WLIA 2025 Annual Conference Appleton: Full Schedule

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10:30am CST

Making Wisconsin Historic Aerial Imagery Available to the World

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:30am - 11:00am CST

First released in 2011, the Wisconsin Historic Aerial Imagery Finder (“WHAIFinder”) has been our primary means of providing download access to over 38,000 scanned aerial photographs acquired between 1936 and 1941. We recently reached a major new milestone: we now have nearly 150,000 photos available for free download, dating from 1936 to 2022. In addition to acquiring and organizing new scanned photography, we completely redesigned the WHAIFinder Web app from the ground-up. We also now maintain an Esri feature service that GIS users can utilize for searching and then downloading GeoTIFF-format images, and a “bulk download” option for grabbing large volumes of data for specific areas of interest. In this presentation I will talk about what is available and lessons learned along the way.

Speakers

Jim Lacy

Associate State Cartographer, Wisconsin State Cartographer's Office

Jim is the Associate State Cartographer at the WI State Cartographer's Office, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Thursday February 27, 2025 10:30am - 11:00am CST
Evergreen

Imagery, Beginner

11:00am CST

Modeling Urban Forest Canopy in Wisconsin

Thursday February 27, 2025 11:00am - 11:30am CST

Evergreen

DNR staff created new statewide urban landcover models for Wisconsin for 2020 and 2022 derived from USDA aerial imagery. This presentation will describe the creation and validation of these models and highlight urban forest canopy differences between Wisconsin communities. In addition, this presentation will highlight the relationships between urban landcover and several variables including temperature, cooling, population demographics, and housing values. Finally, this presentation will demonstrate how the model can be used to optimize the beneficial effects of urban forests.

Speakers

Robert Smail

Research Scientist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Bob Smail is a research scientist for the Division of Forestry in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. His research topics include public land economics, urban heat island effects, historical forest cover change, and the effects of groundwater and climate variation on forest... Read More →

Thursday February 27, 2025 11:00am - 11:30am CST
Evergreen

Imagery, Advanced

11:30am CST

WROC 2025 - Program Update

Thursday February 27, 2025 11:30am - 12:00pm CST

Evergreen

The Wisconsin Regional Orthoimagery Consortium (WROC) is in full swing for 2025. Many counties across the state will be participating, along with a variety of partners. This presentation will go over consortium structure, participation levels, ortho and mapping options, and current trends. Please join us for a program update and discussion of future orthoimagery cycles in Wisconsin.

Speakers

Andy Faust

GIS Analyst, North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

Andy has been with North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission for over 20 years. He is a long time WLIA member and WROC program manager.

Zach Nienow

Manager - Aerial Mapping, Ayres Associates

Zach manages the aerial mapping group at Ayres Associates. He has been a member of WLIA since 2012 and is a past president. He is the WROC consultant program manager.

Thursday February 27, 2025 11:30am - 12:00pm CST
Evergreen

Imagery, Intermediate