The Houston Area GIS Day is the largest showcase of its kind in the region. Let us explain the who, what, where, and whys of this event.
Houston Area GIS Day Planning Committee
What is GIS?
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a dynamic field and has become a necessary tool in many industries. Organizations utilize GIS technologies to share information, communicate data, perform analyses and solve complex problems globally.
What Is GIS? - Esri Videos: GIS, Events, ArcGIS Products & Industries
History
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geographic analysis have a rich history with various significant milestones throughout time. Here are some examples of GIS and geographic analysis in history:
1820s
Alexander von Humboldt's Contributions
Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist and explorer, conducted extensive geographical studies, including mapping temperature and vegetation zones, contributing to the understanding of climate and ecology.
1830s
Cholera Map of Paris
During the 1832 cholera epidemic, Charles Picquet, a French physician, created a thematic map to understand and represent the concentration of cholera cases across the city of Paris. This map was an early example of geographic analysis and data visualization, and it highlighted the importance of understanding the spatial aspects of disease outbreaks.
Illustration by Charles Picquet 1834
1850s
Cholera Map of Soho in London, England
During the 1854 cholera epidemic, John Snow, a British physician, created a map known as the "Ghost Map" or the "Cholera Map of Soho." This map was a groundbreaking example of spatial analysis and epidemiological investigation, and it played a pivotal role in advancing public health practices. Snow's work provided compelling evidence for the importance of clean water and sanitation in preventing the spread of waterborne diseases, and his findings contributed to significant improvements in public health and sanitation measures in London and beyond.
Illustration by John Snow 1854
1930s
New Deal Programs
As part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs, various initiatives were implemented to create jobs and support economic recovery during the Great Depression. Geospatial data and mapping were used to identify regions in need of infrastructure development and to plan public works projects, such as road construction and the establishment of national parks. The application of geospatial analysis and cartography during the Great Depression demonstrates the importance of spatial data in informing recovery efforts and guiding policies to address socio-economic and environmental challenges.
1960s
Roger Tomlinson and the 1st GIS
Roger Tomlinson, a Canadian geographer, is often regarded as the "Father of GIS" for his work in the 1960s, where he developed the first computerized GIS to manage land-use planning data for the Canada Land Inventory.
1980s
Transportation and Navigation
In the early 80s, GPS satellites were launched to demonstrate their capabilities. The authorization to provide free access to GPS data to industries outside the U.S. military became the first step towards authorized civilian usage. By the end of the 80s, commercially available hand-held GPS units hit the market. This new source of geographic data was used to develop more accurate maps, enable better route planning, and enhance navigation tools.
1990s
Personal Computing
Before this decade, GIS was primarily limited to specialized workstations and mainframe computers, making it less accessible and more costly. However, the widespread availability of desktop PCs brought GIS technology to a broader audience, enabling easier data processing, analysis, and visualization. The 1990s also saw the development of user-friendly GIS software tailored for desktop computers. These GUI-based applications had intuitive interfaces, allowing users with limited coding expertise to work with geospatial data effectively.
2000s
Web GIS
The advent and widespread adoption of the internet significantly expanded the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) by providing new opportunities for data sharing, analysis, and collaboration. The internet revolutionized the way geospatial information was accessed, disseminated, and utilized, leading to a rapid growth in the use of GIS. Web-based GIS applications offered interactive mapping capabilities. Users could pan, zoom, and query maps online, enhancing the visualization and analysis of geospatial data.
2010s
Mobile GIS
The widespread use of smartphones has democratized GIS technology, bringing geospatial information and analysis capabilities to a vast number of people worldwide. The synergy between smartphones and GIS has transformed how we interact with location-based data and has expanded the application of GIS in diverse fields, ultimately improving decision-making, resource management, and overall spatial understanding.
These examples highlight how GIS and geographic analysis have evolved over time, from early map-making to modern computerized systems. Each contribution has shaped our understanding of geography and paved the way for the powerful tools and applications we have today.
GIS in Houston
01 / 05
1
Houston-Galveston Area Council
The Houston-Galveston Area Council uses GIS and Remote Sensing to develop robust spatial data analysis, models, and interactive map applications on numerous topics within the 13-county region. Topics include Socioeconomic, transportation, environment, growth forecast, and water resources. This information is available to local governments in the region, community partners, institutions of higher education, and state and federal agencies for general reference and planning purposes at the regional scale.
2
Houston Police Department
GIS with a purpose. The HPD GIS Unit is helping leaders make better decisions; increasing safety through better information sharing.
GIS technology has long been used by police to help identify crime patterns and make decisions about where and when to assign resources. But modern GIS technology can help police do much more by giving agencies the ability to create an enterprise environment that supports every police mission, including advanced analytics, dashboards to fit many needs, public engagement apps, and maps and apps that provide real-time situational awareness for officers in the field. The Houston Police Department (HPD) is one of these agencies, using enterprise GIS to save time, streamline operations, and better serve the Houston community.
Using GIS helps provide powerful mapping and analytics capabilities that allow you to see what and where events are happening in real time, brief teams immediately, and make better-informed decisions. Harris County Office of Emergency Management use GIS to support disaster resilience, provide situational awareness, conduct damage assessments and debris management and information sharing to Harris County residents.
Port Houston uses GIS technology to monitor Vessel activity in the Houston Ship Channel and to more effectively manage it's Assets such as it's Docks and Cargo Yards.
"The GIS team is no longer just focused on making maps, instead performing advance spatial data analysis and developing robust solutions to help solve organizational challenges."
Charlie Jenkins the Port of Houston's Chief Channel Infrastructure Officer
The city began using GIS software in the mid-1990s, and GIS has played a behind-the-scenes role in Sugar Land's success. Today, the city's enterprise GIS is utilized every day by both citizens and city employees in many ways. GIS is used to design and maintain city infrastructure, field service calls, dispatch emergency vehicles, provide information to the public, plan neighborhoods and parks, and much more.
The purpose of Houston Area GIS Day is to celebrate GIS, spatial analysis and location-based technologies.
We invite high school students to take part in activities and events to introduce and inspire them to learn more about a growing and exciting technological field.
This year's event details are as follows:
Event Dates: Friday, November 22, 2024
Event Location: University of Houston-Clear Lake
GIS Day
Houston Area GIS Day Attendance History
Since 2001, Houston Area GIS Day has become one of the largest showcase for GIS in the region.
We host between 200-300 high school students across the Houston Area each year. Click the points in the map to see school attendance over time.
In the Summer of 2020, we partnered with other GIS Day organizations to host a statewide virtual event called, TxGIS Day.
We are back to hosting in-person events. Since we had great success with our virtual offerings, we decided to go with a hybrid approach offering virtual content and live-streaming events.
Who are we?
We are the Houston Area GIS Day Planning Committee. There are 50+ Volunteers working hard to coordinate this event, representing organizations across Houston. Committee planning falls under the guidance from Houston-Galveston Area Council's (H-GAC), Geographic Data Workgroup (GDW). The GDW is an H-GAC sponsored group consisting of public, private, non-profit, and educational organizations. The group meets monthly to discuss GIS related matters, network, and plan cooperative purchases of software, aerial imagery, and data that would be too costly if obtained separately.
Houston Area GIS Day Planning Committee Membership
Houston-Galveston Area Council
Geographic Data Workgroup
Houston Area GIS Day Planning Committee
Houston Area GIS Day is made possible by members of the H-GAC GDW.
TxGIS Day Partnership
TxGIS Day is three days of interactive workshops, demonstrations, and programs celebrating the advancement of geospatial technology. The event includes content for students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate level), job seekers, professionals, and more. Since 2020, Houston Area GIS Day is one of the many organizations who contribute content for TxGIS Day especially for high school students across the state of Texas.
There is a designated bus route for bus drivers to follow and a designated location for student-drop off.
We have special events located inside and around the UHCL Bayou Building.
Event Agenda
For the lucky schools who are able to attend in-person, this is what your day will include. From arrival to departure, your students will be emersed in the world of GIS!
Closing Ceremony
You won't want to miss the Closing Ceremony as the Houston Area GIS Day Planning Committee announces the contest winners.
Pizza Party Prize
Points collected throughout the day will be tallied. The school with the most number of points wins a pizza party prize for their class.
Geospatial Game Prize
A select group of students from each school will participate in a special Geocache Contest. The group who out-paces all others will bring a Geocache Prize Package provided by AllTerra Central.
GIS Essay Contest Prize
The top three essay submissions will be announced and prizes provided to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finalists.
GIS Essay Contest Prizes
Register Today!
Do you want to bring high school students to this event?
Step 1 - Contact Us
Sign-up to receive updates about Houston Area GIS Day events.
You will need to arrange transportation to and from the event. We'll handle the rest!
Can't make it?
Even if you cannot make the trip, you and your students can participate in event activities in a couple of ways.
1) Attend virtually!
We will live-stream events throughout the day. You and your students can attend the sessions virtually and will be able to ask questions to the speakers. We will provide links and moderators to ensure you are connected.
2) GIS Essay Contest!
The GIS Essay Contest is open to all high school students in the Houston Area! Keep scrolling to see more details.
Essay Contest Info
Topic
Students are asked to write an essay that specifies how GIS is or was used to identify a problem, monitor change, respond to an event, or understand a trend. The student must explain how GIS has made an impact in today's world.
Deadline
All entries must be received by Friday, November 8th 2024 by 4pm.
Teachers are limited to sponsor three (3) students per school.
Students must attend a high school within the Houston Area. This includes high schools within the following counties: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker, Waller, and Wharton.
Students must be a high school junior or senior (grades 11-12).
Each student is limited to submit one (1) essay.
The essay should be between 500 and 600 words in length.
A cover page should be included with each essay and will not count towards the 500 word limit.
The cover page should include the following information:
Student First and Last Name
Student Classificaiton (Junior or Senior)
High School Name
High School Address
Sponsoring Teacher's First and Last Name
Sponsoring Teacher's Email Address
Sponsoring Teacher's Phone Number
Criteria
The essays will be judged by a panel of GIS professionals. They will judge each essay based on:
Quality of Composition (25%)
Appropriate Use of the Topic (50%)
Creativity & Originality (25%)
Prizes
The winners will be announced during the closing session of the in-person event. The winning essays will be given a gift card. If the students are present, in-person at the event, they will be handed the prize directly. If the students are not present, the prizes will be sent to the school in-care-of the sponsoring teacher.
Essay Contest Prizes
Questions?
If you have any questions about Houston Area GIS Day, please contact us at HoustonAreaGISDayOrg@gmail.com.
