2025 Big Sky GeoCon - Mapping the Future: Innovations in Geospatial Technology

Description: 
Your city, county and state has lidar available. Lidar is a key foundation dataset that can help inform decisions of land managers, but it often goes unused. Whether you need to locate exactly where your culverts are, create an enhanced hydrography dataset to map water flow, find closed depressions for water quality studies, analyze slopes for ordinance review, or you need to assess the risk of soil erosion vulnerability, analysis of LiDAR can put your data to work to help derive answers for departments across your organization. In this workshop, we will discuss lidar base specifications in the state, dive into detailed lidar derivatives and then look at some solutions you can produce so you can start planning for your projects today.



 

Description:
Intended Audience: This course is intended for students who have some knowledge of ArcGIS Online and are looking to expand on their understanding of how to create interactive, online applications. Though it is recommended that students have some experience in developing online map applications, it is not necessary. No scripting skills necessary.

Software and Licenses: Students need to have their own computer hardware and an ArcGIS Online Creator user-type or higher with a valid login.
Course Modules:

• Module 1: Introduction to Experience Builder and a comparison with Web AppBuilder
• Module 2: Experience-Builder Basics and Creating an Experience from a Template
• Module 3: Exploring Style and Content Settings for Customizing Widgets
• Module 4: Configuring Dynamic Widget Interactions, Triggers, and Actions
• Module 5: Mobile Optimization for Varied Screen Sizes
• Module 6: Manage Your Experience and Create a Template

Summary:
This full-day course focuses on Experience Builder, highlighting how it is different from Web AppBuilder and detailing its advanced capabilities. You will explore the extensive list of well-refined templates that can be used out-of-the-box or reshaped and customized to fit the needs of your project. The course will dive into style and content settings for dynamic widgets, how to build an Experience from a template or a blank canvas and how to add widget actions and triggers to create an even more dynamic application for your target audience. You will learn how to optimize your Experience for mobile screen viewing so that users can access your application from a single, intelligent URL. Finally, you will learn a few tips for managing your Experiences and templates.
Course exercises will give you the hands-on experience you need to get familiar with the layout, customization capabilities and functionality that will have you quickly building your own Experiences beyond the classroom.
Pair this course with our Intermediate Experience Builder course to build an even stronger foundation in your Experience-Builder expertise and skillset.

Technology requirements: Must bring your own laptop. Instructions for setting up the required software will be provided prior to the workshop.
Description: 
Python is now regarded as one of the most popular programming languages of all, if not the most popular. This is especially true for GIS-related requirements, with Python being front and central when it comes to making the most of the ArcGIS technology suite. This workshop will provide an introduction to Python programming without reference to GIS topics, but with an emphasis on preparing attendees for further learning with respect to GIS scripting and development. The workshop will also be helpful for anyone wishing to use Python for other purposes.
Three topics will be covered in the workshop: (1) getting started with Python; (2) the use of JetBrains PyCharm Community Edition, a rich, powerful, and free Integrated Development Environment (IDE); and (3) Python fundamentals, including functions, classes and objects, and error handling.
Intended Audience: Anyone wishing to learn the fundamentals of Python programming.
Prerequisite Requirements: There are no prerequisite requirements. It will be assumed that attendees have little experience with Python or are starting from scratch.
Associated Workshop: Completion of this workshop is required for anyone wishing to attend the associated "Introduction to ArcGIS Data Management Using Python" workshop. An exception to this requirement will be made if the instructor is satisfied that your level of Python experience is such that attending the introductory workshop is not necessary. If required, please contact the instructor to request a waiver. 
Format and Technical Requirements: The workshop will consist of a balance between lecture material and demonstrations, forming the basis for a flexible and interactive training approach. There will be plenty of time for discussion and experimentation, which will result in a rich and rewarding experience for everyone involved.
 

Description: 
Intended Audience: This course is intended for those new to ArcGIS Pro or students migrating from ArcGIS Desktop that wish to learn the basic skills needed to create and print maps. It teaches the foundational skills needed for new users. No previous experience with ArcGIS Pro or GIS is required.
Software and Licenses: Students will need to be assigned an ArcGIS Pro 3.x Basic or higher license from their organization prior to class which can be accessed from the web. This should be verified prior to the start of class.
Course Modules:

• Module 1: Introduction to ArcGIS Pro
• Module 2: Understanding the ArcGIS Pro Interface
• Module 3: Working with 2D Maps and Layers
• Module 4: Creating and Using Selection Sets
• Module 5: Working with Tables
• Module 6: Creating ArcGIS Pro Projects
• Module 7: Working with Layouts

Summary:
In this 2 day course the student will learn the fundamentals of using ArcGIS Pro 3.x. To begin the class you’ll learn the fundamentals of using the new ribbon-based interface associated with ArcGIS Pro. Next, you’ll learn how to open projects and understand the variety of content types that can be added to a project including maps, layouts, styles, connections to data sources, and more. You’ll also learn how to create 2D maps and add a variety of basemaps and layers to those maps. We’ll also cover a wide variety of ways that layers can be symbolized and styled. Another topic we’ll cover is how to create and use selection sets associated with feature layers. You’ll also learn how to add stand-alone tables to maps and use the functionality found in the table view. Finally, we’ll cover how to create presentation quality layouts for your maps and content.

Description: Climate data come from a variety of sources, including remote weather stations, satellite platforms, and earth system models. Accurate temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, and other climate data are critical for many professions, including urban planning, resource management, agriculture, and energy production systems. However, the increasing diversity, complexity, and size of these datasets can make them difficult to work with. Creating decision-ready products from raw climate data also requires transparent, reproducible workflows that can be updated as requirements change. In this workshop, based in the Python programming language, we introduce participants to NASA’s free-to-use climate datasets, demonstrating how to search for, access, and manipulate satellite-based and modeled data on air temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, and humidity, among many potential climate variables. Participants will be introduced to hierarchical data formats, including HDF5 and netCDF4, along with the xarray library in Python. Our workshop offers hands-on experience with subsetting, resampling, and visualizing spatial data cubes: gridded climate variables that vary over space and time.

 

Description: This seminar provides a comprehensive introduction to geospatial concepts, methodologies, and cutting-edge geotechnologies, equipping attendees with the skills needed to optimize field data collection and management. Participants will explore: 

• ArcGIS Field Mobility Apps and their practical applications
• ArcGIS Online for preparing feature layers, sharing data, and visualizing findings via web maps
• Fundamentals of GNSS, including horizontal and vertical datums and map projections
• Best practices for safe, efficient data collection and field mapping.

Intended Audience: This workshop is ideal for individuals interested in leveraging GPS technology for field data collection. Whether you are a beginner or seeking to refine your skills, no prior mapping experience is required.