{"id":587082,"date":"2026-09-01T22:51:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T22:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&p=587082"},"modified":"2026-09-01T22:51:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T22:51:48","slug":"wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis","title":{"rendered":"WSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

WSP is one of the world\u2019s leading professional services firms, bringing together engineering, advisory, and science-based expertise to help clients solve complex challenges across the built and natural environments. With 83,000 employees worldwide and active projects on all continents, WSP combines global scale with local technical knowledge across sectors including transportation, property and buildings, water, energy, advisory, and earth and environment.<\/p>\n\n

Each season, WSP supports ice road operations in an Arctic environment where field teams collect large volumes of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data within a short operational window. For a single project, the workflow generated approximately 4.5 million data points over 15 weeks, or about 300,000 records each week.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"\"
Terrain model combined with the ice road depicting an arctic GPR work area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

The data was central to the project team\u2019s ability to review conditions to confirm safe work areas, publish updates, and maintain an operational view of the route. But the pace and volume of data collection created pressure on a workflow that had grown organically over time.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Challenge<\/h1>\n\n

The original processing model depended heavily on a single expert who understood how to acquire, process, publish, quality check, append, and refresh the data. That concentration of knowledge created a bottleneck and limited the team\u2019s ability to delegate work as project needs grew. The workflow also had to account for multiple routes, different collection scenarios, large datasets, manual quality assurance, and project knowledge that was not yet captured in a form others could easily follow.<\/p>\n\n

WSP recognized that automation alone would not solve the issue. The team first needed to understand the workflow, standardize the data model, and establish governance based on real operational experience.<\/p>\n\n

Solution<\/h1>\n\n

WSP used ArcGIS Online as the operational platform for program data, supporting vehicle filtering, data review, and field workflows. The platform helped the team see how users interacted with the data and where the workflow needed to become more consistent.<\/p>\n\n

Across multiple seasons, WSP refined the data model by clarifying attributes such as kilometer posting, survey direction, processing flags, and what constituted new versus updated information. Governance practices emerged from actual project conditions, including coordinate system changes, file naming issues, ArcGIS Online rendering requirements, shifting routes, and end-user filtering needs.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"\"
WSP\u2019s Ice Road Desktop Reviewer app with GPR data indicating thin points and proposed route<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

After the process became more predictable, the team used ArcGIS Pro tasks to operationalize expert knowledge. The task pane in ArcGIS Pro embedded workflow documentation, processing guidance, operational checks, and step-by-step instructions into the analysis experience. Instead of relying on one person to remember and execute every detail, WSP created a guided process that enabled consistent execution by additional staff.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Result<\/h1>\n\n

The new ArcGIS software based workflow reduced reliance on a single expert while improving consistency, repeatability, and scalability. The number of users processing data increased by 200 percent, allowing work to be delegated without sacrificing quality.<\/p>\n\n

Operational results were measurable. The time to complete a representative task dropped from nine minutes and 41 seconds to five minutes and 21 seconds. The number of steps was reduced from 19 to 7. Onboarding, which had not previously been attempted because of the complexity of the process, increased by 200 percent.<\/p>\n\n

Measured Operational Improvements<\/h2>\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Beyond efficiency gains, WSP strengthened governance, knowledge retention, quality control, and agility. The expert who had previously carried the full workflow could shift toward governance, automation, and improvement while other team members handled consistent processing through the guided task pane.<\/p>\n\n

Key Takeaway<\/h1>\n\n

WSP\u2019s experience shows that successful automation starts with operational maturity. By understanding the workflow first, standardizing before automating, and embedding expert knowledge directly within ArcGIS Pro tasks, the team moved from a single-person process to a scalable system built for delegation, governance, and continuous improvement.<\/p>\n\n

Learn more about location intelligence for AEC:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

GIS for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction.<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Stay Connected with Esri\u2019s AEC Team:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Subscribe to the AEC industry newsletter<\/a>\u00a0\u201cEsri News for AEC<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-587082","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","industry-architecture-engineering-and-construction"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WSP is one of the world\u2019s leading professional services firms, bringing together engineering, advisory, and science-based expertise to help clients solve complex challenges across the built and natural environments. With 83,000 employees worldwide and active projects on all continents, WSP combines global scale with local technical knowledge across sectors including transportation, property and buildings, water, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Industry Blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-01T22:51:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IceRoad2-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1555\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis\",\"name\":\"WSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IceRoad2-622x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-01T22:51:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-01T22:51:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IceRoad2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IceRoad2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1555,\"height\":2560},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"WSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Industry Blogs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8c4f3e5f3a29e928c1e880346bbdeb44\",\"name\":\"Laurence Litrico\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Laurence-Litrico-6-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Laurence-Litrico-6-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Laurence Litrico\"},\"description\":\"As a marketing manager at Esri, Laurence works closely with Esri sales and professional services teams, and business partners to promote awareness of GIS to Architecture, Engineering, and Construction firms. With 20+ years of experience in developing marketing strategies for software and GIS solutions, she has a passion for building community and empowering customers to become GIS champions and advocates.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/author\/laurence-litrico\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"WSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS","og_description":"WSP is one of the world\u2019s leading professional services firms, bringing together engineering, advisory, and science-based expertise to help clients solve complex challenges across the built and natural environments. With 83,000 employees worldwide and active projects on all continents, WSP combines global scale with local technical knowledge across sectors including transportation, property and buildings, water, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis","og_site_name":"Industry Blogs","article_modified_time":"2026-09-01T22:51:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1555,"height":2560,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IceRoad2-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis","name":"WSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IceRoad2-622x1024.jpg","datePublished":"2026-09-01T22:51:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-01T22:51:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IceRoad2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IceRoad2-scaled.jpg","width":1555,"height":2560},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/wsp-automates-arctic-gpr-workflow-with-arcgis#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WSP Automates Arctic GPR Workflow with ArcGIS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/","name":"Industry Blogs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8c4f3e5f3a29e928c1e880346bbdeb44","name":"Laurence Litrico","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Laurence-Litrico-6-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Laurence-Litrico-6-150x150.jpg","caption":"Laurence Litrico"},"description":"As a marketing manager at Esri, Laurence works closely with Esri sales and professional services teams, and business partners to promote awareness of GIS to Architecture, Engineering, and Construction firms. With 20+ years of experience in developing marketing strategies for software and GIS solutions, she has a passion for building community and empowering customers to become GIS champions and advocates.","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/author\/laurence-litrico"}]}},"text_date":"September 1, 2026","author_name":"Marc Goldman","author_page":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/author\/marc-goldman","custom_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Bannetr2.jpg","primary_product":"Architecture, Engineering, and Construction","tag_data":[],"category_data":[],"product_data":{"errors":{"invalid_taxonomy":["Invalid taxonomy."]},"error_data":[]},"primary_product_link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/industry\/architecture-engineering-and-construction","short_description":"WSP used ArcGIS Pro to embed expert knowledge into guided tasks, cutting reliance on a single expert and scaling ice road data processing.","image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Card.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/587082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/587082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}