- Author: Shane T Feirer
The third day of the ESRI User Conference was an exhilarating deep dive into the world of Artificial Intelligence. The AI Summit, the first of its kind hosted by ESRI, focused on the integration of AI into the ESRI ArcGIS Suite of software and tools. The excitement in the air was palpable as attendees explored the transformative potential of AI in GIS.
AI Summit Highlights
The AI Summit highlighted the strategic incorporation of AI into two broad categories within the ArcGIS ecosystem: GeoAI and AI Assistants.
- GeoAI: This category encompasses advanced AI models and algorithms specifically designed forgeospatial analysis. Attendees learned about howGeoAI can enhance spatial data interpretation, improve predictive modeling, and support more accurate decision-making. The sessions showcased real-world applications, demonstrating howGeoAI is being used to tackle complex challenges. These tools included:
- Deep Learning Models and object detection and pixel classification
- Unstructured text searching and geocoding
- and many others
- AI Assistants: These tools are designed to augment the user experience within theArcGIS platform, making it more intuitive and efficient. AI Assistants leverage generative AI to provide intelligent recommendations, automate routine tasks, and enhance data visualization. The demonstrations highlighted how these assistants can streamlineworkflows, improve productivity, and empower users to extract deeper insights from their data. AI assistants are being included in:
- Help documentation, online and within ArcGIS Pro
- Webmapping - Smart mapping
- Survey 123 webform design
- ArcGIS AI Hub Assistant
- and the list goes on
Innovative Applications and Future Directions
Throughout the day, experts and innovators shared their experiences and insights on the cutting-edge applications of AI in GIS. From machine learning models that classify historic and current aerial photos to AI-driven tools that optimize road condition extraction from full motion video capture, the presentations underscored the vast potential of AI to revolutionize the field.
Exciting Outcomes
One significant outcome of the day was my decision to request access to ArcGIS Hub Premium and its AI Assistant. This powerful tool will enable the querying of geospatial data created and maintained by IGIS and UCANR using AI using a natural language model. This will open up major opportunities for those needing information about UCANR and data that is important to Californians, making it easier to access, analyze, and leverage critical geospatial information.
Looking Ahead
The integration of AI into the ArcGIS Suite represents a significant leap forward, promising to unlock new possibilities for geospatial analysis and decision-making. As the conference progresses, attendees are eager to see how these advancements will continue to evolve and shape the future of GIS.
Perspective on AI
In response to concerns that AI might replace GIS professionals, the panelists provided some important perspectives. They emphasized that GIS professionals may potentially lose their jobs if they don't embrace AI. Just like if a GIS Professional was still using AML or Avenue programming laguages instead of modern languages and tools, they would eventually be replaced by someone who was using new languages and tools. The was reinforced a comment by one panelist who added, "If you lose your job because of AI, it will be to someone who is using AI."
Stay tuned for more updates and insights from the 2024 ESRI User Conference! The journey into the future of GIS, powered by AI, has just begun.
/h2>/h2>/h2>/h2>/h2>- Author: Priyanka Dhirenbhai Vyas
Where is the nearest oak tree close to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington? How many trees are in Washington DC? When is the trash pick-up date for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW? These are some of the questions that residents can answer using AI feature in the Open Data Portal.
ESRI's team along with its partners is testing models through which AI can be trained to search through and query data sets within the data portals of state and local government as well as within ArcGIS Hubs.
To ensure data are easy to discover, share, and can be reproduced, ESRI devoted a session on ensuring users are maintaining metadata and preparing it in a way it is ready for AI. How to ensure that AI assistance search is limited to data within the hub is something ESRI is still working on.
ESRI is working on a suite of tools to increase collaboration among teams and within community. One such feature is the Discussion Board in ArcGIS Hub. For example, when a small team working for the parks and recreation has to decide some good spots to set up picnic tables, a user can invite other members in the team to share their comments. Along similar lines, ESRI also gave considerable attention to its product Pipeline. Similar to Model Builder which works in ArcGIS Pro, Pipeline connects datasets and workflows in ArcGIS Online. ESRI's collaborative tools are also aimed at including users and databases that are not spatial in nature such as Knowledge Graphs. Knowledge graphs harness the knowledge of graph theory to bring connections between people and places and what happens when one of the nodes in the chain gets affected by an externality. Clearly, with products like knowledge graph ESRI is reaching new territories as it brings people who are working with non-spatial data also into using ArcGIS products.
ESRI's partnership with Microsoft remained in the spotlight with sessions focused on Introduction to Microsoft Fabric, ArcGIS tools available in Office 365 with Excel, SharePoint, Power BI, and Teams.
After a series of technical sessions, the crowd was eagerly waiting to watch John Nelson's and Kenneth Field's session on Map Wizardry. Even 45 minutes before the session started, participants had already started queuing up outside the ballroom. With over 500 participants, this probably was the most attended session after the plenary. Both Kenneth and John kept the audience entertained and engaged with their cutting-edge techniques on 2D cartography while Nathan Shephard amazed the crowd with his 3D maps.
With several technical sessions and user presentations, ESRI continues to keep the voracious appetite of the conference attendees to come back for Day 3 of the conference.
- Author: Patty Guerra, UC Merced
As the climate continues to change, the risks to farming are only going to increase.
That's the key takeaway from a recent paper published by a team that included UC Merced and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers. The paper dives into what those challenges are, how farmers are working to address them and what should come next.
"Climate Smart Agriculture: Assessing Needs and Perceptions of California's Farmers" was first authored by Samuel Ikendi, academic coordinator, with Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension climate adaptation in agriculture specialist, as a corresponding author. Both are based at UC Merced. Pathak is also a project director of National Institute of Food and Agriculture-funded project "Multifaceted Pathways to Climate-Smart Agriculture through Participator Program Development and Delivery," which supported this study. The study appeared in the open access journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
The needs assessment was designed to understand farmers' perceptions and experiences with climate change exposures; the risk management practices they currently use; and what tools and resources would assist them in making strategic decisions.
Of the farmers surveyed, roughly two-thirds agree climate change is occurring and requires action. Even more said they are interested in learning more about the impacts of climate change on the agricultural industry. Most respondents said they experience greater climate change impacts on their farms today compared with 10 years ago.
Farmers were very concerned with water-related issues, with those in the San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast and Inland Empire areas particularly worried about a reduction in the availability of groundwater. Increased drought severity was a very significant concern among farmers in the Inland Empire, Central Coast and Southern regions. Farmers in the North Coast and Southern regions were concerned about increased damage to crops due to wildfire.
Closely related were temperature-related issues, including crop damage due to extreme heat.
Those who farm vegetables were more concerned about water availability for irrigation, while fruit farmers were more concerned about increased crop/water stress and increased crop damage due to extreme heat.
Many respondents said they are implementing climate adaptation practices including managing water resources, maintaining soil health and making more use of renewable energy sources. They are seeking insurance and government help to pay for these adaptations and increase their agricultural resilience, the researchers wrote.
The farmers expressed interest in learning more about measures they might take to mitigate climate change. But they cited significant barriers to this work, including government regulations, high implementation cost, labor access/cost, access to water and the availability of money to pay for it.
"Climate change is significantly altering California's highly diverse agricultural landscape, posing challenges such as increased water stress, heat stress, and shifting growing seasons," Pathak said. "Climate-smart agriculture practices can alleviate some of those stresses."
But, he said, research and UC Cooperative Extension efforts only have value if they lead to enhanced climate-informed decision-making at the local level.
"Assessing their level of knowledge, perception and needs will help in tailoring research and extension activities that are most relevant to farmers on the ground," Pathak said. "Results from this study could also provide important policy insights on financial incentives and technical assistance."
/h3>
- Author: Oleg Daugovish
The way the strawberry industry grows plants really makes them a subtropical plant. The industry is located along the coast from Monterrey to San Diego, with the bulk around Salinas, Santa Maria and Oxnard. Oleg Daugovish looks after this industry from our office in Ventura. He's written a story that illustrates the whole industry, from where the mother plants are grown near Mt Shasta to the fields along the coast. It's a story that every Caifornia kid should read about.
![Mt Shasta Mt Shasta](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107806.png)
- Author: Priyanka Dhirenbhai Vyas
Where is the nearest oak tree close to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW? How many trees are in Washington DC? When is the trash pick-up date for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW? These are some of the questions that residents of Washington DC can answer using AI feature in the Open Data Portal. Although this feature is in its pilot stage, ESRI's team along with its partners is testing models through which AI can be trained to search through and query data sets within the open data portals of state and local government as well as within ArcGIS Hubs.
To ensure data are easy to discover, share, and can be reproduced, ESRI devoted a session on ensuring users are maintaining metadata and preparing it in a way that it is ready for AI. How to ensure that AI assistance search is limited to data within the hub is something ESRI is still working on.
ESRI is working on a suite of tools to increase collaboration among teams and within community. One such feature is the Discussion Board in ArcGIS Hub. For example, when a small team working for the parks and recreation has to decide some good spots to set up picnic tables, a user can invite other members in the team to share their comments. Along similar lines, ESRI also gave considerable attention to its product Pipeline. Similar to Model Builder which works in ArcGIS Pro, Pipeline connects datasets and workflows in ArcGIS Online. ESRI's collaborative tools are also aimed at including users and databases that are not spatial in nature such as Knowledge Graphs. Knowledge graphs harness the knowledge of graph theory to bring connections between people and places and what happens when one of the nodes in the chain gets affected by an externality. Clearly, with products like knowledge graph ESRI is reaching new territories as it brings people who are working with non-spatial data also into using ArcGIS products.
ESRI's partnership with Microsoft remained in the spotlight with sessions focused on Introduction to Microsoft Fabric, ArcGIS tools available in Office 365 with Excel, SharePoint, Power BI, and Teams.
After a series of technical sessions, the crowd was eagerly waiting to watch John Nelson's and Kenneth Field's session on Map Wizardry. Even 45 minutes before the session started, participants had already started queuing up outside the ballroom. With nearly 1000 participants, this probably was the most attended session after the plenary. Both Kenneth and John kept the audience entertained and engaged with their cutting-edge demonstrations of 2D cartography while Nathan Shephard amazed the crowd with his 3D maps.
With lots of interesting technical sessions and user presentations, ESRI has created a voracious appetite among the conference attendees to come back for Day 3 of the conference.