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 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.

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.

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!

 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.

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.

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
• 12:00-12:15pm Final 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 e-mail 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!

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.