GIS Day 2024

Join us before the presentations for coffee and pastries. 

Welcome and introduction of the ISU GIS Support and Research Facility by Josh Obrecht

This presentation will provide an overview of the new website in development for the ISU Historic Buildings project presented at GIS Day 2023 by Kevin Kane. 

The project website is being developed using CollectionBuilder, an open source static web template designed for cultural heritage digital collections. I will walk through CollectionBuilder’s built-in Leaflet capabilities as well as explore the customizations in progress for this project. I will also provide a brief overview of the next steps for the project. 

Erin Ridnour, Digital Scholarship Librarian, University Library, emanders@iastate.edu

The Daily Erosion Project (DEP) team developed a process to estimate residue cover using Landsat on Google Earth Engine. We’ll discuss how we did this and show some estimates of residue cover for the western Corn Belt over the last few years.

Brian Gelder, DEP and GISF Co-Lead, bkgelder@iastate.edu

Bryce Pape, Graduate Student, bppape@iastate.edu

In this presentation we will discuss the ways that the Library's Digital Scholarship and Initiatives (DSI) department has incorporated StoryMaps into instruction, from honors seminars to workshops to course-related instruction. We will share examples from a variety of disciplines, including graphic design, Spanish, composition, and journalism.

Michael Cummings, Digital Scholarship Librarian, University Library, mrc2@iastate.edu

Erin Ridnour, Digital Scholarship Librarian, University Library, emanders@iastate.edu

Over 66,000 slope failures have been mapped across the state of North Dakota since the 1920s. This large, spatial dataset provides invaluable information to be able to assess the impact of various factors that might precondition a region to be susceptible to landslides. This study evaluated the effects of the surficial geology, slope inclination, land covers, pore fluid chemistry and precipitation patterns on the slope failures that occurred. The results are compared with over 68,000 randomly selected locations across the state that did not experience any slope failures. The results provide a way for the geotechnical engineering community and policy makers to learn lessons from the past slope failures to determine vulnerable regions with the state for future developments.

Beena Ajmera, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, bajmera@iastate.edu

This talk explores the relationship between spatial data, computation, and public participation in the design process. We’ll look at a case study of the Eastern Sierra Towns to Trails Plan evaluate a strategy for computing alignment alternatives for a regional trail network. The computation of trail alignment alternatives is one step in a larger, collaborative process, which relies on the input of professionals, stakeholders, and the public at multiple stages. The role of computing in an early stage of the planning process is generative, and the resulting alignments serve as subjects for more detailed conversations about trail design and development. Multiple alternatives are generated through a geospatial modeling framework based on different weightings of project criteria i.e., values. The resulting maps allow for conversations and feedback about specific material realities in the landscape and the values and goals represented by the modeling framework. We evaluate the GIS modeling approach for its ability to overcome shortcomings in data completeness and consistency. The results may inform future strategies for trail corridor planning, especially for multi-jurisdictional projects at the regional scale.

Austin Dunn, Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, awdunn@iastate.edu

Closing by the GIS Support and Research Facility and awarding of Mapping Masterminds contest prizes