartegraph Sales Engineer Manager, highlights some of the report data displayed within OMS

The powerful tools within Cartegraph OMS permits comparative analysis throughout the organization to measure efficiency and effectiveness against quantitative baselines. The dashboard applications of OMS provide a range of measurable analytics, such as expenditures, material costs, labor hours, labor costs, budgets, and schedules. Customized reports within Cartegraph can be prepared for key decision-makers and the greater public to help make informed decisions about investments and prioritization.

Together with Cartegraph, we’re continually working to bring our clients comprehensive, well-designed asset management solutions. Attending the national conference this week is allowing us to exchange ideas and further pursue these initiatives.

Ayres Associates, founded in 1959 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is a nationwide professional consulting firm providing services in transportation, civil, structural, river, utility, and water resources engineering; aerial mapping and land surveying; environmental science; planning; architecture; and landscape architecture. Ayres Associates provides services from a network of 12 offices across the country.

 If you follow this blog – or follow the U.S. geospatial market – you know that operating a UAS or drone for commercial purposes is strictly regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Ayres Associates has been using UAS on projects for the past few years. We follow all 624 pages of the Part 107 regulations and adopted further internal standard operating procedures to ensure safe and successful operations. Our staff members publish blog articles and speak regularly at conferences to help educate the community on proper UAS use and have become experts in our marketplace.

We’ve fielded many questions about this fast-moving technology, but one question we haven’t addressed is “What if a person is not flying for commercial use?” We get this question from clients and in our social circles. Not long ago, a co-worker approached me with a story.

It was beautiful spring day, and he and his kids were riding their bikes at a local park when they heard what sounded like 1,000 bees bearing down on them. They looked left, they looked right, nothing. Then my co-worked looked up and saw the culprit. It was both his and his children’s first experience with a drone, and, if you haven’t heard one, they can be very loud. The drone followed them for about a minute and a half through the trails. While the family was not necessarily scared, the kids were a little nervous and certainly distracted. Having biked into the back of a parked car while looking over my shoulder and waving at mom when I was 5, I can understand my co-worker’s concern about his kids focusing on the buzzing drone instead of the trail and terrain before them. Monday morning, he stopped in and asked, “What can hobbyists do with drones?”

First, before anyone can fly in the United States, they must:

• Be 13 years of age or older (if the owner is less than 13 years of age, a person 13 or older must register the small unmanned aircraft)
• Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident
• Register the UAS if it weighs more than 0.55 pounds and less than 55 pounds. (Larger UAS requires a different registration).
• Label the UAS with their registration number

Read and understand all safety guidelines

So, what are some of the safety guidelines for recreational drone users?

• Fly no higher than 400 feet, and remain below any surrounding obstacles when possible
• Keep the UAS in eyesight at all times
• Never fly near manned aircraft operations. Operators must always see and avoid other aircraft and obstacles.
• Stay five miles from an airport or heliport
• Never fly over unprotected persons or moving vehicles
• Remain at least 25 feet away from individuals and vulnerable property
• Never fly over stadiums or sports events
• Never fly near emergency response efforts, such as fires
• Never fly under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Do not fly in adverse weather conditions, such as in high winds or reduced visibility
• Ensure the operating environment is safe and that the operator is competent and proficient in UAS operation.
• Do not fly near or over sensitive infrastructure or property, such as power stations, water treatment facilities, correctional facilities, heavily traveled roadways, or government facilities
• Check and follow all local laws and ordinances before flying over private property
• Follow community-based safety guidelines, as developed by organizations such as the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA).
• Do not conduct surveillance or photograph persons in areas where there is an expectation of privacy without the individual’s permission

All UAS/drone operators much be aware of their surroundings. Could you crash into a child or animal? Could you crash into your neighbor’s house or car? Are there power lines nearby?

Also consider who else is using the sky. Crop dusters, emergency operators, police, firefighters, and others regularly operate at low altitudes, and a drone can do a lot of damage to their aircraft. You should not be flying your drone near any of these.

The rules and guidelines may not be fully inclusive and could change frequently. It’s up to the operator to understand the current rules. If you want more information on recreational use of UAS, here are a few good resources:

http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/for-recreational-users/

https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/fly_for_fun/

If you need further help, contact a local recreational flying club for guidance.

Note: Commercial UAS operators are more heavily regulated than recreational operators. They are licensed, better trained, and follow the FAA Part 107 regulations.

What is commercial use? Anything you can receive compensation for. Real-estate, wedding videos, consulting, data analysis, surveying, inspection, and marketing/promotional videos can all be considered commercial use.

Have a question about when and where you can (or can’t) operate a UAS? Comment below, and we’d be happy to follow up and get you an answer.

A number of events have occurred over the last several years that are important to be aware of when using Wisconsin LiDAR .las datasets in GIS software. Here is a timeline of these events:

2014

• LAS version 1.4 becomes the industry standard point cloud file format

2015

• EPSG publishes WISCRS with codes for each county, uses NAD83 (2011) rather than HARN
• http://www.ayresgeospatial.com/2015/12/01/new-epsg-codes-published-for-wisconsin/

2016

• Wisconsin countywide lidar required to meet USGS OGC well-known-text (WKT) standards
• ArcGIS v10.4 software has issues projecting .las files with USGS compliant WISCRS WKT

So what’s the problem? If you are using .las datasets in Wisconsin from 2016 or later, be aware that ESRI may not be reading the .las files properly. The most common error is an ‘inconsistent extent warning’. Some users can load the .las data with a projection warning, but it cannot be viewed in ArcMap. The main issue is that ESRI is expecting a standard parallel value that is not part of the USGS WKT. See screenshots below for a comparison between USGS and ESRI coordinate definitions:

USGS projection information:

ESRI projection information:

How can you help? We have made ESRI aware of this issue. If you are experiencing an issue with properly reading .las files in ArcMap v10.4 or later, please contact your ESRI representative and refer to case #01934862, which we have initiated on this topic. If you are experiencing this issue with Wisconsin LiDAR data produced in 2016 or later, please contact us, and let us know the specifics.

Matt Vinopal: vinopalm@ayresassociates.com

Zach Nienow: nienowz@ayresassociates.com

Staff from Ayres Associates recently had the opportunity to do a series of presentations at the Children’s Water Festival in Fort Collins, CO.  The 26^th annual festival is an opportunity for professionals from a wide range of water related professions to come together and educate over 1,800 third graders on the importance of water through a wide range of topics. These topics range from learning about pollution, aquatic wildlife, water resources, supply and conservation, water chemisty and much more.

Ayres Associates Geospatial Project Manager, Jim Kelly, teamed up with the City of Fort Collins Water Field Operations Special Projects Manager, Andrew Gingerich, for a presentation titled Water Quest.  In the presentation, Jim and Andrew taught kids about the importance of having access to clean water, where Fort Collins water comes from and how it’s distributed throughout the City.  Key to the presentation were the maps and aerial imagery used by the City to track, maintain and design the over 560 linear miles water distribution system beneath the streets of Fort Collins.

Using interactive maps with aerial imagery, the presentation showed kids where the headwaters of Fort Collins water sources originate and then followed a path through the series of rivers, tunnels and reservoirs used to transfer the water across the continental divide to the City’s water production facility.  The kids were then able to view the sprawling water distribution network on a map while Andrew discussed the tremendous effort involved in designing and maintaining the water system in order for the kids to get clean water every day.

Watching the reaction of the children as they slowly realized that water doesn’t just appear when they turn on the faucet is truly an amazing experience.  Being able to visually follow the maps showing them how far the water travels and how vast the pipe network below the streets literally opened their eyes and allowed them to understand how important clean water is and how lucky we are to have such easy access to it.

Opportunities to work with our local community and teach kids about the importance of clean water and map technology is one of the more rewarding aspects to working at Ayres Associates.  It’s easy to get consumed with the day to day workflows of what we do and having the opportunity to teach kids and watch their faces smile in awe of water systems and mapping technology is something we don’t get to do enough.