2023 Annual Business Meeting and Geospatial Conference


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2023 ASPRS Gulf South Region Annual Business Meeting and Geospatial Conference



The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Gulf South Region (Louisiana & Texas) will hold its 2nd Annual Business Meeting & Geospatial Conference on June 15th and 16th, 2023.  

This two-day virtual event will feature several geospatial related technical sessions, and networking opportunities. Each attendee will receive 1 Professional Development Hour (PDH) for each session they attend.

The objectives of the Gulf South Region include advancing knowledge in imaging and geospatial information within the region, so with that idea in mind we have put together a program which supports this mission.  



-KEYNOTE ADDRESS
-FOUR TECHNICAL SESSIONS
-GEOSPATIAL PANEL HOSTED BY
KENT GROH OF THE GEOHOLICS

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JUNE 15, 2023 SCHEDULE


9:00-9:10 AM: Welcome/Region History - 2022 Immediate Past President Bill Swope, CP

9:10-9:20 AM: State of the Gulf South Region - 2022 President Cody Condron, RPLS, PLS, CP, CMS

9:20-9:30 AM: Induction of New Officers 

9:30-9:40 AM: Incoming President Remarks - 2023 President Scott Dodson, CP

9:40-10:40 AM: Keynote: Geospatial Trends - Dr. Qassim Abdullah, CP

10:40-10:55 AM: Silver Sponsors 1-4

11:00-12:00 PM: Technical Session 1 - Surveying & Mapping with UAS - Jib Ahmad, RPLS, PLS, CFM

12:00-1:00 PM: Lunch

1:00-1:25 PM: Gold Sponsor Sessions 1 & 2

1:30-2:00 PM: Student Project Showcase

2:00-2:25 PM: Gold Sponsor Sessions 3 & 4

2:30-3:30 PM: Geospatial Experts Panel Moderated by Kent Groh and The Geoholics podcast crew!

3:30 PM: Day One Adjournment 

JUNE 16, 2023 SCHEDULE


8:55-9:00 AM: Day Two Welcome, 2023 Immediate Past President Cody Condron, RPLS, PLS, CP, CMS

9:00-10:00 AM: Technical Session 2 -  Evaluation of UAS Topo-Bathymetry Techniques for Coastal Zone Mapping - Dr. Michael Starek

10:05-10:25 AM: Gold Sponsors 5 & 6

10:30-11:30 AM: Technical Session 3 - Land Deformation and Sea-Level Rise Assessment with Space Geodetic Techniques - Dr. Tianxing Chu

11:35-11:55 AM: Gold Sponsors 7 & 8

12:00-12:45 PM: Lunch

12:45-12:55 PM: Silver Sponsors 5 & 6

1:00-2:00 PM: Technical Session 4 - Indoor Mapping - David Key, PE, CFM

2:00-2:05 PM: Closing Remarks - 2023 President Scott Dodson, CP

2:30-3:30 PM: Annual Business Meeting  -  2023 Gulf South Region Board of Directors (Members welcome)

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Dr. Qassim Abdullah, CP - Keynote Speaker & Geospatial Experts Panel

Dr. Qassim Abdullah is an achieved scientist with more than 45 years of combined industrial, research and development (R&D), and academic experience in analytical photogrammetry, digital remote sensing, and civil and surveying engineering. Dr. Abdullah obtained his doctorate and master degrees in photogrammetry from the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the Vice President and Chief Scientist for Woolpert Inc. His responsibilities include designing and managing strategic programs to develop and implement new remote sensing technologies focused on meeting the evolving needs of geospatial users. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, and at Penn State, where he teaches graduate courses on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), photogrammetry and remote sensing. Among his achievements, Dr. Abdullah evaluated and introduced a Geiger-mode and single photon lidar to the geospatial industry while leading Woolpert research activities surrounding intelligent transportation systems, digital twin, smart cities, and UAS sensor calibration and workflow development. Dr. Abdullah is a Fellow with the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and the creator, and principal author of, the new ASPRS Positional Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data where he received the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 and has been the recipient of several prestigious awards within the organization. Most recently, Dr. Abdullah was awarded the “Outstanding Personal Achievement in Lidar Award” during the GeoWeek 2023 conference. He publishes a monthly column, “Mapping Matters,” in the ASPRS journal, PE&RS. Dr. Abdullah is a member of the NOAA Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP) and is on two of the Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committees, the New Users of Shared Airspace (AV095) and the Geospatial Data Acquisition Technologies (AKD70). Dr. Abdullah is a certified photogrammetrist and licensed professional surveyor and mapper in Florida, Oregon, Virginia, and South Carolina. He is also a certified thermographer by the FLIR Infrared Training Center and a Certified GEOINT Professional in Remote Sensing and Imagery Analysis (CGP-R) by the USGIF.

Kent Groh – Host of Geoholics & Moderator for Geospatial Experts Panel

Kent Groh is a highly experienced professional land surveyor with over 30 years of experience. He has devoted his career to the surveying profession and developed a reputation for his technical expertise, attention to detail, and commitment to high-quality deliverables for his clients. Over the years he has worked on a wide range of projects ranging from small-scale land surveys to large-scale infrastructure development projects. He has a complete understanding of the latest surveying techniques and keeps up to date with the latest geospatial technologies. Throughout his career Kent has remained committed to professional development and continuing education and is generous with his time remaining active in several professional organizations and is the founder and host of The Geoholics podcast.

Jib Ahmad, RPLS, PLS, CFM – Surveying & Mapping with UAS

Jib Ahmad started his surveying career in Oregon and Washington in 1994 and instantly loved looking for property corners. He is a licensed Land Surveyor in Texas, North Dakota, and South Dakota, a Certified Floodplain Manager, and has been a Professional SCUBA Divemaster for over 27 years. His diverse range of projects in land, aerial, hydrographic, seismic and pipeline surveying has given him the opportunity to work in 8 states.  He is an FAA certified sUAS Pilot and joined ASPRS in May of 2019 to start working on the Certified Mapping Scientist-UAS certification with the potential of becoming a Certified Photogrammetrist in the future. Jib is a graduate of the University of Houston and is an active member of the TSPS, NSPS, ASPRS, AUVSI, ASCE, TFMA, AIA, and PADI.

Dr. Michael Starek - Evaluation of UAS Topo-Bathymetry Techniques for Coastal Zone Mapping & Geospatial Experts Panel

Dr. Michael “Mike” J. Starek is an Associate Professor of Geospatial Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) where he was recently appointed Chair of Remote Sensing & Autonomous Systems for Geomatics at the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science. Starek holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida, M.S. in Computer Science, and was formerly a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow of the U.S. Army Research Office. Starek’s research explores the merging of geomatics, remote sensing, and geospatial computing/GIS for monitoring of natural and built environments. As author or co-author, Starek has published over 50 peer-reviewed publications in geospatial-centric topics including light detection and ranging (LiDAR), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), photogrammetry, and artificial intelligence methods for geospatial data.

Dr. Tianxing Chu – Land Deformation and Sea-Level Rise Assessment with Space Geodetic Techniques

The Texas Coast has been identified as one of the fastest sinking areas in the US. Discovering the knowledge of the trend of land surface deformation in the vertical direction relative to a geocentric reference frame over the course of years or decades has been deemed crucial to assess the potential impacts to coastal resilience, near-shore infrastructures, and daily lives of coastal residents. In addition, absolute sea-level rise has exacerbated the outcomes caused by relative land-water movement. This talk will introduce our latest findings in land deformation and sea-level rise with several space-geodetic techniques along the Texas Coast.

Dr. Tianxing Chu is an Assistant Professor of Geospatial Systems Engineering and Associate Director of the Measurement Analytics (MANTIS) Lab within the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science (CBI) at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. His versatile expertise covers inertial navigation and positioning, emerging remote sensing techniques (e.g., structure-from-motion photogrammetry and light detection and ranging), and space geodetic techniques (e.g., global navigation satellite systems, synthetic aperture radar interferometry, and satellite altimetry). His current research interests include geospatial innovations using a wide array of remote sensing, navigation, and geomatics technologies, such as ubiquitous navigation and positioning on mobile platforms, indoor simultaneous localization and mapping, coastal land deformation, and machine learning techniques applied to geospatial applications.

David Key, PE, CFM – Indoor Mapping & Geospatial Experts Panel

David Key is a civil engineer with 31 years of experience in watershed hydrologic/hydraulic analyses, Flood Insurance Studies and large scale floodplain mapping Projects. He holds bachelor degrees in Mathematics and Civil Engineering. He is a Professional Engineer (PE), and Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM). David’s primary focus throughout his career has been FEMA Flood Insurance Studies. He served as project manager for the NC Floodplain Mapping Program since 2000. Throughout his career, he has managed over 100 countywide Flood Insurance Studies in 12 states.David’s recent focus has been on defining and communicating flood risk supporting FEMA’s Risk MAP programs and the State of North Carolina’s iRISK program.

Chad Netto - Geospatial Experts Panel

Chad Netto is a Geographer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and has over 20 years of experience in geospatial/geomatics applications. He is a U.S. Air Force, B-52 crew chief veteran, holds a University of New Orleans degree in Geography/ Remote Sensing, is a certified GIS Professional (GISP), holds an FAA Private Pilot and Remote Pilot Certificate. He has over 7 years of experience managing airborne data acquisition, sensor integration on Aircraft & small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS), and data analysis/ management.  This experience includes, but is not limited to LiDAR (mobile, airborne, terrestrial), multispectral and natural color imagery. He has worked on a range of projects including: mapping offshore assets (US Dept of the Interior), Disaster Area Mapping (USACE, CPRA, LaDOTD), Species Classification using Artificial Intelligence models (USACE, CPRA, Tulane), Highway Mapping (LaDOTD), Charting inland waterway systems (USACE), Vegetation Health Index analysis (USDA Sugarcane Research, Nichols), and creating virtual and augmented reality presentations.

Sergio Roman – Geospatial Experts Panel

Sergio Roman serves as TxDOT's UAS Coordinator charged with developing and managing pilot training, aircraft procurement, and the integration of UAS into TxDOT’s daily operations. He has been flying drones and managing drone programs for 13 years between the US Army, major Defense contractors, and now TxDOT. His goal is to make the benefits of UAS attainable to TxDOT and its partners through collaboration and discussions like the one we are about to have.

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ATTENDEE REGISTRATION INFORMATION

ASPRS Gulf South Members = $15
ASPRS Members = $25
ISPRS Members = $25
Non-Members = $50
Students = $0

Register Now

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SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
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Gulf South Region Geospatial Conference Gold Sponsors (2 remaining) $500

Benefits include:

  • 10 minute Sponsor overview session during conference
  • Up front sponsor recognition before every session as a Gold Sponsor
  • Program listing on all marketing materials
  • Social Media Recognition

Gulf South Region Geospatial Conference Silver Sponsor (6 available) $250

Benefits include:

  • 5 minute Sponsor overview session during conference
  • Up front sponsor recognition before every session as a Silver Sponsor
  • Program listing on all marketing materials
  • Social Media Recognition


Gulf South Region Geospatial Conference Bronze Sponsor $150

Benefits include:

  • Program listing on all marketing materials
  • Social Media Recognition

REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS JUNE 5th!
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Register Now

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GOLD SPONSORS

Halff

TX Drone Co.

McKim & Creed

Geoterra Surveying and Mapping

Seafloor Systems

AllTerra

Morris Hebert Inc.

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SILVER SPONSORS

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BRONZE SPONSORS

Frontier Precision