Washington Geographic Information Council (WAGIC) is sponsoring a webinar on drones and unmanned aerial systems (UAS)!
When: October 10, 2019 10-noon
Register: Event is free, but must register in advance- https://watech.webex.com/watech/onstage/g.php?MTID=ec632c0e834d41edf9f1c226d0766e3bc
Audience will be on mute upon entering the webinar. You can login 5-10 mins early to confirm everything is working. There will be a chat capability with the facilitators.
Learn about regulatory requirements and privacy considerations, examples of using thermal imaging for facilities management at Washington State University and more! Abstracts and speaker bios are included below. Q&A – email questions to Christina & Joanne ahead of time for discussion with the speakers.
Thanks,
WAGIC Co-Chairs
Christina Kellum
Joanne Markert
State GIS Coordinator
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Abstracts and Bios
General Principles for Agency Use of Drones
Like most innovative technologies, Unmanned Aerial Systems (“UAS” or “Drones”) offer great ways to better serve the public but also offer new ways to damage the public’s trust. Washington’s cautious agency-by-agency approach to responsible drone ops is now several years old and has matured without a lot of media attention. In this session designed for state and local government employees we’ll explore:
- How drone operations can go wrong
- General principles for agency use of drones
- How drones are serving the public
- How to stay off the evening news
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Will Saunders is the acting Chief Privacy Officer and also the state’s Open Data Guy. He has worked on communications and technology issues for the state since 2005, including telephone regulation, broadband, economic development, central services management, data governance and technology assessment. He is co-author of Data Equity for Main Street, an open data curriculum for public libraries. A graduate of Bowdoin college and the University of Maine School of Law, he is admitted to the bar in Washington and Maine.
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Washington State University – Facilities Services UAS Flight Operations
With Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) becoming affordable and federal laws solidifying in recent years, industry use of UAS has skyrocketed. The construction industry in particular has driven software developers to create easy to use and innovative solutions for mapping and jobsite management. In 2018, WSU Facilities Services created a UAS Flight Operations program to enhance their own GIS mapping efforts. The program has rapidly expanded to include thermal imaging aircraft for roof inspections and utility condition assessments. Thermal imaging has even been used to successfully locate underground water leaks in the domestic water system.
In this session:
- What is UAS and how is it used?
- UAS rules and regulations
- WSU UAS Flight Operations Program – How WSU uses UAS
- Software and data processing
- Lessons learned and tips to get started
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Bob Nichols is the Manager of Spatial Information and Technology for Washington State University Facilities Services – Facility Information Resource Management (FIRM) division. He has worked in the Information Technology and GIS fields at WSU since 2004 and manages FIRM’s Geographic Information System/Campus Mapping, Space Information Management, Construction Archives and UAS Flight Operations groups. Having a personal interest in aviation (private pilot for 22 years), in 2018 he created FIRM’s UAS Flight Operations program. Since the creation of the program, they have mapped over 1,500 acres of WSU property and inspected many roofs, utilities and building exteriors using thermal imaging.
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DNR and Drones for Forest Management
Miles Micheletti, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Data Manager for DNR’s Forest Resources Division, will present DNR’s work on drone surveys, and how Forest Resources developed a unique survey method with a handful of consumer drones, Agisoft Metashape software, and a healthy sprinkling of ArcGIS, Python, and AWS. Special attention will be given to data management, as it should be.
Miles graduated from the Evergreen State College in 2015 with a dual Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in GIS and Landscape Ecology, started an internship in Forest Resources Division, and never left. He splits his time between software development, UAS data processing, program management, and flying drones.