***Note:  The Symposium will now be held at the FAU MAIN Campus in Boca Raton, FL.***

Please Join Us at the Florida ASPRS Symposium Saturday, November 8th
Florida Atlantic University (FAU)

The Florida Region of ASPRS will be hosting a symposium on Saturday, November 8th at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) –  Main Campus.  Presentations will begin at 11:00 a.m. EST. If you are interested in attending or presenting please register at the link below.  Location is scheduled to be at the Main Campus at 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton, FL.

Registration:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1liTfvzd1-zLDCvn-sijUc2iXanRuNCpYmRuiswyLFo0/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link

Come and join us in welcoming our prospective newest student chapter at FAU.

Ekaterina Fitos

FL Region ASPRS President

The Florida Region of ASPRS is looking for someone to help take over the role of the Region's Student Advisory Council Chair. Any Students within the Florida Region looking to network with the Regional Board of Directors, and to interface with other students and faculty within the Region, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thanks

Last year I wrote about my trail and errors as a novice apiarist.  As I have written in the past about the difficulties of being a new apiarist, it takes a lot of hard work and foresight to ensure the hive is working and prospering.  As this year kicks off, we as a society have to work together to instill camaraderie within our organization and promote our missions within the industry.

As the Region’s new President, I want us all to work together to foster positive relationships and name recognition. We must focus on building upwards.  What does this mean? It means interact more with our members and affiliates.  As I see it, there are three pillars that ensure the continued success of our region: expansion, marketing, and involvement. Each of these three items cumulates to instill our region’s growth.

My goal as president is to expand our Student Association Council (SAC) to universities throughout Florida and engage our members through webinars, socials, and other outreach measures.  We will focus on outreach that adds value to our society such as our newsletter, annual meeting, and symposiums.  We must be willing to reach out to other professional societies, and develop new partnerships that increase our brand recognition. Working together we will continue to build our region, and increase our membership.
I look forward to making 2014 successful.

Ekaterina Fitos, GISP
President, Florida Region

Bees are a fascinating topic. It is amazing to think that the hive is a complex, highly organized unit that is self-renewing. The bees can regulate their temperature and the queen controls density by monitoring egg production. The queen and her worker bees monitor each other through chemical signals to ensure the survival of their genes and the overall hive. Each has a specified role. If one sector falls, the hive collapses into chaos, and dies.

You might ask: how does this apply to our region and the society as a whole? We can learn a lot from  the hive mentality. As a society we must work together for the health and wellness of the Florida Region. Each of us should take on an active and defined role to help promote our mission statement and foster relationships that expand our membership. We as the society’s worker bees need to be prepared to execute plans that will ensure the long-term survival of our society and the continuation of our purpose. Overall, this means participation in events and promoting ASPRS.

Please take a moment to review the University of Florida's Geomatics Newsletter, located here:

On February 28th, the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a Career day at the North Central Florida Horizon Center Alternative School where the troubled students got exposed to various career fields from a variety of professions, from beauticians to photogrammetrists.

Altavian's Brian Murphy was able to be involved with the event, and got to meet many great kids who were very attentive and curious about how Google Earth imagery is really made, and how Unmanned Aircraft are able to provide "HD Google Earth" for small-sized areas of interest. Students also got lessons on business development skills and how dressing appropriately helps develop alignment with customers.

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Join the Florida Region of ASPRS for their Annual meeting where we will have all sorts of great presentations, from UAVs to mapping manatees.

When: Friday August 15, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EDT
Where: TPC Sawgrass Marriott,, 1000 PGA TOUR Boulevard , Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

Register: HERE

Note:  Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) is an "ancient grain" from the New World (Equador, Peru, Bolivia).  It a seed (not a true cereal)  that is very high in protein with a rich, nutty flavor. To prepare quinoa, combine 1 cup uncooked quinoa (red or white) in a saucepan with 1.5 cups of water (or vegetable broth), bring it to a boil, lower the heat to the lowest simmer possible, and simmer, covered for ~ 15 - 20 minutes.  When cooked the seeds are soft and slightly crunchy, but not mushy.  Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork.

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin; add more to taste)
1 cup leeks (more if desired) cut very thin into rings
1 teaspoon minced or crushed garlic
1/2 lb of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt (add to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
6 - 4" Portabello mushrooms grilled in olive oil for 2 - 3 minutes and then cut into slices

Directions:

1 - Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat and wait about a minute, then add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.  Toss in the leeks, and saute for about 5 minutes.  When the leek is very soft, add the garlic, asparagus and 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring often, until the asparagus is just tender - about 5 minutes.

2-  Fork in the cooked, fluffed quinoa, and stir to combine, adding the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and a generous amount of black pepper as you go.  Stir in the portabello mushrooms.  If the mixture seems dry, you can add either some vegetable broth or some olive oil.

Serve as a side or as an alternative, you can use the mixture as a stuffing for grilled mushrooms and serve as an entree!

 A decade after Columbus sailed across the Atlantic, explorers were still speculating about the contours of the New World. Although today’s experts remain uncertain about when, exactly, Europeans first set foot in La Florida, cartographers began to sketch the outlines of the peninsula by the early 1500s. By 1511, a historian named Peter Martyr labeled the unknown land north of Cuba “Isla de Beimeni,” the native Indian name for what is now Florida.

Martyr’s map is just one of more than 150 maps featured in Charting the Land of Flowers: 500 Years of Florida Maps, opening Sept. 21 at the Tampa Bay History Center. The most comprehensive exhibition of Florida cartography ever presented, Charting the Land of Flowers traces six centuries of Florida history, bringing together maps from museum and library collections around the world, many of which will be on view to the public for the first time.

Marking the quincentenary of Ponce de León’s 1513 landing on Florida’s shores, the exhibit offers a rare opportunity to see the world as the early European explorers saw it, and to watch the peninsula that would become one of our county’s most populous and diverse states evolve before their eyes. They’ll also see that much of the earliest European exploration of North America occurred not in New England, but in Florida, while early railroad maps and travelogues show how the state became an agricultural powerhouse and America’s No. 1 tourist destination.

Intricate and often vibrant ― pink, red, and purple hues abound ― the early maps presented in Charting the Land of Flowers are as much works of art as they are historical documents. Together with atlases, military maps, and satellite images, they chart 500 years of exploration, settlement, and growth in The Land of Flowers.

Select maps featured in the exhibition:
•1513       Tabula Terre Nove; Portrays the world as it was known at the time of the Ponce de Leon’s Florida landing.
•1786       Maritime Observations in a Letter by Benjamin Franklin; Includes “A Chart of the Gulf Stream.”
•1864       “The Capture of Tampa Bay, Florida;” Shows the Union capture of Tampa.
•1917       American Automobile Association (AAA); Early Florida road map.
•2009       NASA view of Florida from Space, taken by astronaut and Clearwater native Nicole Stott.

Please use the following hyperlink in order to access theDecember 2013 Array of Sunshine, which features the following articles:

• Bon Dewitt named as an ASPRS Fellow
• FL-ASPRS Sponsors GIS Day at the University of Florida
• December Member Spotlight: Thomas D. Morelli
• University of Florida Team Wins CAGIS/ASPRS Student Map Competition
• Charting the Land of Flowers: 500 Years of Florida Maps
• Kathy's Bee Hive
• Inaugural ASPRS FL-Region Research Symposium
• GIS Division Activities

Earlier this year, my sister and I decided to take on a new hobby – bee keeping. Owning a hive has been one of my childhood dreams.  However, it was not until my sister pointed out that the University of South Florida were offering weekend classes once a month at the Botanical Garden did I receive an opportunity to live my dream of bee keeping. Relishing in the idea of having unlimited amounts of sweet, succulent honey to consume was a big motivator for me, and of course, I enthusiastically agreed to partake in this endeavor.

At first glance, keeping bees looks simple enough.  I for one was blindsided by the idea of reaping the reward of honey without realizing that a great deal of work and expense goes into caring for these creatures.  We began by ordering, and building our hive boxes from a jig-saw of pre-cut wood pieces.  After over four hours in the grueling heat and several small miracles, we assembled each of our boxes; a feat that would have been impossible without the help and kindness from the volunteer bee keepers assisting that day. 

Next we had to prepare our hive site which entailed another day of work to clear the land, and lay down protective fabric.  Then there was what we referred to as “Bee Drop or Bee-Day” weekend.  Bee-Day was when we actually received our nucs and queens, and had to transport each of the bee filled boxes to our site.  To further establish the hives, for over two months, we had to visit our bees every few days to feed them sugar water.   Topping it all off, due the stress of the move, the hives were left susceptible to disease, and ended up contracting small hive beetles of which we are currently battling. 

During the first few months of us being novice apiarists we nearly lost two of our hives.  Only through our perseverance have we managed to overcome these difficulties. Bee keeping has taught me several life-lessons that can be applied to our society, and to the issues that plague it.

As a society, we cannot expect to merely reap the rewards of others labors.  We need to be willing to put our own sweat and hard work to make our unit, the Florida Region of ASPRS, successful.  We also need to do what it takes to feed our Society.  This means participating in events like the annual symposium, volunteering at the conference, submitting articles to the newsletter, presenting a webinar, and mentoring student members.   All these activities are necessary to ensure we, as an organization, remain productive and continue to grow. 

As 2013 comes to a close, I am optimistic that through hard work and a little luck we can increase our membership and continue to make the Florida Region of ASPRS a success.  I look forward to working with you and leading the region in 2014.

At the 2013 CAGIS/ASPRS Fall Specialty Conference in San Antonio, TX, a Student Map Competition was conducted amongst teams from across the United States. The University of Florida represented the Florida ASPRS Region in the competition.

The challenge for each team was to apply geospatial tools to predict the location of potential natural hazards and to inform and manage public response. The objective of the competition was to demonstrate an ability to work collaboratively to determine the best methods for (a) developing predicted inundation areas using storm surge predictions and topographic information for the Galveston, Texas area; (b) merging predicted inundation information and evacuation routes to create a map to help the public understand the potential for impact in their geographic area and appropriate evacuation routes from their areas to safe zones. The Galveston area was chosen as the site for this competition based on the large number of hurricane events (21) in this Gulf Coast area from 1900-2010 (See graphic below).
 

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/images/strikes_wgulf.jpg

A three person, University of Florida team comprised of Geography and Geomatics students won first place with its paper entitled “A Novel Approach to Visualization of an Evacuation Map for Hurricane Ike in Galveston County, TX.” By creating an inundation map from elevation data and time series Hurricane Ike storm surge data first, the UF team was able to use the inundation map to create a visually appealing and informative evacuation zone map based on zip code boundaries, landmarks, and times of inundation.

Congratulations to Yin-Hsuen Chen, Stephanie Zick, and Adam Benjamin on their team’s success!

David Alvarez is currently the National GIS Division Director from the Great Lakes Region, and is a guest writer for the Florida Region.

The GIS Division has been focusing the last two years in increasing the presence and participation of the GIS field at the society events.  This is been done by setting at the annual conference special sessions focus on GIS or Integration of GIS/Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry and other activities.

For the year 2013 the GIS Division worked on:

• Preparing a special issue for PE&RS. Mobile Mapping for Disaster Management (October 2013).
• Update the ASPRS GIS Division website
• Partner with other Division on special session for the annual conferences
• Started the Online seminars series in partnership with CaGIS and GLIS.

Online Seminars

The online seminars began in January, 2013 and were planned approximately once a month excluding months when ASPRS conferences took place. The online seminars are 1 hour long (including Q&A) and ASPRS is responsible for the technical\communication setup. All of the seminars have been recorded and archived for anyone to view at a later time from the ASPRS GIS Division website.

The 2013 series has included 7 seminars to date (table 2), with 908 registrations and a total of 512 attendees (56% attendance rate). 63 attendees have attended two or more online seminars and there have been a total of 189 views of the archived seminars.

Conclusions

Based on the distribution of the zip code:

• Attendees are coming from all over the US and International. (See Maps)
• There are concentration of attendees in the Virginia-DC Area, Columbus, OH, Denver and surrounding areas, St Louis and San Francisco, CA.  – See map 1 and Map 2.
• International participation fluctuates more based on seminar topic, US participation is more consistent

• Get funding to increase the license to at least 500 attendees.
• Add the Organization of Fish and Wildlife Information Managers to the list of organization to participate on the 2014 series.

Thomas D. Morelli is an Independent Contractor and has been an ASPRS member since 1979. He is a Maritime Port and Border Security expert specializing in strategy, assessments, and training in U.S. foreign assistance initiatives. He is also an experienced Project Manager and recognized subject matter expert in maritime regional analysis, recently focusing primarily on Africa.

Tom has long experience in remote sensing applications to law enforcement and intelligence issues, where he began consulting practice after retiring from U.S. Government service in late 2005 with twenty four years of service at departments of Defense and Transportation. He began as an imagery analyst working on Eastern Europe, and then maritime transportation analyst for Latin America/Caribbean and Soviet Union; his final 12 years were as a port/cargo security program manager. His earliest experience was in south Florida municipal law enforcement and included investigative roles in federal drug smuggling cases.

The Florida Region of ASPRS sponsored and exhibited at the University of Florida's GIS Day, an event that was coordinated by Carol Mcauliffe, the University's Map and Imagery librarian. The event  was attended by P.K Young High School Geography students, in addition to a number of University of Florida students, professors and staff. The GIS day was a huge success, with a poster competition, and a number of speakers discussing their career's in GIS. Among the speakers was our very own Al Karlin, who made the trip up from Brooksville, to speak about ASPRS, Certification and his experiences working in GIS. The Florida Region donated a $50 check and $50 worth of ASPRS Bookstore Bucks to the winner of the UF GIS Day competition.

There were also two presentations of interest pertaining to Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry: The first was entitled "Providing Access to Geospatial Data Collections at the University of Florida using EVGeoCloud" by Carol McAuliffe, where she showcased how the University is using new web based technologies in order to make their maps more accessible to the user community.

The interesting presentation was from Mark Sullivan and Matt Peters of the University's George A. Smathers Library "Unearthing St. Augustine's Colonial Heritage : An Interactive Digital Collection for the Nation's Oldest City" where they showcased the ability to geo-reference aerial imagery and historical maps directly in a web based environment.

Although the Conference had a low attendance, many individuals commented on the benefit of having a smaller, more intimite meeting; however, many exhibitors were not as enthused.  The primary reason for the low attendance was the Government shutdown had prevented a lot of members from booking travel or doing early registration. It was estimated we lost between 200-300 attendees. This was on the back of the Baltimore conference where the Government sequester had effected a similar result.
 I don’t like to still the membership report’s thunder, but a startling and scary statistic was presented by Don Lauer. Our current total active membership has reached an all time low of just under 3200 members. Twenty years ago we had 5500 members but if the current trend was to continue, within the next 10 years we would be under 2500 and isn’t sure that the Society can survive with numbers that low.
 The online webinars (“techinar”) offered are a huge success but a recent session pointed out a huge flaw in the system. Our own Dr. Karlin was presenting how the SWFWMD uses remotely sensed data and the understanding was that our GoToMeeting license was good for 1000 people. Unfortunately after 95 people has signed in it locked everyone else out. This showed that our license was under budgeted and steps are being taken to increase the number to 500.
 The Publications committee had exciting news that the ASPRS now has its first eBook with the launch of the Airborne Topographic Lidar Manual on Kindle.
The Kindle version can be read on an iPad with a Kindle app. They are also in the works to produce the Manual of Photogrammetry, 6th Edition as an eBook.
 The National Technical Planning Committee (NTPC) are still on track to take over Confernce planning, most likely starting in 2017. As previously reported the plan

Florida Region member and Board of Director Bon A. Dewitt was amongst five individuals having been named the 2014 ASPRS Fellow Award winners.  The ASPRS designation of Fellow is conferred on active Society members who have performed exceptional service in advancing the science and use of the mapping sciences (photogrammetry, remote sensing, surveying, geographic information systems, and related disciplines).

The designation of Fellow is awarded for pro-fessional excellence and for service to the Society. Candidates are nominated by other active members, recommended to the Fellows Committee, and elected by the ASPRS Board of Directors. Up to 0.3 percent of the Society’s active members may be elected as Fellows in any one year.  The nominees must have made outstanding contributions in a recognized Society specialization whether in practice, research, development, administration, or education in the mapping sciences. Members of the Fellows Committee and the Executive Committee are ineligible for nomination.  This year’s awards will be given in March at the ASPRS 2014 Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

Dr. Dewitt has been working as a faculty member in the Geomatics Program at the University of Florida for more than 22 years. He has been teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in photogrammetry, digital mapping, geodesy, least squares adjustments, hydrographic surveying, subdivision design, route geometrics, as well as other mapping science topics. He has advised dozens of Masters and Doctoral students and supervised research projects that involved, for example, state-wide satellite image classification and GIS analysis, determination of ordinary high water lines using remote sensing, and the utilization of unmanned autonomous aerial vehicles for mapping applications. The University of Florida recognized his instructional aptitude by presenting him with two of the coveted “Teaching Improvement Program” Awards, in 1994 and again in 1999. He has also served as the faculty advisor of the ASPRS Student Chapter at the University of Florida for the past 19 years. He continues to encourage students to join the Society as student members and has been a Member Champion several times.

Dr. Dewitt has contributed significantly to the mapping science community in the state of Florida and nationally through many professional continuing education seminars. He has been involved in writing and quality-checking exam questions in the subjects of surveying and photogrammetry for the NCEES. He has also served as a private consultant and expert witness in numerous court cases involving forensic photogrammetry.

Dr. Dewitt started his ASPRS (ASP) services as a student member in 1981, becoming an ASPRS active member in 1989 after completing his Ph.D. Beginning with his election in 1993, Dr. Dewitt has served the Florida Region of ASPRS for over 18 years, first as a Region Director and currently as the Secretary/Treasurer. He also served on the Program Committee for two national ASPRS annual conferences – once in 1998 as the Student Volunteer Coordinator and once in 2007 as the Technical Program Coordinator.  Dr. Dewitt regularly serves as a manuscript reviewer for the Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing Journal as well as other journals in the field.  Dr. Dewitt was the author/co-author of many scientific research papers in the digital mapping and photogrammetry fields.

He is co-author with Dr. Paul Wolf of ‘Elements of Photogrammetry – With Applications in GIS,’ which is one of the most widely used photogrammetry textbooks, both in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Dr. Dewitt has received several ASPRS awards during his professional career.  As a graduate student, he received the Bausch and Lomb Photogrammetric Award (1981) and the Wild Heerbrugg Photogrammetric Fellowship Award (1982).  In 1996, he received an ASPRS merit award, and in the same year he received the Intergraph award as a co-author for best scientific paper in spatial data standards. In 2001, he received the President’s Award from the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society.

Please join the Florida Region Board of Directors in congratulating Dr. Dewitt in this crowning achievement!

The ASPRS FL-Region Student Advisory Committee (FL-SAC) would like to invite all ASPRS Florida Region members to join our first half-day, free online ASPRS Research Symposium conducted on Tuesday, February 18th, 2014. The symposium will be conducted virtually. Participation can occur from anywhere inside and outside Florida given that you have an adequate internet connection.

We are inviting both undergraduate and graduate researchers to disseminate their research on a variety of geospatial topics including Geographic Information Science (GIS), photogrammetry, remote sensing, and spatial modeling. This event is an excellent platform for students to showcase their research, gain experience in oral preparation and presentation, and network with ASPRS faculty, students, and members working in the industry all over the state. The presentations will be judged on the attached criteria with the top two presentations receiving an award certificate, a complimentary 2014 ASPRS Student membership (or membership extension), and ASPRS Bucks ($100 first prize, $50 second prize) valid in the ASPRS Bookstore. Our tentative agenda for this symposium is as follows:

February 18th, 2014

• 9:00-9:15am Welcome, introduction and opening remarks
• 9:15-10:30am Technical session I
• 10:30-10:45am Online discussion
• 10:45-12:00pm Technical session II
• 12:00-12:15pmFinal remarks – adjourn

We encourage participation in this free technical meeting from graduate and undergraduate students in all topics related to the Geospatial Industry. The deadline for submission of presentation titles and abstracts is 11:59pm on Tuesday, January 7th. To submit your abstract for consideration and to register for attending the Symposium, please fill out the form here.

A technical committee formed by ASPRS members (including students) will review the abstracts, and only those authors of the selected abstracts will be invited to present. All selected abstracts will be published on the ASPRS Florida Region website.

For questions, please email FL-SAC chair Adam Benjamin (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). For more information regarding submissions refer to the FLASPRS RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATION GUIDELINES 2014 document.  Thank you for your support in this endeavor – we look forward to meeting you online on February 18th!

The following article represents a written version of some insights George Rosenfield provided the Florida Region of ASPRS Annual Meeting on August 23rd, 2013:

On February 6, 2012, an open house was held at the Brevard County Government Complex, presented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assisted by personnel of the Brevard County Public Works Office. The purpose was to present the new Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps to the local public and explain their use in determining the individual need for flood insurance. The new maps were created with modern aerial mapping methods, using computer modeling and laser measurements. I also have a historical knowledge of the origin, development and use of these FEMA flood maps, and I wanted to know how they had been improved.

The original FEMA flood maps were produced by contract to the U. S. Army Map Service in the 1950’s. The requirement was to produce the final product within a short time frame for the entire country.

To meet this requirement, the already existing National Series of 1/250,000 scale, Strategic Planning Maps, were used. This horizontal scale is 4 miles to the inch. The vertical contour interval is usually 100 meters. The horizontal accuracy standard for this scale is 195 feet. The vertical standard is ½ of the contour interval (CI).
In the early 1970’s, at the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), I had occasion to test the horizontal accuracy of these maps. On average, they only met an accuracy of double the standard, or approximately 400 feet. In Florida, there are almost no contours. These maps have symbols for the areas of wetland, marshes, swamps, forests, farmland, metropolitan areas, etc.

The requirement was to delineate the boundaries of the 100-year flood on each of these base maps, to separate the flood prone areas from the upland areas. A reasonable boundary was estimated between the symbol areas of wetlands and the dryer uplands. This estimated boundary was delineated with an 1/8 inch wide magic marker pen, ½ mile at map scale. The FEMA published flood maps are only enlargements of these AMS prepared maps. Thus was determined a person’s need for flood insurance. On or inside the Zone A boundary, flood insurance was required. Outside, in the Zone X, it was not. In the late 1990’s, FEMA stated that new flood maps were now available, This was not necessarily correct. The new maps were only a reissue of the old maps, In some cases, map revision was added to the base maps, but no changes were made to the flood area boundaries.

The FEMA representative, explained to me that the new 2012 year digital maps were now based on the USGS standard 1/24,000 scale quadrangle maps. This scale is 2000 feet to the inch, with minimum 10 foot contour interval, and in some cases interpolated to 5 feet. The horizontal accuracy for this scale is 18.6 feet. The vertical standard is still ½ of CI. These base maps have been available in digital format for a number of years. The elevation information for these digital maps far exceeds the accuracy requirement of ½ CI. However, there has been no science involved in trying to determine the flood elevation of the 100-year flood for any of the local areas. So the old boundaries made with the 1/8 inch magic marker of interpolated location of a guesswork flood location are still in use. The FEMA person stated that the flood areas delineated on the old maps were superimposed upon the new digital map information. So the horizontal location of the boundary is still limited by the 400 foot accuracy of the old maps.

It is possible to buy your way out of the flood insurance requirement, on the “Basis of Fill”. In March 1998, personnel at Brevard County Public Works Office helped me with the requirements for a FEMA Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) removing my house from the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) and placing it in Flood Zone X, “due to fill”. This of course was after paying the charge of $400 for servicing my application. A package is available from FEMA titled: “Processing Letters of Map Amendment or Revision”. Of course, I cannot advise anyone to not have flood insurance.

George Rosenfield was employed by RCA at the Atlantic Missile Range from January 1957 to July 1965; and at the USGS from 1968 to 1986. He has 7 1/2 years of Army active duty and 13 years in the Army Reserve. He retired as Major, Corps of Engineers.

We are pleased to publish the 2013 Florida ASPRS Regional Annual Meeting Proceedings from our Annual Meeting held on August 23rd, at the Tradewinds Resort, in conjunction with the Annual Florida Surveying and Mapping Soceity Conference.

 9:00 am – Brian Murphy, Florida ASPRS Region President Introductions State of the ASPRS and FL-ASPRS

9: 15 am – George Rosenfield – 1st FL-ASPRS President: "A Short History of the ASPRS Regional System and the Florida Region"

9:30 am  - Adam Benjamin, SAC and Amr Abd-Alrahman, SAC and YPC Advisor: “The FL-ASPRS Student Advisory Council and the ASPRS Young Professional Council”

9:45 am – Yao Yan, SFWMD:  “Geographically Weighted Regression: A Better Spatial Technique to Model Sediment Quality in Lake Okeechobee”

10:00 am – Al Karlin, SWFWMD:  “Ten Years (2003 - 2013) of LiDAR Missions at the Southwest Florida Water Management District - Lessons Learned” (Silver Sponsor)
 
10:30am – Thomas Morelli: "Maritime Applications of UAS Remote Sensing for Cost-Effective Improvements in Detection and Monitoring of Illicit Trafficking in Mesoamerican Territorial Waters implemented through comprehensive Engagement Strategy"

Every year the Florida Region provides to our members the opportunity to nominate professionals in the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or supporting technology fields who have made significant contributions or advancements to the profession, and through these actions have promoted the stated mission of the ASPRS.  There are three levels of the award: Professional of the Year, Member of the Year, and  Student of the Year.

Congratulations to Adam Benjamin (FL-ASPRS Student of the Year), Mike Kitaif (FL-ASPRS Member of the Year) and Jasmeet Judge (Professional of the Year). Each of these awardees are given a one-year paid membership to ASPRS.

We would like to thank the following sponsors who made our Florida Region of ASPRS Annual Meeting happen.

Professional Award 2013

Every year the Florida Region provides to our members the opportunity to nominate professionals in the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or supporting technology fields who have made significant contributions or advancements to the profession, and through these actions have promoted the stated mission of the ASPRS.  There are three levels of the award:

•Professional of the Year

• Member of the Year

• Student of the Year.

Each of these awardees are given a one-year paid membership to ASPRS.

The Florida Region of ASPRS Annual Meeting will be taking place Friday, August 23rd, beginning at 9:00am.

Where: Tradewinds Resort, St Petersburg, FL, Sabel Room
When: Friday, August 23rd, beginning at 9:00am

Tentative Agenda:
9am – 12pm Technical Sessions
1:30pm – 3pm Technical Sessions and Professional / Student Award Ceremonies
3pm – 5pm Florida Region of ASPRS Board Meeting (Open to all members)

Registration is FREE! If you are intending on attending or presenting, please RSVP here if you have not already done so.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18fgyYZ_gRUoYySatPwu4gvOJcDLe91iXW68ovSIWUCQ/viewform

Since our meeting is being hosted in concert with the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society – please consider registering for the FSMS Conference activities as well
This is NOT required to attend the FL-ASPRS meeting
http://www.fsms.org/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=FSMS&Category_Code=AnnCon

If you need hotel accommodations, please consider reserving a room at the Tradewinds Resort:
http://www.tradewindsresort.com/fsms.aspx
Use Group Code: FSMS

In the recent years of budgetary cutbacks and cost cutting measures, one of the common questions raised revolves around why a state or local agency such as the Property Appraiser, Police/Fire Department or Environmental Department should spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for imagery when there appears to be an abundance of freely available imagery on the “web”.  This question has been asked of me on multiple occasions from multiple sources in my agency, as well as, from other agencies.  Hence, this article is of relevance to discussions, perhaps, state-wide.

The well written article by Mr. Kalinski highlights the advantages and disadvantages of using “Commercial Off-the-Shelf” (COTS) imagery available from Google, Bing, etc.  The crux of the matter resolves to a few basic issues; (1) you get what you pay for, and (2) not all imagery is the same. 

In a table (reproduced below) Mr. Kalinski points to the availability of metadata, resolution, currency and cost as the major factors that should influence the end-users decision.  He ends the article by reminding the end-user that there is no warrantee of usability with “free” imagery… caveat emptor! (my words)
 

This topic has arisen within the state, and in the Fall of 2012, several of the Water Management Districts and the Florida Department of Transportation engaged in an exercise to determine the positional accuracy of COTS imagery.  I constructed a set of guidelines and we independently applied them to Google and Bing images for our respective Districts.  In general, we used a photo identifiable, surveyed points that had been previously used for ortho-imagery horizontal accuracy testing to test the COTS images.  While there is some variation, most likely resulting from different image years, the results were fairly consistent (and shown below).
   

In general, we found that Bing images, as viewed through a then-available free  ESRI Map service, had greater horizontal accuracy than Google.  In fact, Bing image horizontal accuracy is very close to the horizontal accuracy specification for state-wide 30cm ortho-imagery.  So… as suggested by Mr. Kalinski, if we were interested in locating a favorite fishing spot, the Bing image would be great.  However, if we are using the imagery in a court of law, we have a very different end-use.

• Florida is not the southernmost state in the United States. Hawaii is farther south.

• May 20, 1970 Florida lawmakers passed and sent to the Governor a bill adopting the moonstone as the official state gem. Ironically, the moonstone is not found naturally in Florida...nor was it found on the moon.

• Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine especially for rollerbladers.

• Florida is the only state that has 2 rivers both with the same name. There is a Withlacoochee in north central Florida (Madison County) and a Withlacoochee in central Florida. They have nothing in common except the name.

• Citizens of Okeechobee County Florida own more pick-up trucks per capita than anywhere else in the country with an average of 3.2 trucks per family. Okeechobee County also has a larger population of cows than it does people.

• Once a year, thousands of Floridians stand at the state line and toss dead fish into Alabama. It's the annual Mullet Toss hosted by Flora-Bama Beach Bar in Pensacola.

Calling all students! Are you currently looking for an opportunity to get more involved and network with leaders in the Florida geospatial industry? If so, the perfect opportunity has arrived to be in on the ground floor of the ASPRS Florida Region Student Advisory Council (FL-SAC). The FL-SAC has been commissioned by Florida Region President, Brian Murphy, to provide all university and college students in the State of Florida and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with a venue to participate and organize geospatial activities.

The initial proposed FL-SAC structure is similar to the national Student Advisory Council (SAC) of which I have had the pleasure of being a part of for the past 2 years. As the outgoing SAC Chair, I have had the opportunity to voice the opinions of ASPRS students at National ASPRS Board meetings, participate in national conferences as a student assistant, organize student mapping competitions, strengthen ASPRS student chapter relationships, share ASPRS student-related activities via our student blog, and compile employment opportunities for job seekers through the Virtual Career Expo (ASPRS login required).

By connecting students from campuses across Florida and Puerto Rico, I look forward to replicating National SAC activities on the regional level through my FL-SAC position as the incoming Chair. These activities can include collaborating on a future GeoLeague Challenge team, forming a Student Map Competition team for the upcoming San Antonio conference, organizing an online technical meeting similar to this recent Eastern Great Lakes Region symposium, or creating a webinar series to share student research projects. Having attended many professional webinars and participated in numerous classes as part of the University of Florida’s distance education Geomatics program, I am comfortable with the video conferencing and virtual meeting space technology that will enable us to collaborate beyond our physical campuses. For those of us able to travel, I look forward to face to face meeting and networking opportunities such as the Florida Region ASPRS Annual Meeting in St. Pete Beach on August 23^rd.

If you are interested in getting involved with the FLSAC in any capacity, please contact our ASPRS Florida Region faculty advisor, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or myself at any time. We look forward to growing the ASPRS FLSAC regional student body with you!

ASPRS & ISPRS students participating in the 2011 ISPRS Advanced LiDAR Data Processing & Applications Workshop and Summer School are shown above. Six ASPRS Florida Region students from the University of Florida traveled to the week-long event in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative is being developed to respond to growing needs for high-quality topographic data and for a wide range of other three-dimensional representations of the Nation's natural and constructed features. The primary goal of 3DEP is to systematically collect enhanced elevation data in the form of high-quality light detection and ranging (lidar) data over the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories, with data acquired over an 8-year period. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (ifsar) data will be collected over Alaska, where cloud cover and remote locations preclude the use of lidar over much of the State. The 3DEP initiative is based on the results of the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment.

To read more about the 3DEP program, please go to http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

The Florida Region intends to hold it's Annual Meeting colocated with the Annual Florida Surveying and Mapping conference taking place August 21st - 25th, 2013 at the Tradewinds Beach Resort in St. Petersburg, FL. Please plan on joining us at this meeting. Details to follow.

For those who dabble in GIS or do not have the full ESRI suite of software available, there is an affordable way to view spatial data and conduct rudimentary spatial analysis.  The ESRI ArcGIS Explorer 2500 allows you to view the already created online base maps and layers, access map services, and visualize information.  It also has added functionality to make great presentations.  Wow your co-workers, teachers, or your family with your ability to display data.  The software is free and available for download from the ESRI website at: http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/explorer.  Your machine needs to have a minimum of 200 MB of free space, 2 GB of RAM, and the software will operate on 32 or 64 bit operating systems.  Not sure where to find data?  There are a variety of spatial data is available from public entities throughout Florida (www.fgdl.org) and at the Federal Government (http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/ ). This application is a great way to start using GIS.  The best part about this software is it is all for free!

Federal agencies including the USGS, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are making significant investments in LiDAR data collection programs to support key missions. In addition, several states have either completed statewide projects or are actively planning LiDAR programs. Elevation data collection projects are usually coordinated with multiple funding organizations. Data acquisition projects are limited to the geographic areas where funding and common requirements coincide, and data consistency varies from project to project. These limitations can compromise any analysis over large geographic areas or any place an operational need crosses project boundaries. As LiDAR technology has gained widespread acceptance, and more organizations are considering acquisition programs, the need for coordination among the LiDAR user community has increased.

Please click here to view the 2011 Newsletter:

http://www.flasprs.org/newsletters/20111122_FLASPRS_Newsletter_complete.htm

A special congratulations to following individuals for being elected to their positions on the Florida Region Board of Directors. Brenda Burroughs, of Optech, and Kimberly Nale of eMap International  were both elected as Directors from 2013 until 2015.

The area below is represented by aerial imagery from three different web map providers, the local municipal property appraiser, Google Maps and Bing Maps.  Can you tell which image is the most recent? Which one is the oldest?

Click here for a higher resolution image. To vote, click here

For the 2013 Elections, there are two Director positions and one National Director position being voted on. Please click the "Read More" button below in order to read the biographies for the nominees.

The Polls will close at midnight Easten Standard Time, on Jan 31st, 2013.

In order to vote, you will need to:

Click Here to Log-In then Click Here to Vote

If you have any technical issues while attempting to vote, or need assistance ensuring that you are registered on our website, please email the webmaster This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 352-535-0307.

Dear Florida ASPRS Members,

I just wanted to send you a few newsworthy items from the Florida Region of ASPRS that you might be interested in:

Are you “Just a Member”?

For a number of years I considered myself to be “just a member” of ASPRS; My membership sat in neutral, and I was somewhat content with receiving my monthly PE&RS. Eventually I decided that I wanted something more out of my membership. Since then, I have become increasingly involved with ASPRS in a number areas that peaked my interest – and now, after having become more involved, I would say that I have maximized the value ASPRS membership has brought to the table for me. More importantly, I have developed some terrific friendships along the way. If you feel like you are not getting your money’s worth from ASPRS, please consider getting involved with ASPRS in order to share your time and talents; by doing so, you will truly get your money’s worth and will be able to develop new relationships with very interesting, intelligent and friendly people who share similar interests as you. I would personally be more than happy to help guide you to areas where your talents could best be used – please feel free to email me or call me at 352-224-7424 if you would like to help. A few areas where we can always use help are: membership recruitment, providing web and newsletter content, spreading the word about certifications.

Currently Accepting Nominations for FLASPRS Board of Directors
We are currently opening up nominations for three positions on the Florida Region Board of Directors: Two Director Positions, and also the National Director position. The Director positions are both 2-year commitments, and the If you would like to nominate yourself, or someone else for one of these positions, please e-mail me a short statement of interest and a short bio. Also, if you are seeking the National Directorship position, please ensure that you have the support of your employer, to allow you to attend the semi-annual national ASPRS meetings. Please have your nominations submitted to me by December 31st , 2012

Call for Web Content
If you have any interesting news, view-points, personal accounts, essays or items of interest related to the geospatial industry that you would like to share on our website, please feel to submit these to me via e-mail, to post on our website.

Call for Webinars
The Florida Region of ASPRS has developed a series of webinars with the aim of showcasing the capabilities and function of government agencies, educational institution, non-profit (501(c)3) corporations and Sustaining Members of ASPRS. Any government agency, educational institution or non-profit corporation is able to present one webinar in a two-year period with no expectation of a donation being necessary. Any Sustaining Member of ASPRS is able to present one of these webinars once in a two-year period, for a recommended donation amount of $200. These webinars do not reflect the views or opinions of the Florida Region of ASPRS, and are intended for the sole purpose of electronically congregating our geographically dispersed Florida Region membership in order to provide them with an inexpensive method of educating them regarding the latest geospatial industry trends.

Please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call at 352-224-7424 if you are at all interested in any of these activities.

Thanks so much, and I wish you and your families a very happy and safe holiday season,

Most Sincerely,
Brian

Brian E. Murphy
President
Florida Region of ASPRS

Please join the Florida Region of ASPRS for a webinar from Ted Knaak, President of Certainty 3D for a presentation on TopoDOT entitled "Delivering Value from LiDAR Data"

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/587797742

Certainty 3D will demonstrate TopoDOT – an application for extracting high quality CAD models from LiDAR system data. A short introduction to the current state of LiDAR technology will be followed by the real-time extraction of 3D features and models from static terrestrial, mobile terrestrial and airborne LiDAR system data sets. This demonstration will be immediately followed by a short introduction to the freeware applications TopoPLANNER and TopoMISSION designed for LiDAR project planning, scheduling and cost estimating.

To join us, please complete the registration form below.
Title: Delivering Value from LiDAR Data
Date: Thursday, June 21, 2012
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

Disclaimer:
The Florida Region of ASPRS has developed a bi-monthly series of webinars with the aim of showcasing the capabilities and function of government agencies, educational institution, non-profit (501(c)3) corporations and Sustaining Members of ASPRS. Any government agency, educational institution or non-profit corporation is able to present one webinar in a two-year period with no expectation of a donation being necessary. Any Sustaining Member of ASPRS is able to present one of these webinars once in a two-year period, for a recommended donation amount of $200. These webinars do not reflect the views or opinions of the Florida Region of ASPRS, and are intended for the sole purpose of electronically congregating our geographically dispersed Florida Region membership in order to provide them with an inexpensive method of educating them regarding the latest geospatial industry trends.

If you are looking to further develop your career in the geospatial industry, please consider joining the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).

Members who have joined ASPRS have mentioned that they enjoy the following value that ASPRS membership brings to them:

• Career & Professional Development
• Advancement in the Field / Profession
• Recruiting
• Networking & Developing Lifelong Friendships
• Opportunities for Mentoring
• Investing in one’s self
• An Avenue to Publish
• An Avenue to Affect National Policy
• Provides the ability to influence data standards
• Pursue Continuing Education
• Pursue ASPRS Certification in GIS, Photogrammetry and/or Remote Sensing

If you are interested in joining ASPRS, please fill out and submit the

Application Form

Please click on the hyperlinks below to choose the Newsletter issue.

November 22, 2011

Join Us on September 15th at 11am EDT for a FREE 1 hour Presentation by Chris Ogier from Woolpert on "LiDAR Facts and Fusion!" -

Your free attendance is sponsored by Woolpert.

Click Here to Register

The Florida Region currently has three chapters. If you are a student and are interested in joining one of these chapters, please conact the faculty advisor below:

Florida State University
Dr. Xiaojun Yang (Faculty Advisor)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

University of Florida
Dr. Bon Dewitt (Faculty Advisor)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

University of South Florida
Dr. Barnali Dixon (Faculty Advisor)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Candidate 1:  David Alvarez, CMS (Provisional), GISP

David Alvarez is a Senior GIS specialist for Halcrow Inc. At Halcrow he serves as a liaison between the GIS and engineering groups and coordinates the geospatial needs in Florida for Halcrow Inc. His current work includes projects on surface water modeling, database design and data collection.  David’s former positions include being a GIS Specialist for CDM and GIS Analyst for the OSU Agriculture Extension. David received his Masters degree in Geodetic Science & Surveying from The Ohio State University and his BS in Environmental Engineering from the School of Engineering of Antioquia. He is also a Provisional Certified Mapping Scientist-GIS/LIS. For ASPRS he is active with the GIS division and on several National Committees: Evaluation for Certification, Education and Professional Development, and Defense and Intelligence. David will be the new assistant division director for the GIS Division.

Statement:

I am interested in this position, because I want to work with the ASPRS community to enhance the development and well-being of the professional practitioners as a whole Promote and strength the relation that ASPRS has with students here in Florida and increase the student participation in the society chapter.    Currently, I am helping to establish a student chapter of ASPRS in Puerto Rico and promoting the use of GIS and remote sensing technology (primarily LiDAR) in the classroom at Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico.

Candidate 2:  Brenda Burroughs

Brenda Burroughs serves as the North American Region Sales Manager for Optech with over twenty years in the Geospatial Profession. She began her career selling Landsat satellite data. Over the years she has expanded her knowledge and experience to include aerial imagery, digital mapping and analytical services, with extensive knowledge and background in GIS/Remote Sensing Applications products and services.  Her position at Optech takes her to the other side of the imaging camera. For those of you not familiar with Optech, the company is a manufacturer of Airborne Aerial and LiDAR, and Mobile LiDAR Mapping sensors. Prior to joining Optech, Brenda is responsible for sales and marketing of Digital Aerial Camera Systems and analytical services.

Statement:

I am a Past President, having served in the late 90’s with a history of participation and support, starting as a Director and moving on to be Secretary/Treasurer, Vice President and then President/Past President. Unfortunately, for a number of years, my career took me in a direction that did not support continued participation. Now that I am with Optech, the company is very supportive and encourages participation. I enjoyed being a part of the board and supporting FL ASPRS activities. If elected, I am committed to supporting the Region’s goals and objectives.

Candidate 3:  Michael Joos, CP, GISP

Michael Joos is a Certified Photogrammetrist and GISP with more than 25 years experience in the photogrammetric and geospatial profession. Having trained as a photogrammetric stereo compiler with ADR (now BAE Systems), Mr. Joos has held a variety of technical positions, including Photogrammetric Project Estimator, Project Manager, and Contract Administrator. Business development roles have included Regional Manager, Managing Partner and Vice President.
Having spent a little more than four years with high-resolution satellite imagery companies, Mr. Joos was also exposed to a host of remote sensing applications from space-born platforms and managed a number of large area impervious surface mapping projects, several being located here in the Southeastern United States.
Currently employed as Manager of US Sales by GeoCue Corporation, Mr. Joos works with geospatial production firms throughout the United States. In this role, Mr. Joos has the unique opportunity to interact with geospatial professionals in a broad range of disciplines, providing him the chance to better understand the issues that are of importance to them, especially as they relate to ASPRS activity.
As a member of ASPRS since 1987 and a Certified Photogrammetrist since 1998, Mr. Joos has been active in several professional organizations. He served on the 2007 Annual Conference Planning Committee as Technical Session Moderator Chairperson and has participated as a moderator at a number of ASPRS Annual Conferences. Mr. Joos served as President of the Central Appalachian Chapter of URISA while a resident of Pittsburgh, PA.

Statement:

If elected to serve the Florida Region of ASPRS, my approach would be to look, listen, and learn, and then act accordingly. What I mean by this, is that I would first seek opportunities to better understand the Region’s priorities, what programs are in place and need to be continued, what specific areas are we focused on, and how can I help achieve our goals. Some casual discussions with our leadership have revealed that providing continued opportunities for education, growing our membership, and generally working to make our Region stronger, are just a few of our current objectives.
At the same time, I would welcome and embrace new goals and objectives. In my travels throughout the Country, I meet with many industry professionals, and I sometimes hear them question the relevance of ASPRS. This is of great concern to me, and I believe this mind set needs to be challenged. With that in mind, I would like to see our Region take this challenge head-on; how do we make ASPRS more relevant, starting right here with the Florida Region.  It’s been my observation in recent years that we do have a strong and relevant Region, and I look forward to contributing to its continued success.

Candidate 4:  Keith Patterson, PSM, SP, GISP

Keith Patterson is a Senior Project Manager at Dewberry in Tampa, Florida and is a Florida licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper (PSM). He has over 30 years of experience in remote sensing, photogrammetry, mapping, surveying, GIS and related geospatial services. His technical experience includes project design, LiDAR data processing, photo interpretation, change detection, trend analysis, environmental field reconnaissance, accuracy assessment and geodatabase construction aimed at supplying clients with reliable geospatial information.  He has served in both executive level and program management positions. 
Keith currently serves as a project manager for federal geospatial contracts with the USGS, USACE, USFWS, NGA, and NOAA. Within Florida he serves as a project manager for imagery- based land use/land cover, benthic habitat, wetland, vegetation, planimetric mapping projects and for LiDAR-based remote sensing projects conducted for the Water Management Districts, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and commercial entities. Keith possesses a Bachelors degree in Geography from the University of South Florida.

Statement:

I have served as a board member of the ASPRS Florida Region periodically since 1992 and have continually been active in helping the Region accomplish its goals. Geospatial technology has changed dramatically over time and ASPRS has provided its members with the educational and informational opportunities to keep abreast of these changes. I would like the opportunity to continue participation on the ASPRS Florida Region board to help facilitate more learning opportunities and to further increase our viability to the membership.

Candidate 1:  Keith Patterson, PSM, SP, GISP

Keith Patterson is a Senior Project Manager at Dewberry in Tampa, Florida and is a Florida licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper (PSM). He has over 30 years of experience in remote sensing, photogrammetry, mapping, surveying, GIS and related geospatial services. His technical experience includes project design, LiDAR data processing, photo interpretation, change detection, trend analysis, environmental field reconnaissance, accuracy assessment and geodatabase construction aimed at supplying clients with reliable geospatial information.  He has served in both executive level and program management positions.

Keith currently serves as a project manager for federal geospatial contracts with the USGS, USACE, USFWS, NGA, and NOAA. Within Florida he serves as a project manager for imagery- based land use/land cover, benthic habitat, wetland, vegetation, planimetric mapping projects and for LiDAR-based remote sensing projects conducted for the Water Management Districts, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and commercial entities. Keith possesses a Bachelors degree in Geography from the University of South Florida.

Statement:

I have served as a board member of the ASPRS Florida Region periodically since 1992 and have continually been active in helping the Region accomplish its goals. Geospatial technology has changed dramatically over time and ASPRS has provided its members with the educational and informational opportunities to keep abreast of these changes. I would like the opportunity to continue participation on the ASPRS Florida Region board to help facilitate more learning opportunities and to further increase our viability to the membership. 

Candidate 2:  Kimberly Nale

Kimberly has been as member of ASPRS since 2008, first joining as a University of Florida Geography student she organized the local participation of UF students in ASPRS activities and has attended numerous ASPRS Conferences. She holds a Bachelors in Geography from the University of Florida. Her professional experience includes imagery and LiDAR QA/QC with Dewberry and she presently serves as a Geospatial Analyst for eMap International. In that role Kimberly manages a wide variety of imagery acquisition both aerial and satellite and establishes project specifications insuring that imagery capture meets client requirements. In addition she is responsible for change detection from both aerial and satellite imagery for major oil and gas clients.

I look forward to bringing a new and energetic prospective to ASPRS. Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing is changing rapidly and I am excited to work at the forefront of these changes. In the roll of Director I will commit the time and energy necessary to help formulate the vision of ASPRS going forward. 

Candidate 3:  Michael Rodger, CP

Michael Rodger is the Vice President of Southern Resource Mapping in Flagler Beach, Florida and is a Certified Photogrammetrist.  He has over 25 years of experience in Photogrammetry, LiDAR and GIS.  In his career he has served in project management and executive positions, including co-founding a Photogrammetric company and creating and managing an in-house Photogrammetric department at a Fortune 500 company.

Michael has served as project manager on hundreds of mapping projects for private engineer, land surveyor and land development companies to military, federal and state governments. He has many years of experience in stereo compilation, aerotriangulation, orthophoto generation, flight and ground control planning, LiDAR acquisition and geographic information systems.

Michael is an active member of ASPRS and a long time advocate of the society having served on the Board of Directors for the Florida Region from 2010 to Present and the North Atlantic Region prior to moving to Florida. He desires to continue to serve on the ASPRS Florida Region Board of Directors to support the great work of the region including recruitment, sponsored events and networking opportunities.

This year we have to elect two new Directors. We have three very well qualified individuals who are currently running for the two positions. Please take a moment to vote by logging in, and voting using the instructions below.

1.  Please review the Candidate Biographies by clicking here.

2.  Login.to the FLASPRS.com website

3.  Click Here to Vote. Please select the candidates by using the drop down menus for both Candidate 1 and Candidate 2, and then click the "Update" button

Please contract Brian Murphy at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you need any assistance with the website. Thanks

We are currently excepting nominations and self-nominations) for two Director’s positions for the for the FL Region ASPRS Board of Directors.  If you, or someone you know, would like to serve a two year term on the Board and be involved in shaping the direction ASPRS takes here in Florida please submit your brief Nomination statement along with a short Biography of your nominee.  All ASPRS members in good standing here in Florida our encouraged to run for election.  All nominations must be received by March 18, 2011.

Please send all nominations to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Join us for a Florida Region of ASPRS Webinar on February 17 from 12pm to 2pm, hosted by ASPRS Sustaining Member, GeoCue.

The of the webinar is to introduce the features of QCoherent’s LP360
for ArcGIS.   LP360 is a tool that bridges the gap between GIS and LiDAR, allowing traditional GIS users access to large amounts of LiDAR data directly in the ArcGIS environment.  The LP360 LIDAR extension uses a specially-designed ArcMap® data layer to access points directly from industry standard LAS files that can be combined with any ArcGIS supported data without conversion.  GIS users can perform QA/QC on the LAS file, interactive point classification, building extraction (with optional Extractor module) from LAS file, create and enforce breaklines, perform hydro-enforcement and create derived elevation products such as grids and contours.  LP360 is similar to ArcGIS in that it provides GIS users with a “toolbox” but for LiDAR that can be used by many industries.   There is an abundance of new ideas regarding the use of LiDAR data, including its ability to support better analysis and decision making in a variety of industries.  The webinar will focus on LP360’s basic features for LiDAR in ArcGIS and discuss some user case scenarios of how LP360 is used in a broad range of applications.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/465605466

June 21st, 2012: Certainty3D's TopoDOT Webinar

Certainty 3D demonstrates TopoDOT – an application for extracting high quality CAD models from LiDAR system data. A short introduction to the current state of LiDAR technology will be followed by the real-time extraction of 3D features and models from static terrestrial, mobile terrestrial and airborne LiDAR system data sets. This demonstration will be immediately followed by a short introduction to the freeware applications TopoPLANNER and TopoMISSION designed for LiDAR project planning, scheduling and cost estimating. A recording of the webinar can be accessed here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/587797742

Dec 15. 2010: Remote Sensing at the Southwest Florida Water Management District

Disclaimer:
The Florida Region of ASPRS has developed a series of webinars with the aim of showcasing the capabilities and function of government agencies, educational institution, non-profit (501(c)3) corporations and Sustaining Members of ASPRS. Any government agency, educational institution or non-profit corporation is able to present one webinar in a two-year period with no expectation of a donation being necessary. Any Sustaining Member of ASPRS is able to present one of these webinars once in a two-year period, for a recommended donation amount of $200. These webinars do not reflect the views or opinions of the Florida Region of ASPRS, and are intended for the sole purpose of electronically congregating our geographically dispersed Florida Region membership in order to provide them with an inexpensive method of educating them regarding the latest geospatial industry trends.

The Florida Region proudly recognized its Past Presidents at the Florida Region meeting, held , November 18th in Orlando. The Florida Region realized that its presidents typically had never obtained any recognition for their many years of dedication and service to ASPRS. A Past President typically dedicates at least six years of service in the Florida Region by fulfilling each of the following two-year terms: Vice President, President and Past President

Congratulations to Kimberly Nale for winning the $100 Raffle, presented at the Florida Region Meeting in Orlando on November 18th, 2010. In order to qualify to be a raffle contestant, Florida Region ASPRS members were asked to update their profile picture and their member biography on the Florida Region Website. Kim is a recent graduate of the University of Florida, and is currently a Sales Representative for eMap International.

The Florida Region ASPRS is proud to announce the 2010 Professional Award winner, Audra Ferlan. Audra was nominated by Daniel Casey of Photo Science citing her Thirteen (13) years of experience in the geospatial service industry, her contributions to streamline production processes, and for being a key component to providing quality product lines for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA). Ms. Ferlan is being recognized for her contributions to the geospatial industry, and for directly supporting the Society's mission.

Ms. Ferlan is currently a Senior Geospatial Analyst for Photo Science, Inc., in St. Petersburg, FL. She began her career as an Apprentice Cartographer, tracing thematic layers from Department of Defense paper maps to Mylar film. After being introduced to ArcInfo and Socet Set, she began 3-D data extraction from stereo imagery for the NGA. Realizing that this was the career for her, Audra received formal programming training in AML and Visual Basic for Arc Objects. Using her Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and programming skills, she has solved difficult technical problems and customized scripts to streamline production processes. On behalf of the FL Region, we congratulate Ms. Ferlan for her achievements.

The Florida Region ASPRS Professional Award is a yearly award presented to two (2) professionals in the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or supporting technology fields who have made significant contributions or advancements to the profession, and through these actions have promoted the stated mission of the ASPRS. Nominations typically begin in August. Winners are awarded a one (1) year paid membership to ASPRS. For more information go to flasprs.com or contact the Professional Award Committee at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Are you a member of the ASPRS in good-standing, and know someone in the Florida Region who has made significant contributions or advancements to the remote sensing, photogrammetric, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) profession?  Here is your chance to give that person some well-deserved recognition. The Florida Region of ASPRS is now accepting nominations for the Professional Recognition Award.  This is a yearly award meant to highlight the accomplishments of professionals whose actions have promoted the mission of the ASPRS.  Of those nominated, two (2) will be selected (a current Florida Region ASPRS member and a non-member) for the award. Winners of the award will receive a one-year paid ASPRS membership.

To nominate, please go to the 2011 Professional Recognition Nomination Form

Ms. Risa Patarasuk
Ms. Amy Peer
Ms. April Gibbs
Pang-Wei Liu
Mr. Roger Greer
Ms. Christy Graves

Anyone who has ever flown a kite knows that the experience is fairly exhilarating, especially when the conditions allow for attaining high kite-flying altitudes; however, once you hit the end of your string – what do you do? Unless you have a two-stringed stunt kite, your options are fairly limited. Assuming the winds are fairly consistent, and you have only one string on your kite, your kite-flying experience quickly hits a dead end, and your options are: a) watch the kite fly, b) reel it in and launch it again, or c) launch another. If you have children assisting you, they will be wowed for a short period, and then their attention will probably be drawn towards more constructive endeavors like building a sandcastle. So, how do kite enthusiasts maintain their enthusiasm in mid-flight? Rig a camera to the kite, and Voila! You now have two hobbies in one.

In an effort to promote professional networking within the Florida Region of ASPRS, we would like to extend an opportunity to win a $100 gift card being offered by the Florida Region. By having your profile picture and biography uploaded onto our site, we will automatically enter you in the drawing for the $100 gift card. Region and National board members will NOT be included in the drawing; thus, increasing your chances of winning (estimated to be 1:250 chance) The drawing will take place at the Florida Region open board meeting to taking place on Thursday, November 18, 2010 1:00 PM-4:00 PM at the Doubletree Hotel - Universal Orlando in the Cape Canaveral Room: 5780 Major Blvd, Orlando, FL 32819. You do not need to attend in order to win.

In order to qualify to win this gift card, you must have an image of yourself uploaded onto the Florida Region website, and also have a short biography updated on the site as well.

In order to do this, you can either log in to www.flasprs.com using your information below; or submit this information to me by responding to this email with the information attached or included. If you submit to me via email, please include the biography in the body of your email, and submit the headshot image in .jpg format with the file extension renamed “.ngjpg”.

To do the updates on the site yourself, use the following steps:

Log in using your e-mail:and password - most likely your ASPRS Member ID.

· (use the forgot login link if you need a reminder)

After logging in, click on your profile picture under “User Login”


Then go to “Edit” and select “Update Your Image”


On the following screen, you can upload a headshot or select an image from the image gallery


Then, go to “Edit” again, and this time go to “Update Your Profile”


Now click on the “Contact Info” Tab – and copy and paste your biography in text box provided under the “Biography” section


Then Click the “Update” button below


And – walla! You are now officially entered for the $100 gift card.

If you have any issues with the website, please feel free to contact me by phone: 352-535-0307

Good Luck!


Brian Murphy

Vice President and Webmaster

Florida Region of ASPRS

Florida Region member and University of Florida Geomatics PhD Candidate Ben Wilkinson walked away with two Awards at the 2010 ASPRS conference in San Diego.

The first award given to Ben was the Paul R. Wolf Memorial Scholarship, in recognition of his outstanding academic credentials and his plans and enthusiasm to become an education professional in Surveying, Mapping, and Photogrammetry.

The second award was for 2nd Place in the John I. Davidson President’s Award for Practical Papers. His paper, “A new Approach for Pass-point Generation from Aerial Video Imagery” was published in the PE&RS, 75(4), p. 437-442 and was co-authored by Florida Region board member Bon Dewitt, Adam Watts, Ahmed Mohammed and Matthew Burgess.

ASPRS credited Ben as having demonstrated and has been recognized at all levels for his continued interest, dedication, enthusiasm and aptitude to become an education professional.

Congratulations, Ben – the Florida Region is proud of your accomplishments!

Below is an updated list of the Florida Region's Past Presidents

1958 George Rosenfield
1959 Harold Jury
1960 Harold Jury
1961 John Eichler
1962 John Eichler
1963 George Rosenfield
1964 George Rosenfield
1965 E. “Hank” Tasis
1966 Carleton Emery
1967 Carleton Emery
1968 L.A.D. Colvin
1969 L.A.D. Colvin
1970 Representative – James Latham (the issue doesn’t list a president)
1971 James Latham
1972 James Latham
1973 Randall Powell
1974 Randall Powell
1975 Norman Schile
1976 Byron Ruth
1977 Byron Ruth
1978 Byron Ruth
1979 John Strable
1980 Joel Kobelin
1981 Joel Kobelin
1982-1983 Ms. Janet D. Degner
1984-1985 Mr. Bob Evans
1986-1987 Mr. Chuck Woodward
1988-1989 Mr. Ed Comer
1990-1991 Mr. Gary Reed
1992-1993 Mr. Cornell Clapp
1994-1995 Mr. Gene Benware
1996-1997 Mr. Charlie Watts
1998-1999 Ms. Brenda Burroughs
2000-2001 Mr. Gary Florence
2002-2003 Mrs. Kathleen O’Keife
2004-2006 Mr. Drew Fisher
2007-2008 Dr. Al Karlin
2008-2009 Erin McCormick
2010-2011 Mr. Evan Brown

August

Mark Anderson
Jose Fernandez
Jessica Longshore
John Perry

July

Loren Gibson

June

Dr. Charles W. Finkl
Michael Goymerac
Mr. James F. Johnson, Jr.
Reinaldo Soto

May

Mr. James A. McCall, CMS

April

Sanchayeeta Adhikari
Mr. Stephen P. Brown
Brian Kurinsky

March

Robert Godfrey
David Manifold
Joe Paul Noble

February

Diana L. Delgado Rivera

January

Timothy Kirchner
Michael Frank
David McFee
Ms. Crystal Annette Woodcum

Our domain name has now changed from www.flasprs.org to www.flasprs.com. Weexpect that this change is going to be permanent; however, at some point in time we expect to be able to re-purchase the .org domain through our current hosting company.

Thanks for your patience during this minor inconvenience.

The Florida Region would like to welcome it's newest members:

• Dr. Charles Finkl from the Florida Atlantic University Department of Geology
• Michael Goymerac, from Photo Science Inc.
• James F. Johnson, Jr.
• Reinaldo Soto

The FLASPRS.org Member Spotlight(as seen on the left hand side of the website) randomly selects Active Florida Region members registered on the FLASPRS website who meet the folowing conditions:

• Is an Active ASPRS member
• Is registered with the Florida Region website
• Has uploaded a profile picture
• Has inserted a bio on their online FLASPRS.org profile

So, sign up today, and be Spotlighted! Contact Brian Murphy at 352-224-7424 if you need help.

Jon Beazley served as the first National Director from the ASPRS Florida Region, followed by Charles Andregg.

This award provides one or more scholarships, in varying amounts totaling up to $1500 annually, to support student travel to conferences or similarly appropriate events. In order to apply, the applicant writes a letter to the region President briefly explaining the purpose of the travel along with an itemized cost estimate. To be awarded, it must be approved by a board vote. Receipts are required after the travel event and subsequently issue payment.

If you are an undergraduate or graduate student within Florida or Puerto Rico, you can apply to the Florida Region for a one-year free membership. If you are interested in becoming a member of ASPRS, please email Brian Murphy.

Click here for the PDF Flyer Version

Are you a member of the ASPRS in good-standing, and know someone in the Florida Region who has made significant contributions or advancements to the remote sensing, photogrammetric, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) profession?  Here is your chance to give that person some well-deserved recognition.

The Florida Region of ASPRS is now accepting nominations for the

Professional Recognition Award.  This is a yearly award meant to highlight the accomplishments of professionals whose actions have promoted the

mission of the ASPRS.  Of those nominated, two (2) will be selected (a

current Florida Region ASPRS member and a non-member) for the award.

Winners of the award will receive a one-year paid ASPRS membership.

To submit a nomination form go to:

http://www.flasprs.com/docs/ASPRS_Professional_Award_Recognition_Form_07262010.pdf

Hurry! Nominations end August 31st.

*Only Florida and Puerto Rico residents are eligible for the non-member award, while the member award is limited to current Florida Region members. All eligibility requirements and exclusions apply.

Click here for the PDF Flyer Version


Are you a member of the ASPRS in good-standing, and know someone in the Florida Region who has made significant contributions or advancements to the remote sensing, photogrammetric, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) profession?  Here is your chance to give that person some well-deserved recognition.

The Florida Region of ASPRS is now accepting nominations for the

Professional Recognition Award.  This is a yearly award meant to highlight the accomplishments of professionals whose actions have promoted the

mission of the ASPRS.  Of those nominated, two (2) will be selected (a

current Florida Region ASPRS member and a non-member) for the award.

Winners of the award will receive a one-year paid ASPRS membership.

To submit a nomination form go to:

http://www.flasprs.com/docs/ASPRS_Professional_Award_Recognition_Form_07262010.pdf

Hurry! Nominations end August 31st.

*Only Florida and Puerto Rico residents are eligible for the non-member award, while the member award is limited to current Florida Region members. All eligibility requirements and exclusions apply.

On November 17 of 2009, the Florida Region participated as both a sponsor of and vendor at the annual GIS Day event hosted by the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.  The event invites children and adults to experience geography through educational presentations and GIS technology demonstrations.  The Florida Region took advantage of this opportunity to interact with students, and discuss the benefits our professional society provides to its members.  The event was an overall success.

We are seeking nominations for the following openings:

Vice-President:  This is a two-year position.  The Vice President may ascend to the President upon Board Approval

National Director:  This is a two-year position

At-Large Director:  This is a two-year position

At-Large Director:  This is a two-year position

Nominations will be open until 30 January 2010.  Self-nominations are acceptable.  All nominees need to submit a brief biography (1 paragraph, ~ 50 words) and supplemental information (1 paragraph, ~ 75 words).  Please submit information electronically to:  <a href="/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.ate.Fl.US\">Al.KarliThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.ate.Fl.US</a';document.getElementById('cloak5f4311f348332f369a1b30fb42bc129e').innerHTML += ''+addy_text5f4311f348332f369a1b30fb42bc129e+'<\/a>'; >.

Login and Contact Kim Tilleyfor volunteering information

For more information about scholarships, please refer to this post.

Because the Fall conference will be held here in Florida, the Florida Board has decided to suspend this year’s Geospatial Symposium.

Stay tuned. We anticipate having some REGIONAL events organized for this meeting.

Please take a moment to vote in this year’s Florida Region Board elections. In order to be green and save on postage costs we are using an E-ballot, provided by nationals. Please click on the nominee’s name in order to read their bio, and please choose wisely!

https://www.asprs.org/FLeballotSpring2010/

It has been an excellent year for the Florida Region of ASPRS, we have built upon the traditions we started in 2008 and expanded on them in 2009.

We had two technical meetings this year.  We had our Second Annual Geospatial Symposium in Gainesville, FL at the Best Western Gateway Grand on February 24^th & 25th, with multiple presenters, paid sponsors and a very well attended Certification Preparation Course with Bob Burtch.  Information on the Symposium can be found by downloading the agenda at the following link:http://flasprs.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2ndannualgeosympprogram.pdf, it is also attahed.  Special thanks to Brian Murphy for organizing the event once again this year.  It was very well attended and much expanded from last year.  We advertised on our website and at all of the events we attended

In 2010 we plan to participate in the ASPRS Fall Conference and will temporarily suspend the Symposium.  It was the decision of the Florida Board to host a Symposium on the years that there will be no National ASPRS meetings in the state, so that we can focus our energies on one main Technical meeting per year.

In 2009 we once again participated in the Annual Florida Surveyors and Mappers Conference with another full day of classes, three 2 hour presentations, taught by our Board Members, as well as a Florida Region ASPRS exhibit booth.  This was also advertised on our websitewww.flasprs.org and the website for FSMS http://www.fsms.org .  Conference schedule attached with ASPRS track highlighted.  At both of the Technical meetings we held board meetings where all were invited to attend and participate; several members took advantage of this and joined us for our meeting.

We advertised the open positions for the Board of Directors on the website and had 4 candidates for 3 positions.  We sent out approximately 450 ballots and received 85 ballots returned.

The Region Newsletter has become fully digital and is hosted on our website as our weblog section

http://flasprs.org/blog/

Here you can find out all the happenings and events for the Region as well as articles from our members.  When a new article/announcement is posted it is automatically sent via email to all of our members.  This also includes a Quarterly President’s Message to keep everyone informed of Region activities.

Our membership committee and Board members have contacted all of the unpaid members in the Region via phone or email, unless their information was out of date and they were not able to be located.  The campaign spreadsheet is attached.

In an effort to recruit new members we were able to exhibit this year at the University of South Florida GIS Day (and hope to join in with them again and other GIS events in the future)http://flasprs.org/blog/?p=116 In April of 2009 the FL Region ASPRS additionally had an exhibit booth at the National GITA Conference held here in Tampa.

Our National Director, Jeff Young, has attended all of the National meetings and has passed his report along to the board members and it is available to all FL Region members.

In 2009 we also started a new tradition for Awards to honor members and non-members in our Profession with a 1 year full membership and one year paid renewal.

The Award will be an Annual Professional Recognition Award and the Nominees will be selected by our members via an online Nomination form to be found on the website http://flasprs.org/blog/?p=109 .  After the nominations are collected the Board will read them over and vote for the best candidates for both Awards in 2010.

The Florida Region has completed all of the requirements under Article V Section 6 of the bylaws in order to receive our full Region Rebate for 2009.  This will be my last post as President and I want to be the first to welcome incoming President Evan Brown and wish him success in his endeavors in the coming years.

Regards,

Erin McCormick

Florida Region President ASPRS

President, Brian E. Murphy, CP, GISP

Brian Murphy currently serves as a Business Development lead for the Integrated Intelligence Systems Business Unit of Northrop Grumman where he has been working in the geospatial industry for just over six years. While at Northrop Grumman, he has held a variety of geospatial positions, including geospatial analysis, GIS application development, photogrammetry,  orthorectifiation and LiDAR processing. He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s in Land and Water Management (2001) and a Masters of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning (2009). Brian currently serves as the Florida Region Vice President and Webmaster, in addition to serving as the Vice-Chair of the national ASPRS membership committee. He also serves on a number of other national level ASPRS committees and divisions, including the Sustaining Members Council and Professional Practice Division.

Vice President, Ekaterina Fitos

Ekaterina Fitos is a certified GIS professional currently employed with Halcrow. Her responsibilities include: project management for the District’s Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data with focus on distribution and maintaining quality assurance and control, contract administration for the annual Digital Orthophotography program, and GIS analysis. She holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Masters in Geography and GIS, and Bachelors in Environmental Science. Ekaterina has served as a Director for the Florida Region of ASPRS since 2008, and is currently chair of the Professional Award Committee.

Past-President, Evan Brown, CP, CMS

Evan Brown is a Certified Photogrammetrist (CP) and Certified Mapping Scientist (CMS GIS/LIS) with 15 years of experience.  Evan is a graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Geography and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Geomatics also from the University of Florida.  Evan is employed with National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.  Evan's 15 years of experience include technical efforts and project management in GIS, GPS, photogrammetry, LIDAR, and remote sensing.  Evan has been a member of ASPRS since 2001 and has been honored to serve the Florida Region as President, Director and Vice President since 2007.

Secretary and Treasurer, Dr. Bon Dewitt

Bon Dewitt is an Associate Professor and administers the Geomatics Program in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. He conducts research and teaches courses in many of the various aspects of Geomatics. He has been a member of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing since 1981 and has served on the ASPRS Florida Region Board of Directors for over 15 years. Dr. Dewitt is also licensed as a Professional Surveyor and Mapper in the State of Florida and serves on the Board of Directors for the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society.

National Director, Jeff Young

T. Jeffrey “Jeff” Young is currently the Vice President and Director of Photogrammetry for Pickett & Associates, Inc. He is a Florida licensed Surveyor & Mapper, a licensed Photogrammetric Surveyor with the State of South Carolina, a licensed Surveyor Photogrammetrist with the Commonwealth of Virginia and an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist. Jeff has held positions within ASPRS as a Florida Director, National Membership Chairperson and is currently Florida’s National Director. He has been a member since 1993.

Director, Kimberly Nale

Kimberly has been as member of ASPRS since 2008, first joining as a University of Florida Geography student she organized the local participation of UF students in ASPRS activities and has attended numerous ASPRS Conferences. She holds a Bachelors in Geography from the University of Florida. Her professional experience includes imagery and LiDAR QA/QC with Dewberry and she presently serves as a Geospatial Analyst for eMap International. In that role Kimberly manages a wide variety of imagery acquisition both aerial and satellite and establishes project specifications insuring that imagery capture meets client requirements. In addition she is responsible for change detection from both aerial and satellite imagery for major oil and gas clients.

Director, Brenda Burroughs

Brenda has been in the Geospatial Profession for over twenty years. She is currently the U.S Region Sales Manager for Optech, responsible for sales and marketing of Airborne Digital Aerial Camera and LiDAR Systems. She began her career selling Landsat satellite imagery and over the years has expanded her knowledge and experience to include aerial imagery, digital mapping and analytical services, with extensive knowledge and background in GIS/Remote Sensing Applications products and services.

Director, Keith Patterson PSM, SP, GISP

Keith is a Senior Project Manager at Dewberry in Tampa, Florida and is a Florida licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper (PSM). He has over 30 years of experience in remote sensing, photogrammetry, mapping, surveying, GIS and related geospatial services. His technical experience includes project design, LiDAR data processing, photo interpretation, change detection, trend analysis, environmental field reconnaissance, accuracy assessment and geodatabase construction aimed at supplying clients with reliable geospatial information. He has served in both executive level and program management positions.