Job Opening - Regulatory Geologist/Hydrologist

VESTRA Resources is seeking candidates for a Regulatory Geologist/Hydrologist with 5 or more years related experience. This person will support and/or manage projects associated with various public and private sector clients. Projects include a mix of office and fieldwork responsibilities. Work includes statistical analysis, regulation interface, regulatory application and analysis, drilling oversight, logging soil borings, installing wells/piezometers, report preparation, sampling various media (groundwater, soil, surface water, etc.), documenting activities onsite, and directing subcontractors.

Qualifications include:

• BS/MS in Hydrology, Geology, Hydrogeology or related field, required.

• Five (5) or more years related experience and ability to obtain Professional Geologist license within one (1) year is required.

• Professional license in California or Geologist in Training Certification, preferred.

• Any combination of equivalent education and experience will be considered.

• Knowledge and experience in California regulations associated with investigation, water quality, remediation, and solid waste.

• Experience in environmental consulting and/or ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously.

• Project management experience.

• Good communication skills - both verbal and written.

• Self-motivated, strong initiative and work ethic, ability to work independently.

• Ability to lift and move approximately 75 lbs., work in the field, operate a boat and ATV, and operate and calibrate field measurement equipment.

VESTRA has a reputation for developing innovative and cost-effective solutions to address the environmental and engineering needs of our clients. For this reason, the ability to think creatively and follow through on ideas is essential.

VESTRA is located in Northern California, an area ideal for the outdoor enthusiast. The surrounding area offers year-round recreational activities such as boating, skiing, hiking, bicycling, hunting, and fishing. Our community offers excellent schools, affordable housing, and access to cultural events.

VESTRA is an equal-opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. VESTRA intends to employ the best available persons in every position. VESTRA is committed to compliance with all applicable laws providing equal employment opportunities. This commitment applies to all persons involved in Company operations.

VESTRA offers competitive pay and benefits (medical, dental, vision, life, LTD), 401k match, paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave, and opportunities for training and professional growth. The salary for this position is $60,000-$100,000 and will be assigned based on the level of experience applicable to the position. Qualified candidates please send letter of interest, resume, and transcripts to jobs@vestra.com; or by mail to VESTRA Resources, Inc., Attn: Human Resources, 5300 Aviation Drive, Redding, CA 96002.

For information on Shasta County, including economic information, visit the Shasta Economic Development Corporation website.

For more information about working at VESTRA, visit our Careers page.

GeoSystems Monitor v4.2.0 Release is Now Available

VESTRA Resources, Inc. has a new version of the GeoSystems Monitor, v4.2.0, now available for download.

ENHANCEMENTS, IMPROVEMENTS/FIXES, AND SECURITY UPDATES AT V4.2.0:

• Ability to access administrator's user content when adding content in Portal/ArcGIS Online

• Webmap layer group support for up to one level deep

• Node.js upgrade from 12.x to 16.x

• Security audit and upgrade of project dependencies

• New SSL certificate expiration date check

• Batch Editor fixes

• UI enhancements / fixes

• External email support for email notifications

• Updated error logging for backend/frontend UI

• Updated Postgres Library to accommodate latest Postgres versions

• Enhanced WMI checks

• Linux server (WMI equivalent) checks available upon request

• Easy open http link added to both alert and summary email for GeoSystems Monitor dashboard access

CLIENT IDEAS IMPLEMENTED IN V4.2.0:

• Reporting section enhancement

  • Ability to export reports to CSV added

• Autopopulate enhancement

  • Unselect all option added

Contact us for more information or to request a demo.

Esri Selects VESTRA as a Featured Partner for Q1 2022 in ArcGIS® Marketplace

VESTRA is excited and honored to announce that we have been selected as a Featured Partner on Esri’s ArcGIS® Marketplace Overview Page for the First Quarter of 2022 for National Government. We are honored to be selected by Esri for this exclusive opportunity as only 16 partners are featured each quarter.

Since 1988, VESTRA Resources, Inc. has been an industry leader in Enterprise GIS design, customization, and implementation. VESTRA was one of the first Esri authorized business partners in California, and has been a trusted Gold Business Partner since 1989. Over the years we have been honored with and have maintained the following Esri designations: ArcGIS® Online Specialty Partner, State and Local Government Specialty Partner, Federal Small Business Specialty Partner, and ArcGIS® Systems Ready Specialty Partner.

We specialize in consulting with industries such as State, Local and Federal Government; Healthcare; Agriculture; Natural Resources, Transportation, and more. We are a full-service GIS firm with staff ready to assist you with your GIS needs. Below are our core competencies -

• Enterprise GIS Design, Implementation, Support

• ArcGIS® Enterprise Health Checks and Upgrades

• GIS Application Development (Desktop, Web, and Mobile)

• GIS Strategic Plans and Needs Assessments

• GIS Data Management and Modeling

• Geodatabase Design and Development

• ArcGIS® Online for Organizations

• Portal for ArcGIS® Implementations

• ArcGIS® for Local Governments

• Local Government Information Model (LGIM)

• Mobile Development and Field Data Collections

• GIS Solutions Architecture and Workflow Design

• GIS Analysis

• Web Application Mashups

• CAD to GIS Data Migration and Conversion

• Parcel Fabric Implementations and Health Checks

• Parcel Editing

• 3D Visualization and Modeling

• GIS Training and Support

We've also developed the GeoSystems Monitor – the best real-time Enterprise GIS monitoring system, as well as several enhanced Web AppBuilder widgets that help improve Local Government workflows.

Contact us today to discuss your GIS needs!

VESTRA's October 2021 Event Schedule

VESTRA will be represented at the following October 2021 events -

1. 63rd Annual Washington Association of County Officials (WACO) Conference, October 5-7 in Tacoma, Washington

   Ryan Goodner-Belli, Senior GIS Analyst / Project Manager will be presenting Tuesday, October 5th at 1:00 p.m. on the topic of Modern Property GIS

2. 119th Annual California Assessors’ Association and CAA Information Technology Affiliate Meeting, October 25-28 at the Holiday Inn Downtown Sacramento, California

   Ryan Goodner-Belli, Senior GIS Analyst / Project Manager will be in Booth #13. Stop by and talk to Ryan about how VESTRA can help you with your GIS.

If you can’t make it to these events, please feel free to contact us. Our GIS experts would be happy to discuss what GIS solutions would be most suitable for your GIS needs.

Esri Designates VESTRA as a State and Local Government Specialty Partner

Its official, VESTRA has been designated as an Esri State and Local Government Specialty Partner! VESTRA has gained this recognition based on our expertise in implementing and delivering GIS services to State and Local Government clients.

See our government projects page for a small sample of projects we have assisted state and local governments with.

Do you have a GIS project you need help with? Call us at (530) 223-2585 or email us today, we’d be happy to help!

VESTRA's 2020 4-H and FFA Program Support

Despite the challenges and obstacles that 2020 has presented, VESTRA was happy to still be able to support our local 4-H and FFA members at the Glenn, Intermountain, Shasta, and Tehama fairs.  VESTRA Staff also spent a significant amount of time and effort working with the Shasta County Public Health Department and Board of Supervisors to help the Shasta District Fair have a safe and successful live Jr. Livestock Auction.

We hope that agricultural minded youth and young adults are not discouraged by the circumstances of this year.  We know that not being able to have regular livestock shows and in person sales for many of these fairs may have felt that your hard work was not able to be appreciated or recognized, but it was!  In time things will get back to normal, and we hope that youth and young adults will continue to join these programs. Our Company speaks to a number of high school seniors each year for our local scholarship program, and we often find that those individuals that participated in 4-H and FFA programs have stronger leadership and communication skills.

We want to personally thank all of the other individuals and businesses that were also able to help support and recognize these individuals’ hard work and dedication to their projects.

We hope for a brighter 2021, and that we will see many of you 4-H and FFA members at our office come fair season.

Testimonial from City of Los Altos, CA

GeoSystems Monitor v4.1.1 Release is Now Available

VESTRA Resources, Inc. has a new version of the GeoSystems Monitor,  v4.1.1, now available for download. 

DESIGN       

• UI style and design updated using Bootstrap 3

• In JavaScript (deprecates Silverlight)

• Works in all modern browsers (Edge, IE 11+, Firefox, Chrome)

NEW FEATURES

GSM 4.1.1

• GSM Uptime Report enhancements

• Ability to create containers from ArcGIS Online and Portal folders and groups

• Node.js upgrade from 8.x to 12.x

• Moved Node.js to self-contained to install, with option to remove (if needed)

• Security audit and upgrade of projects dependencies

• Added improved iisnode error logging

Client ideas implemented in v.4.1.1:

• GSM Uptime Report - Added feature to save slow and up threshold values

• GSM Uptime Report - Added data descriptions page

Contact us for more information or to request a demo.

To stay up to date on the latest GeoSystems Monitor and VESTRA news, like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Case Study: City of Gonzales Empowers Public Works with ArcGIS Online Solutions for Local Government

Pic Credit: rwjf.org

Challenge

The City of Gonzales (Monterey County, CA) was relying on paper maps for tracking locations of utility assets in their Storm, Water and Sewer networks. This method was time consuming and inefficient for locating assets and planning maintenance operations. The City had digital CAD drawings of their networks but these were usable only in the office and were not accessible to field staff. The City wanted a better way to view their utility network information in the office and in the field, and improve their workflows with faster access.

Solution

After consulting with the City and determining their needs, VESTRA began by converting CAD data to GIS and georeferencing the information so it is located with better accuracy on the map. VESTRA then setup the ArcGIS Online organizational account for the City and published the converted CAD as hosted layers within ArcGIS Online. (The City had purchased a Cloud-based Enterprise Agreement from Esri. This gave the City access to unlimited desktop GIS software and the powerful ArcGIS Online platform with over 200 app solutions for local government).

VESTRA then used ready to deploy ArcGIS Solutions for Local Government, included with ArcGIS Online such as Water Distribution System Foundation, Mapping for Small Stormwater Systems, and Sewer Data Management. Each of these solutions include a suite of web, mobile, and desktop apps to support mapping the respective systems with data editing, viewing maps in the field and in the office, viewing reports about asset information, and creating map notes.

Result

The deployment of ArcGIS Online and included web and mobile applications transformed the way the City functions and performs work related to utility network mapping and maintenance. Multiple staff with logins can now access any part of the system, and view asset locations and understand their attributes. Mobile apps such as Collector for ArcGIS allow the City to capture more data in the field than originally available in the CAD drawings, and expand the collection of assets available to City staff.

Patrick Dobbins, Public Works Director said, “ArcGIS Online has proven to be a leap forward in how we operate and allowed us to modernize our workflows. VESTRA has been instrumental in our transformation and we are pleased with their expert knowledge, guidance, and responsiveness throughout the process.” Crystal Dorn, Regional Account Manager at Esri said, “Key partners such as VESTRA are able to fully leverage the advantages provided by Cloud-based Enterprise Agreements and offer a lot of value to clients in a relatively short amount of time.”

The City is now in the process of expanding on their asset inventory by using mobile apps like Collector and capturing data directly from the field and expects to make updated information available to anyone across the organization.

GeoSystems Monitor v4.1.0 Release is Now Available

VESTRA Resources, Inc. has a new version of the GeoSystems Monitor, v4.1.0, now available for download.

DESIGN

• UI style and design updated using Bootstrap 3

• In JavaScript (deprecates Silverlight)

• Works in all modern browsers (Edge, IE 11+, Firefox, Chrome)

NEW FEATURES

• GSM Uptime Report

• Batch Editor enhancements / fixes

• UI enhancements / fixes

• Auto-populate and refresh services easier

• Map service extent picker more flexible

• Connections enhancements

• License Manager charts enhancements

• Easier upgrading

• Clickable Help within UI - look for the question mark (?) icon in the upper right (see example below). Clicking this icon will link you to specific sections in the documentation.

CLIENT IDEAS IMPLEMENTED IN VERSION 4.1.0

• Add baseline for number of licenses purchased in License Manager Chart

• License Manager Chart Counts

• Uptime Report

Contact us for more information or to request a demo.

Job Opening - Professional Land Surveyor

VESTRA Resources, Inc. is seeking candidates for a Professional Land Surveyor licensed in California to join our Environmental, Engineering and Surveying Division. This position will involve working with our surveyor crew, engineers, environmental staff, and project managers on projects of various complexities. This position requires a strong understanding of survey principals and computer-aided design and drafting software. Duties include a mix of office and fieldwork responsibilities.

Responsibilities include:

• Conduct land surveys for determination of boundary lines, retracement of government survey lines, and re-establishment of land survey corners.

• Makes ties to subdivisions, property lines and government land corners.

• Assemble field data, reduces field notes and makes survey calculations.

• Assemble pertinent reference data before field surveys.

• Plot field data, using survey computer programs, construct maps, and prepare reports.

• Establishes control for alignment and benchmarks; makes required line and elevation ties to existing centerlines and U.S.G.S. benchmarks.

• Makes vertical control surveys for aerial surveys; determines elevations for various surfaces.

• Makes topographical surveys and site surveys for the development and/or clean-up of contaminated recreational facilities, and the design of buildings, roads, and bridges.

• Maintains records and prepares reports as necessary.

• Participate in business development, client communications and client satisfaction efforts.

• Analyze and prepare specialized technical studies and investigations and perform difficult research work.

• Coordinate project work teams, scoping sessions, budgeting, client communication and technical advisory sessions.

• Work both independently and with a diverse, multi-disciplinary team

• Interact and communicate with clients to ensure client satisfaction

• Maintain and contribute to positive communications between VESTRA, clients, and local agencies.

• Ability to manage project objectives for deliverables, schedule and budget

Qualifications include:

• B.S. in surveying or related field, or an Associated degree with a survey emphasis

• 6-8 years of related experience; or other equivalent combination of relevant education and work experience.

• Possession of valid Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) License issued by the California Board of Professional Land Surveyors, or ability to obtain license.

• Project Management Experience preferred

• Knowledge of state law regarding the establishments of plats, property lines, and survey monuments.

• Highly proficient in AutoDesk AutoCAD Civil 3D

• Knowledge of AutoCAD, Windows, Internet browsers, MS Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook

• Experience with survey equipment including GPS, robotic, and Total Station

• Experience with Trimble R10 GPS and Trimble Total Station a plus

• Ability to read and interpret engineering plans and specifications.

• GIS knowledge and experience a plus

• Requires excellent oral and written communication skills, including abilities to communicate effectively by telephone, face to face, e-mail and in writing.

• Organizational skills

• Self-motivated; strong initiative and work ethic

• Experienced with managing multiple projects, preparing proposals, scope of work and cost estimates

• Ability to organize and manage time, work on own initiative, prioritize between conflicting demands, work at a consistently high level of accuracy and meet deadlines.

• Strong interpersonal skills, experience and ability to work well within a team, create and maintain trust and confidentiality.

• Must be physically and mentally capable of working in a wide range of physical and environmental conditions (e.g. off trail rugged hiking).

• Ability to lift and move approximately 50 lbs., work in the field, operate a boat and ATV, and operate and calibrate field measurement equipment.

About VESTRA:

VESTRA has a reputation for developing innovative and cost-effective solutions to address the engineering and environmental needs of our clients. For this reason, the ability to think creatively and follow through on ideas is essential.

VESTRA is located in Northern California, an area ideal for the outdoor enthusiast. The surrounding area offers year-round recreational activities such as boating, skiing, hiking, bicycling, hunting, and fishing. Our community offers excellent schools, affordable housing, and access to cultural events.

VESTRA is an equal-opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. VESTRA intends to employ the best available persons in every position. VESTRA is committed to compliance with all applicable laws providing equal employment opportunities. This commitment applies to all persons involved in Company operations.

VESTRA offers competitive pay and benefits (medical, dental, vision, life, LTD), 401k plan, and opportunities for training and personal growth. Qualified candidates please send letter of interest, resume, and references to Human Resources via jobs@vestra.com; or by mail to VESTRA Resources, Inc., Attn: Human Resources, 5300 Aviation Drive, Redding, CA 96002. Visit our website for more information at www.vestra.com.

For more information about working at VESTRA, visit our Careers page.

VESTRA's 2019 4-H and FFA Program Support

VESTRA continues to be an active supporter of 4-H and FFA members throughout the North State. VESTRA highly encourages participation in these programs, and believes these programs help foster leadership skills and a sense of responsibility and dedication that will prove invaluable in future endeavors whether at school, in careers, or in leadership roles. To support these programs, VESTRA purchased market animals from members at local fairs, including the Glenn County Fair, Inter-Mountain Fair, Shasta District Fair, Tehama District Fair, and Trinity County Fair. Overall, VESTRA was able to support 20 members this year, and hopes to be able to keep that support going next year.

We enjoy meeting the many members of these programs as they visit our office each year or reach out to us in letters, and are pleased to see the active participation in the programs and at the fairs.

VESTRA takes pride in the North State communities that we live and work in, and makes it a priority to give back to the communities as best we can. We encourage other individuals and businesses in the area to show support for the surrounding communities as well, in any way that you are able.

How To Determine Cost Of ArcGIS Online Service Credits For Storage

Calculating the cost of ArcGIS Online Credits for storage can be baffling, especially when trying to purchase additional service credits from the Esri store. A 1000 credits cost $100. But how much storage does that give you? 

There are two ways credits are charged - storage based credits (for hosted feature services and tile services) and transaction based credits (for analysis, geocoding, etc.). On top of that, storage credits are based on the size of the data as well as hourly storage calculations. All of this can quickly get confusing.

A lot of the information to calculate the cost of storage and transactional ArcGIS Online Credits can be found here

However, it still needs some math to determine the costs of storage.

A simple formula to determine cost for credit storage is as follows.

Feature storage, excluding feature attachments and feature collections

1 GB = 240 credits/month or $24/month or $288/year

Storage of all content, excluding hosted feature layers including 

• Storage of attachments in a hosted feature layer

• Published vector tile layers from ArcGIS Pro

• Scene layer packages from ArcGIS Pro

1 GB = 1.2 credits/month or $.12/month or $1.44/year

Note: The above is for determining storage costs only. The costs also do not factor in hourly storage calculations, as mentioned here.

To determine costs for transactional services, see Esri help here

Hope you found this information useful and please leave us some feedback!

Visit VESTRA's Booth #2312 at the Esri User Conference in San Diego

Are you excited for the Esri User Conference? We are, and we hope to see you in San Diego in 2 weeks! Stop by VESTRA’s booth (#2312) during the expo times at the San Diego Convention Center, Tuesday, July 9th through Thursday, July 11th.

We will be showcasing our GeoSystems Monitor – Enterprise product, the best real-time GIS monitor available on the market today. Make sure to come see a demo of the product and to get a preview of the enhancements our developers have been working on that will be included in the upcoming release. In addition to our enterprise product, VESTRA also has an ArcGIS℠ Online only GeoSystems Monitor product that is available in Esri’s ArcGIS℠ Marketplace.

Our representatives will also be exhibiting the GIS services and local government solutions VESTRA offers including our Managed GIS and Cloud Services, Enhanced Web AppBuilder (WAB) Widgets, Location Strategy Jumpstart services, and more!

Stop by our booth (#2312) to speak with Solomon Pulapkura, GIS Project Manager/Business Development Manager and Davin Laine, Systems Architect/Engineer, to discuss how VESTRA can assist you with your GIS Services or systems monitoring needs.

We look forward to seeing you at the UC!

Survey123: Tips and Tricks for Enhancing Your Survey

Survey123 for ArcGIS℠ an Esri® application

Any organization looking to convert paper based field data collection workflows to a digital solution must consider using Survey123 for ArcGIS℠. Survey123 for ArcGIS℠ (Survey123) is a mobile app from Esri that supports form-centric data collection. This is useful for a wide range of workflows, from asset inspections to logging time on-site, and everything in between!

Survey123 is more than just an app; it is an entire solution for creating, sharing and analyzing field collected data. The survey forms can be created using a simple web interface by an ArcGIS℠ Online user, or using the more advanced Survey123 Connect desktop software. The wide range of applications for the Survey123 software is a great asset to any organization using GIS and can open the door for robust field data collection and subsequent analysis.

While surveys can be completed by end users using a simple web interface or a mobile app, the Survey123 Connect software allows analysts and developers to utilize Excel forms to create “smart” forms with advanced calculations, default values, conditional question filtering, and much more.

In this post, we will focus on some tips and tricks for enhancing your survey using the Survey123 Connect software including:

1. How to use ‘Secret’ fields in your survey, and why

2. How to maintain rolling totals from numeric form entries

3. How to capture before and after pictures at a location

Note – It is assumed the reader has some level of familiarity with Survey123 Connect and related terminology used in this blog post.

Tip 1: How to use ‘Secret’ fields in your survey, and why

When using Survey123 Connect to author and publish surveys, the software will create and maintain a feature service that is needed to support the questions in the survey. Basically, each question in the survey equates to a field within the feature service that is created. However, sometimes you might have information in the survey that you don’t necessarily want to store as fields in the survey feature service. Examples of this can be temporary notes during survey creation or an intermediate calculation variable that does not need to be stored in a field upon submittal. To control this, Survey123 Connect users can use the bind::esriFieldType column in the survey’s XLS form.

The bind::esri:fieldType column allows you to control the type of field added to the survey’s feature service more precisely. For example, if you had a question that accepts an integer value but you want to store this as a text value in the feature service, you could set the bind::type value in the XLS form to int and bind::esri:fieldType to esriFieldTypeString. Other accepted values include:

• esriFieldTypeString

• esriFieldTypeDate

• esriFieldTypeInteger

• esriFieldTypeSingle

• esriFieldTypeDouble

• esriFieldTypeSmallInteger

• esriFieldTypePointZ

• esriFieldTypeGUID

• null

Note the last value in the list above is null. This will cause the question to be omitted from the feature service associated with your survey! This works for all types of questions except Geopoints.

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/esricustomcolumns.htm

Tip 2: How to maintain rolling totals from numeric form entries

When using repeats within the survey form, it has traditionally been difficult to access data from different repeated instances from within your XLS form. However, starting at version 2.1 of Survey123, Esri has introduced aggregate functions that can be used to return values referencing the data across repeats! The aggregate functions that can be utilized are: count, sum, min, and max.

As an example, say you wanted to calculate the total number of hours worked in a day. To accomplish this, you could create a question in your survey XLS form inside a repeat called HoursSpent, which would allow users to input the number of hours spent on a particular task, and would allow them to create multiple entries. Additionally, you would create a field outside of your repeat called TotalHoursSpent, with the calculation set to sum(${HoursSpent}).

The result would appear as shown on the right.

This image shows a single time entry.

This image shows an additional entry with the total hours calculated on the fly!

Tip 3: How to capture before and after pictures at a location

One of the great features of Survey123 is that it allows field workers to easily take photos and upload them with their survey response. This could be useful for maintenance workers to relay information on work completed, for crowd sourcing community information with images, or as in this case, attaching before/after photos for work completed for fire hazard mitigation.

This can be achieved by adding an image question, which allows the user to upload a photo from their device or upload one saved on their device. Multiple images can be added by using Repeats. However, this issue can get more complex if the survey item needs to be revisited in the future to add additional photos, as in the case with before/after photos.

However, this too is achievable through use of the Inbox. The Inbox is a feature that allows users to edit data that has already been submitted. This can be enabled in the Settings pane of your survey in Survey123 Connect. Additionally, SQL Where clauses can be enabled to restrict the number of values returned.

For the example of adding before/after photos, a repeat (related table) was created to house photos and some attributes, which allows users to add multiple photos to a single survey. After adding the before photo, the survey is submitted.

At a later date, the user can return to this item through the Inbox, and add an after photo, then resubmit. In this example, some expression logic was used to tell the Inbox which records to make available to modify; this takes the form of a simple SQL expression such as: NeedsAfterPhoto = “yes”.

Upon navigating to the Inbox, the newly uploaded item with a before photo only appears and can be modified.

Note that there is a known limitation that previously added media cannot be modified once in the Inbox since the Inbox does not fetch/download attachments. This means that after photo(s) can be added, but you will not have access to your before picture.

Join VESTRA for a Webinar on Essential Web AppBuilder Widgets for Local Governments

VESTRA Resources, Inc. invites you to a FREE Webinar

Please register for Essential Web AppBuilder Widgets for Local Governments on Mar 07, 2019 11:00 AM PST at: 

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6040642512526582530

Local governments have three important workflows (among others) that are performed repeatedly. These include: 

• Mailing notices to owners and/or tenants

• Generating reports for commission hearings or for regulatory requirements, and

• Researching information that is often spread across many systems. 

GIS can be an effective tool to perform the above workflows. This webinar will demonstrate three widgets that will allow local governments to quickly and easily generate mailing labels, create reports, and view information combined from several business systems in one location, within a Web AppBuilder based application. The widgets are essential to local government workflows and can save hours of effort and research time.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. We hope that you will be able to join us for the webinar. If you cannot attend the webinar, you can register and we will email you a recording.

If you have any questions, would like additional information, or to talk to one of our GIS experts, please contact us. More information about VESTRA's Enhanced Web AppBuilder Widgets can be found at http://www.vestra.com/gis/widgets/.

Three Keys to Getting Started with Insights for ArcGIS℠

Insights for ArcGIS℠ an Esri® application

Insights for ArcGIS℠ is a breakthrough application that empowers organizations to perform powerful data analytics, and gain advanced location intelligence from location data. With an intuitive drag and drop workflow, the product allows organizations to gain key insights, using a variety of visualizations, in a short amount of time. The product is so exciting that sometimes, users who want to dive in, well, do just that, without an organized approach to using the software. In this post, I would like to point out three keys that users should keep in mind before jumping in.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

All the data pieces must be collected and prepared to fit right to tell a meaningful story

Key 1 - Take time to understand the data

Resist using the software until you have a thorough understanding of the data. It is very tempting to throw some data at the software and try to see what happens and what visualizations may automatically come alive. While there may be some visualization that is presented, it often won’t make much sense and will not provide the intelligence needed. It is very likely the analyst will be disappointed with the output. Instead, it is recommended to take a step back and really think about the data at hand in relation to the problem statement. Sometimes, it is like solving a puzzle and all the data pieces must be collected and prepared to fit right to tell a meaningful story.

The analyst should clearly understand the problem statement, expand on it with more specifics, by asking questions like –

• What data do I already have to help me answer the problem?

• What data am I missing?

• Where can I find the missing data?

• How do I prepare the missing data to fill gaps?

This leads us to the next key step to remember.

Key 2 - Ask progressively detailed questions to better define the problem

Start with a high level problem statement and begin to progressively add more details to the problem statement.

For example, a retailer may initially just simply ask –

“I want to map product sales in California”

The above sentence is a very high level problem statement. The analyst should be able to help better frame the question and take it from a high level one-liner problem statement to a question that is more specific.

So let’s look at the problem statement again and break it down a bit. Words that could be defined more have been bolded.

“I want to map product sales in California”

If we were to frame more specific questions for each of the bolded words, it would probably be something like the below –

• Product – which product in the product line? (e.g. for a clothing retailer it would be shoes, clothing, etc.)

• Sales – What kind of sales (e.g. online store, brick and mortar stores, or both?)

• California - What regions of California? (e.g. central valley or the bay area, or the entire state?)

At times, it would be helpful to ask additional questions to get a better context. For example, some additional related questions to help define the work to be done could be –

• What is the date interval for the sales to be mapped? (e.g. last month, last year, etc)

• Is there a target demographic? (e.g. infants, children, adults, etc)

Once more specific questions have been asked, a more defined question that could be used to begin further work could be as follows –

“I want to map clothing sales of the infant product line in the Bay Area from the online store within the last year”

Framing the question more specifically helps a great deal in knowing what data to gather and prepare for the analysis task at hand.

Key 3 - Know your visualizations

A common mistake people make when getting started with Insights for ArcGIS℠ is that they do not spend the time to understand visualizations available and what visualizations can tell the story the best. It is very important to study the visualizations that Insights for ArcGIS℠ offers. Most people are only familiar with bar or column charts, pie charts, or histograms.

Esri’s online help is a great resource for understanding the various visualizations. Be sure to study each visualization type and ensure you have a good grasp of a) how to use them, b) when to use them, and c) what data types you will need to build them.

GIS professionals may be mostly familiar with using maps to visualize and gather intelligence from location data. However, Insights for ArcGIS℠ provides a number of non-map visualizations, in addition to the traditional map based ones.

Here is a quick reference of some interesting non-map based data visualization options available in Insights for ArcGIS℠. For a full reference of all maps and charts available in Insights for ArcGIS℠, please visit Esri help.

Bar Chart	When To Use Compare data across categories, understand difference in levels between categories, identify trends, outliers, highs, and lows, across categories	Data Types Needed Y-axis: A String field (e.g. Category, Type, City, etc.). Optionally, a second String field can be provided to group values by a sub-category. X-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count of the string values on the y-axis is displayed.
Box Plot	When To Use Visualize groups of numerical data using quartiles, view outliers in data	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. X-axis: A String field can be optionally provided to group values
Bubble Chart	When To Use Compare proportions of categories, how data categories are related	Data Types Needed Y-axis: A String field. X-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count of the string values on the y-axis is displayed.
Chord Diagram	When To Use Visualize inter-relationships and connections between categories	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count is displayed. X-axis: Two String fields.
Column Chart	When To Use Compare data across categories, understand difference in levels between categories, identify trends, outliers, highs, and lows, across categories	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count of the string values on the x-axis is displayed. X-axis: A String field (e.g. Category, Type, City, etc.). Optionally, a second String field can be provided to group values by a sub-category
Data Clock	When To Use Understand how much data exists at different periods of time	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count is displayed. X-axis: Two String fields.
Donut Chart	When To Use Compare proportions of categories	Data Types Needed Y-axis: A String field X-axis: Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count of the string values on the y-axis is displayed.
Heat Chart	When To Use Visualize relationship between two categories	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count is displayed. X-axis: Two String fields.
Histogram	When To Use View distribution of numeric variables and their frequency of occurrence within a dataset, view outliers in a dataset	Data Types Needed X-axis: Integer or Decimal field.
Line Graph	When To Use Compare categories of data, compare differences/changes in a numeric value across categories	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count of the string values on the x-axis is displayed. X-axis: A String field. Optionally, a second String field can be provided to group categories
Link Chart	When To Use Visualize relationships between categories, visualize flow of information between categories	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count is displayed. X-axis: Two String fields.
Scatter Plot	When To Use Determine whether two variables are correlated and the strength of the correlation, compare distribution of two numeric variables, view outliers within a dataset	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. This is the independent variable. Optionally, a second Integer or Decimal field can be provided X-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. This is the dependent variable. Optionally, a second String field can be provided to color code the numeric values by category
Time Series Graph	When To Use Visualize trends in counts or numerical values, and how they change, over time.	Data Types Needed Y-axis: An Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count of the date values in the x-axis is displayed. X-axis: A Date/Time field. Optionally, a second String field can be provided to group categories
Treemap	When To Use View hierarchy or compare proportions of categories	Data Types Needed Y-axis: A String field. Optionally, a second String field can be provided to group categories X-axis: Integer or Decimal field. If this field is not provided, a count of the string values on the y-axis is displayed.

Author: Solomon Pulapkura. Contact Solomon on LinkedIn