WLIA 2025 Annual Conference Appleton

Explore ways the City of Sun Prairie has improved their sanitary and stormwater asset management systems using the Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Portal environment. GIS staff and public service crews worked together to update the database schema, field maps, and eventually create centralized web experiences using Esri’s Experience Builder. The project is ever-evolving, but crews are already able to better track and plan their work.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District utilizes 3D modeling and BIM to support vertical asset management and improve operations at their two Water Reclamation Facilities. Learn how MMSD's BIM Vision guides the organization towards a Digital Twin!

Over the past few years, the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has expanded exponentially. This presentation will explore the numerous ways GIS has been embedded across our divisions, highlighting the development of a strong, collaborative GIS community within the department and the governance structures that support this technology.
We will also discuss the challenges we've faced in addressing significant GIS technical debt, the steps we've taken to drive GIS innovation, and how we are prioritizing future projects and services to ensure continued growth and efficiency.
Our goal is for this presentation to spark meaningful conversations with our partners, allowing for questions and input that will help guide and "drive" the future of GIS initiatives at WisDOT

This presentation will show how Calumet County has been utilizing drones and Arc FieldMaps to conduct field compliance checks for Farmland Preservation requirements. Once the field data has been gathered, compliance reports are generated automatically through Arc Pro Map Series. Utilizing these tools has significantly reduced the amount of time Land and Water staff members spend to conduct the compliance checks.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have revolutionized the way many counties and municipalities approach stockpile volume estimation, offering a highly efficient, accurate, and cost-effective solution to traditional manual and hazardous survey techniques. Leveraging years of experience using this approach to assist local governments, this presentation explores the end-to-end process of utilizing UAS technology to calculate stockpile volumes, focusing on the technical, operational, and regulatory aspects critical to success.

We will cover the hardware and software requirements, from selecting the appropriate drone and sensors to employing desktop and cloud-based photogrammetry software for precise 3D modeling. The importance of flight planning, including optimal altitude, overlap, flight path design, and camera settings will be highlighted to ensure data accuracy and efficiency. Key considerations for establishing reliable survey control, such as ground control points (GCPs) and real-time kinematics (RTK), will also be discussed.

Additionally, the presentation will touch on the challenges of negotiating airspace regulations, including compliance with FAA requirements, no-fly zones, and ensuring operational safety in the national airspace. Attendees will gain insights into accuracy standards and strategies for mitigating common errors in volume estimation.

Whether you are new to UAS technology or looking to enhance your existing workflows, this session will provide actionable knowledge and best practices for integrating UAS into stockpile volume estimation projects with confidence and precision.