Course Title: Processing Lidar Point Clouds

3 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

Presented by Rob Cammack

Description: Join other leaders in surveying who are unlocking the opportunity to augment their teams with fast one foot contours. As your information resource for the industrial drone space, SmartDrone (based in Texas) will teach and provide study resources for FAA Pt. 107 studying, provide a broad overview of LIDAR data, and weather permitting go out in the field to demonstrate Discovery flight, data collection, and unlimited self-service processing.

Speaker Bio: Rob Cammack is a serial entrepreneur based in Tyler, Texas who has been invested in the industrial drone space for almost a decade. Rob's past successes in business have been in real estate, oil & gas services, and technology investing. Today, he is 100% focused on SmartDrone and disrupting the industrial drone market with accessible industrial drones.

Course Title: Remote Sensing and Surveying Techniques from Aerial, Mobile, and Static Collection Methods

3 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

Presented by Jonathan Byham

Description: Surveying and remote sensing in the 21st century has evolved into collecting highly accurate surveying and mapping data from multiple platforms and instruments. The combination of multiple platform technologies creates advantages, such as cost savings for both the client and project owner; achieving high accuracy design data; reducing field survey schedule; and increasing safety, accuracy, and laser penetration in obscured areas. This presentation will explore the sensors, equipment, procedures, and mapping products generated from remote sensing and surveying applications. Specific topics will include discussions on photogrammetry; aerial, mobile, and terrestrial LiDAR; orthophotography; and how land surveying best practices can be used to enhance remote sensing applications.

Speaker Bio: Jonathan Byham is a native of Huntsville, AL and serves as a Strategic Account Manager for GPI Geospatial, Inc. He has a degree in Geography and Environmental Science from the University of Alabama and has worked in the field of surveying and mapping since 2012. His experience includes land surveying, GIS, photogrammetry, remote sensing, LiDAR, and business development for private and public sector projects in Alabama and beyond. Jonathan has worked as a land surveying technician performing boundary and topographic surveying, as well as a geospatial analyst performing photogrammetric mapping, LiDAR classification, surface modeling, and orthophotography. His business development and project management experience ranges from private sector engineering and surveying projects to local and statewide mapping initiatives. He is studying to take the ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist exam later this year, and regularly speaks at industry events and meetings about geospatial best practices and how they apply to the surveying and mapping fields.

An in depth lecture and attendee participation and discussion of the current Standards of Practice for Surveying in the State of Alabama effective January 1, 2017. The discussion will analyze the definition of Surveying (Rule No. 1.02), Surveying Standards for field and office (Rule No. 1.03), Vertical Control and Topographic Surveys (Rule No. 1.04) and the Miscellaneous Section (Rule 1.05). The discussion will also cover the different types of surveys and the accuracy requirements for field and office work, monumentation of corners, and the preparation of legal descriptions. Attendee participation is encouraged and real world examples will be presented and discussed.

After registering, you will receive an email with viewing instructions.

This course qualifies for the state requirement for licensed land surveyors of 4 PDHs for standards of practice every 2 years.

Qualifies for required standards education for Alabama licensees every 2 years.

4 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama & Florida.

Presented by Thomas Brooks

About Thomas Brooks: Survey Manager for Hunt, Guillot & Associates (HGA). He has over 29 years experience as a Professional Land Surveyor (AL #17521), Tennessee Professional Survey (TN#2118) and Professional Surveyor and Mapper (FL#6780). He is also a licensed Surveyor in 12 other states. Thomas is responsible for the routing, detailed mapping, property master development, describing and platting for major transportation pipelines. This responsibility requires a detailed knowledge of how existing right‐of‐ways, easements and other types of encumbrances impact the placement of new easements. Thomas has taught continuing education courses in Right‐of‐ways, Standards, Photogrammetry Support, and other topics throughout the Southeast as well as at ACSM National Conference

An updated presentation focusing on the different types of ethics and the grey area within professional ethics. This fulfills the state requirement for licensed land surveyors of 1 hour of Ethics classes each year. 

1 Professional Development Hour (PDH)

Approved for Alabama & Florida.

Presented by Thomas Brooks

After registering, you will receive an email with viewing instructions. 

Course Title: Deprecation of US Survey Foot & Coming New Datum’s! 

3 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

A three hour forum covering the changes from U S Survey Foot to International Foot and the effect on the Professional Surveyor. Including short presentations by four speakers covering the proposed changes. Followed by a discussion on the future of Alabama surveying.

Speaker One: Why are we doing this? Presented by Milton Denny, PLS

After more than three hundred years surveyors are surveying in the same manner as George Washington, which is monuments found in the field without good spatial location.

The Bureau of Standards as of January 1, 2023 is deleting the use of the US Survey Foot. This is backed and in conjunction with National Geodetic Survey (NGS) plans to release new updated horizontal and vertical coordinate systems. Proposed is a worldwide coordinate system, called the International Terrestrial Reference Frame to relate coordinate systems to Tectonic Plate Movement, with possible point migration.

The great question is this something we want to do and how will we implement the plan?

Speaker Two: How are we going to do this? Presented by John D. Russell, PLS

The base for the new system will be based on State Plane Coordinates. The zones will be changed in many different ways to make the system as practical as possible.

The backbone of the new system will be the ALDOT Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS). This system will provide the surveyor location in real time. Many surveyors are already using this system in the current State Plane Coordinate System. All this will be in the International Survey foot.

Speaker Three: How difficult will this be? Bill Hazelton, Ph.D.,PLS - Troy University

Dr. Hazelton with give us an overview of the tools necessary to implement this system, and the training that may be available through Troy University.

Speaker Four: Tony Manary, PLS - 2 the Point Surveying

I see four options for ASPLS to implement this major change in how surveying in the future will be done in Alabama. After the options the floor will be open for questions of the panel, discussion and brainstorming. The society has the time to get this right. Will most likely result in changes to the survey laws in Alabama

Course Title: Least Squares Adjustment

3 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

This workshop will discuss critical aspects of using least squares adjustment to a wide range of geospatial observation data. Building on an understanding of errors and their propagation, critical aspects of setting up data for adjustment, as well as analyzing the output of an adjustment, will be covered. ‘Things that can go wrong’ and ‘Traps for young players’ will also be discussed, so that practitioners can avoid common flaws in least squares use.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Bill Hazelton is an Associate Professor at Troy University in the Geospatial Informatics Department. He has previously taught at a number of other higher-educational institutions in the US and Australia. He has been a licensed surveyor since 1985, worked in Antarctica for a year as a glaciologist, run a number of businesses, and has surveyed on three continents. Bill is a past president of the Surveying and Geomatics Educators Society and was a director of ASPRS.

Course Title: Buying or Selling the Engineering or Land Surveying Firm

3 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

If you are the owner of a business, or the potential buyer of a business, you need to know the answers to the following questions: When is the right time to sell? When should I buy? How do I get the company ready to sell? What is a company worth? What is the equipment and records worth? How do I attract buyers? How do I limit the amount of taxes I have to pay? How do I as new owner become successful after the sale? How do I preserve my good name after the sale? Most professional’s only buy or sell a company once in their lifetime. Make sure you understand how the game is played before you make a costly mistake.

Many of the existing companies will be sold over the next ten years as many surveyors and engineers reach retirement age. Getting a company ready for sale can take a number of years, including finding or developing buyers, finding funding sources, and making the transition to new ownership. Don’t wait too long to get started, the owners who plan their exit from the company realize a better return on their investment.

Speaker Bio: Milton E. Denny is a registered surveyor in six states, and a veteran of land surveying, aerial mapping and GIS. His special interest has always been in project development and management of firms. He is a past president of the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors, a Fellow in the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and served for many years on the Board of Direction. Mr. Denny is the author of many manuals dealing with surveying, mapping and GIS. He is a nationally known speaker and lecturer on these subjects and wrote a column called “The Business Side” for a trade magazine for many years. He was instrumental in the starting of a new member organization in the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping called the “Geographic and Land Information Society”.

Course Title: Best Practices in Drone Surveying

3 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

This course brings together all the best learnings from the past 7 years of drone surveying, for how to create a successful and profitable drone surveying program. Logan will discuss topics ranging from hardware and software selection to workflow and process considerations. He will also answer any questions you have about the current and future state of using drones in land surveying.

Speaker Bio: Logan Campbell is the Founder and CEO of Aerotas, which provides drone data processing for land surveyors and Civil Engineers. He founded Aerotas in 2014 and has since helped thousands of surveyors get the highest quality data out of their drone programs. Prior to founding Aerotas, Logan worked as a statistician in the financial services industry. Logan has an MBA from Harvard Business School and received his undergraduate degree from USC. Logan is a Certified Mapping Scientist with the ASPRS, and a CFA Charterholder. As a recognized industry expert, he regularly speaks at survey and drone conferences and writes in numerous land surveying publications.

About Aerotas: Aerotas provides drone data processing services for land surveyors and civil engineers throughout the United States. Aerotas is a technology-enabled services company that delivers survey-grade CAD files created from drone-collected data in days, not weeks. Data is handled by our expert team of Photogrammetrists and CAD Technicians who correct errors and perform quality assurance checks at each step in the data processing workflow. Drone photogrammetry and CAD drafting services are enabled by a combination of advanced technology, high-performance computing architecture, and human expertise — providing fast and predictable turnaround times, lower drone survey costs, and the most accurate deliverables anywhere to 900+ leading survey and civil engineering firms across the United States.

Course Title: SPCS 2022

2 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

Working with the Alabama SPCS 2022: This workshop will present the details of the proposed Alabama 2022 SPCS. The means of undertaking co-ordinate conversions between national and state systems will be discussed. Methods for traversing on the SPCS with geodetic precision will be discussed, as well as how to integrate GNSS observations into surveying. Vertical measurements will also be discussed, especially integrating them into other measurements.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Bill Hazelton is an Associate Professor at Troy University in the Geospatial Informatics Department. He has previously taught at a number of other higher-educational institutions in the US and Australia. He has been a licensed surveyor since 1985, worked in Antarctica for a year as a glaciologist, run a number of businesses, and has surveyed on three continents. Bill is a past president of the Surveying and Geomatics Educators Society and was a director of ASPRS.

Course Title: The Affect of the Trail of Tears on the Government Land Office Surveys

3 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

The Affect of the Trail of Tears on the Government Land Office Surveys (GLO): Indian lands were like a patchwork quilt on the landscape of the Mississippi Territory. Indian treaties and removal started long before statehood of Mississippi and Alabama. Most of this land belonged to the Five Civilized Tribes. The original GLO surveys were contracted around the Indian lands. After the Indian Removal Act of 1836 the previous Indian lands were surveyed by the government to be sold to immigrants. Who surveyed these lands and purchased them?

Spend time with Milton Denny exploring the history of surveying in your state. Understand how the GLO finished surveying these Indian lands. Find out how a modern survey along these lines may be effected by the original surveys along Indian boundary line.

Speaker Bio: Milton E. Denny is a registered surveyor in six states, and a veteran of land surveying, aerial mapping and GIS. His special interest has always been in project development and management of firms. He is a past president of the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors, a Fellow in the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and served for many years on the Board of Direction. Mr. Denny is the author of many manuals dealing with surveying, mapping and GIS. He is a nationally known speaker and lecturer on these subjects and wrote a column called “The Business Side” for a trade magazine for many years. He was instrumental in the starting of a new member organization in the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping called the “Geographic and Land Information Society”.

Course Title: Right of Way in Alabama

3 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

Approved for Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee.

After registering, you will receive an email with instructions for watching the recording and submitting to receive your PDH Certificate. 

RIght of Way: Real world examples of dedicated ROW, platted ROW, vacated ROW, acquired ROW and the process involved. Also more contentious and debated topics such as Prescriptive ROW, 'Left Out' ROW (not included in legal descriptions) and even dig into how title is or is not held by individuals or organizations. Also new information on City Limits impacts ROW.

Speaker Bio: Jacob Pierce is the Geospatial Operations Manager with the Baldwin County Highway Department. He has a Bachelors in Forestry from Auburn University; a Masters in GIS from Auburn University and has served on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors since 2016 and has spoken at the ASPLS conference several times.