Welcome to the 2026 GIS in Action Annual Conference hosted by the Oregon & SW Washington Chapter of the Geospatial Professional Network & Cascadia ASPRS.
Real-world lidar datasets rarely behave as cleanly as theory suggests. Multi-time-around artifacts, shoreline ringing, mission-level inconsistencies, and environmental effects such as steep terrain or water interfaces can introduce systematic noise that standard workflows struggle to resolve. This presentation examines common lidar artifacts encountered in coastal, tropical, and complex terrain environments and discusses practical strategies for diagnosing root causes and applying targeted cleanup methods. Emphasis is placed on distinguishing systematic artifact patterns from random noise and adapting classification parameters to existing spatial behavior. Then implementing repeatable mitigation strategies and structuring workflows to improve coherence without relying solely on reflying data. Attendees will gain insight into how critical analysis, structured automation, and adaptive classification approaches can improve data quality while preserving efficiency in production environments.
