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

This presentation will explore demographic and economic data for geographic areas in Montana. We will walk through the most accurate and useful data sets from the U.S. Census Bureau Decennial Census and American Community Survey. We will provide guidance on the usability of data at varying geographic levels (ex. block, city, county). Finally, we will review the best resources for obtaining and using tabular and GIS-enabled data including the U.S Census Bureau, ESRI Living Atlas via ArcGIS Online and the Montana Department of Commerce. 

Regional Geospatial Coordinators Program:
The purpose of the Regional Geospatial Coordinators (RGCs) is to establish a partnership of the roles and responsibilities of the respective partners in the twelve Regions.
Within this presentation, RMR RGC will give an outline of how RMR RGC has worked to limit data silos and explores the critical aspects of GIS data management, focusing on the effective organization, storage, and manipulation of geographically referenced data within the BIA’s planning context. This emphasizes the importance of data validation and quality checks to ensure the accuracy and consistency of spatial data throughout the BIA’s geospatial system. 

Utilizing temperature of a tracer of ground water-surface water (GWSW) interaction has a long history in hydrology. Increasingly UAS thermal data is being used to evaluate high spatial resolution micro-scale (cm-level) GWSW interaction. Thermal UAS data can reveal areas of groundwater discharge, hyporheic zone interaction, and reaches of warmer water that can be barriers to fish movement and survival. UM and MTech conducted a 20-mile thermal UAS project on Thompson Creek in the summer of 2024. This work provides insights into the GWSW interaction along the creek and has implications for stream restoration in support of native fish populations. 

With many users across the continental US, the Terracon Data Solutions team provides tailored GIS
solutions for its many offices. A constant struggle is to maintain data standards when there is so much data being collected at any given time. Once it came time to discuss our next version upgrade, the team discussed ways to better efficiencies to speed up the process. We stumbled upon the idea that one needs to 'clean up' before moving from one house to the other. Taking inspiration from a past presentation, the Data Solutions Team and the Solutions Architecture team developed an Esri Dashboard that used Content scoring to demonstrate to users what data is worth keeping and what is not. This assisted the team in reducing content by nearly 50% in a brief period because users could see their aggregate scores and knew what needed improvement and what could be eliminated. We will discuss the creation of the dashboards, the user reception of the concept, and the lessons learned. 

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) defines, maintains, and provides access to the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), which is a common foundation for geospatial data that serves as the basis for civilian surveying and mapping in the United States. Changes in technology and a better understanding of the dynamic earth have made it necessary to improve the NSRS to be of better use for modern applications. Currently, NGS is in the process of modernizing the NSRS, updating the existing horizontal datums with a suite of geometric reference frames and the vertical datums with a gravimetrically-derived geopotential datum. 

Advancements in UAS hardware and Lidar technologies have provided opportunities for organizations to gather highly accurate and dense Lidar point clouds for small scale projects with quick turn around times. This presentation will outline a variety of projects, with varying challenges, specifications and client needs. We will review steps for planning successful UAS Lidar missions and detail UAS Lidar system specifications and applications. Assessing site suitability and the size of project area are important factors for UAS projects. Dense point clouds will be explored from engineering and water resource projects. 

In October of 2024, approximately 26 road miles within Helena, MT city limits were captured with a state of the art mobile lidar sensor. This presentation will provide a summary of the Helena mobile lidar collection including the technology, collection considerations, desired feature collection and accuracy. And will review what the data will be used for by the City. We will review the types of projects this mobile lidar point cloud and imagery can support in a GIS like asset inventory and management, change detection and much more. 

Innovation is not a single event but a continuous process of learning, adapting, and refining ideas to reach the right solution. At Pickett and Associates, our journey to develop an unmanned hydrographic survey program demonstrates this iterative approach. Beginning with a custom-built prototype in 2014, our goal was to enhance safety and efficiency in surveying hazardous industrial mining ponds.
This presentation highlights the innovation process that carried us from a promising yet flawed prototype to the successful adoption of a commercially proven solution. Interdisciplinary collaboration and strategic partnerships with industry specialists were two key factors that helped facilitate this transformative journey. By viewing setbacks as opportunities to grow, we identified essential design criteria, conducted thorough market evaluations, and selected a system designed to withstand the extreme conditions of acidic mining ponds.
Throughout this process, we reaffirmed that true innovation demands adaptability and persistence. Valuable lessons emerged, including the necessity of engaging end-users, knowing when to pivot from custom solutions to established technologies, and maintaining a steadfast focus on safety and quality.
This case study provides actionable insights for fostering a culture of innovation that turns challenges into stepping stones for progress.

Takeaway:
Innovation is not linear but a journey defined by discovery and growth. By embracing challenges and refining our approach, Pickett successfully developed and implemented an unmanned hydrographic survey program that exemplifies the power of collaboration and persistence in achieving meaningful innovation. 

Fluvial geomorphology and channel migration typically have been studied by relying on field observations or long-term, medium- to low-resolution remote sensing imagery acquired over extended intervals. The technology of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) allows for on-demand data collection with high spatial resolution. This study compares the measurements of aerial imagery produced by the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and the aerial imagery produced by a UAS, as well as their ability to capture and analyze land cover and geomorphic changes after flood events between 2017 and 2021 on the Sun River in Central Montana. 

Microsoft’s Power Automate is a low-code/no-code automation platform that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and a host of third-party applications and services, including ArcGIS. In this session, we’ll explore a real-world example as an overview of requirements, capabilities, and limitations of this integration. Key topics will include authentication methods, deployment patterns, common pitfalls, quirks, practical tips and tricks, and lessons learned. 

State governments in the United States are increasingly mandating that educational institutions and municipalities adopt critical incident mapping (CIM) and emergency management planning to support first responders and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) during emergencies. This presentation underscores the value of integrating Esri products for CIM, emergency management and asset management, with a focus on indoor mapping and digital twins.

Key topic areas covered include data sharing, safety asset mapping, routing, 3D GIS, best path analysis, and evacuation planning, utilizing the latest reality capture methods and ArcGIS technologies. 

Stormwater management is increasingly becoming a challenge for towns and cities that contend with population growth, aging stormwater infrastructure, and the increasing frequency and cost of storm events. Municipalities can leverage impervious surface mapping and analysis to help fund stormwater maintenance by providing an avenue to equitably assess stormwater utility fees based on the amount of impervious surface on a property contributing surface water runoff to a municipality's stormwater system.

In 2024, the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming, partnered with Pickett and Associates to advance its stormwater management program by conducting a GIS-based impervious surface mapping project. Pickett leveraged AI-based image classification using high-resolution aerial imagery to map impervious surfaces across 47.5 square miles and over 29,000 parcels within the City of Cheyenne. Pickett leveraged GIS tools, together with GIS data from the City and County, including Parcels, Address Points, Zoning, and Jurisdictional boundaries, to associate each parcel with a total impervious surface area and tie that impervious surface area to address points and, ultimately, utility billing accounts. Throughout this project, Pickett relied on web mapping applications to enhance communication and stakeholder engagement with the city engineers and city council members. This impervious surface analysis gave the city insight into each parcel’s surface water runoff potential based on its impervious surface area, which directly enabled Cheyenne to equitably assess a new stormwater utility fee based on parcel-level surface runoff potential. The city council passed the new stormwater ordinance in November 2024.

This presentation discusses the GIS-based approach and analysis that Pickett conducted for the City of Cheyenne, highlighting some of the challenges we faced and the impact that this analysis has made for the city’s stormwater program. The impervious surface mapping project not only supports Cheyenne’s Surface Water Management Program, but also provides actionable insights for future urban planning and stormwater mitigation, enabling the City to make informed, data-driven decisions to reduce flooding risks, improve water quality and better manage its stormwater infrastructure, ultimately benefiting the community’s sustainability and resilience. 

Effective asset management is essential for maintaining and optimizing parks and recreation infrastructure. This session will provide a comprehensive look at asset management from strategic planning to implementation and field operations.
The discussion will begin with a broad overview of asset management in parks and recreation, emphasizing its role in optimizing resources, improving service delivery, and ensuring long-term sustainability.

Next, the focus will shift to the implementation of an enterprise asset management system (Cartegraph) for Missoula Parks and Recreation. Lessons learned will be shared, including strategies for ensuring data accuracy, integrating GIS data, overcoming implementation challenges, and developing workflows tailored to the unique needs of parks and recreation assets. The presentation will highlight the transition to a data-driven approach to improve decision-making, streamline preventive maintenance, and enhance operational efficiency.

The session will conclude with insights from the field showcasing how asset management benefits daily park maintenance operations. Topics will include GIS integration for field staff, mobile application usability, asset digitization, and work management functionality. The discussion will highlight efforts to tailor the system for maintenance workers, ensuring efficiency and ease of use in managing park assets.

This session will provide valuable insights for organizations looking to implement or refine asset management practices in parks and recreation.

Montana is modernizing their stream and waterbody mapping data, which relies on the current National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). NHD is outdated and lacks detail for local features like canals and small drainages. With statewide lidar acquisition nearing completion, the next evolution of water course mapping will adopt the USGS 3D Hydrography Program (3DHP). 3DHP provides a new data model, more accurate and consistent data, and connections to water reporting systems. 3DHP will enable hydrographic analysis and visualization for a broad range of applications. Get involved to help improve Montana’s water data. 

This presentation explores how drone technology and GeoAI revolutionize geospatial data workflows, from acquisition to actionable insights. High-resolution imagery collected by drones is processed into orthomosaics, 3D models, and other refined datasets. Advanced AI models analyze this data to identify patterns, detect anomalies, and inform decisions for applications like infrastructure monitoring. Emphasizing automated, scalable methods, this end-to-end process highlights efficiency, accuracy, and transformative potential, empowering organizations to address spatial challenges with precision. 

We will explore and discuss new advances in remote sensing technologies, and discuss their applications in government with an emphasis on emerging technology.

-Tasking and archived satellite imagery as high as 15cm resolution (previously capped at 50cm)
-Autonomous drone docking stations
-Oriented imagery and video
-Enterprise-scale imagery management (image services and STAC)
-Every scale reality mapping, including urban and environmental digital twins