Upon completion of module 7, you will be able to recognize the accuracy of different grades of GPS receivers, explain the basics of how a GPS works, use a GPS to acquire your own data, explain how hand-held field units can be used for data acquisition, outline various data creation methods, and describe what's involved in publishing data.
Until now we've been focusing on the acquisition of data that already exist. Your assessment of data in your project may have yielded a need for some new data layers. Depending upon the scale of your project, data you acquire with a basic, non commercial-grade GPS receiver may or may not meet your project specifications. For the purposes of getting practice with acquiring GPS data and integrating them into GIS, we will assume that the accuracy of a handheld recreational-use receiver is adequate for your needs.
This module is one week in length. Please refer to the course Calendar tab, in ANGEL, for the due date.
Please see the Deliverables section at the end of Part II for this week's readings and action items.
Lesson 7 is one week in length. Please refer to the Calendar in ANGEL for specific time frames and due dates. To finish this lesson, you must complete the actvities listed below. You may find it useful to print this page out first so that you can follow along with the directions.
Step | Activity | Access/Directions |
---|---|---|
1 | Work through Lesson 7 | You are in the Lesson 7 online content now. The overview page is previous to this page, and you are on the Checklist page right now. |
2 | Complete the deliverables for Lesson 7 | Page 4 has this week's deliverables. |
My story:
If you recall, one of the layers that the State College Borough Water Authority identified on their GIS wish list was fire hydrants. I decided to acquire hydrant data for this activity even though that type of data may call for sub-meter accuracy, something my recreational grade Garmin eTrex receiver will not give me. I noticed that there are some new developments in Pine Grove Mills that aren't included in the CAD data yet. Acquiring features in new developments is a great use for GPS.
NOTE -- If you are going to be collecting data in neighborhoods or in some place where your activities may look suspicious, it is a good idea to let the police department know where you will be and what you are doing in case someone calls. In these days of heightened security awareness, I suggest that you stay away from obvious military or government facilities.
Registered Students download from ANGEL the Lesson 7 data [1] (lesson7files.zip) to a new folder (e.g., C:\MGIS\GEOG488\Lesson7). This .zip file is about 73 mb.
We will be overlaying the GPS data I acquired with some of the county basemap data you've seen in previous lessons.
You'll notice that the X and Y coordinates are not included in the table.
Now, you will be given some instructions on how to acquire these benchmarks from the NGS site to test the accuracy of your receiver.
Here is a look at geodetics and GPS [4]
You have just completed Part I of this module, which involved looking at acquired GPS data and adding X and Y coordinates. In Part II, you will load GPS data you've acquired.
Your story:
By now you should have identified a layer that you would like to acquire with your GPS receiver (this will be local cultural monuments unless you have something directly for your own project you need to collect with a GPS). Again, depending on the scale and accuracy requirements of your project, the layer may or may not meet your project specifications, but it will be good practice to start using a GPS receiver and to integrate the acquired data into GIS.
Garmin eTrex GPS receivers are recommended for this class because they are affordable and there is an interface that can be downloaded from the Esri site or an alternative from http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/tools/arcview/extensions/DNRGarmin/DNRGarmin.html [5] .
****If you aren't using a Garmin receiver, you should be able to get a table of coordinates from your receiver via a cable. You can then use the Add XY Data tool that you used in the last lesson to create spatial features from the coordinates. If you have questions about how to do this with your receiver, I will help as much as I can, but I do not know how to use all receivers.****
The following section is for Garmin eTrex receivers only.
In the summary of the utility, there is a note about Error 429. If you experience this error, you need to download the Mscomm32.ocx [7] file. You then need to register the file. This can be done by clicking the Start menu and choosing Run. Type regsvr32 and then the path where you downloaded the file in the text box and click OK.
e.g. regsvr32 D:\Geog_488\Project_7_8\mscomm32.ocx
What is geocaching?
This module is One week in length. Please refer to the course Calendar tab in ANGEL for the due date.
1. Readings:
Required:
Recommended:
2. Post a project write-up including:
3. Send the point layer shapefile for the cultural monuments you have collected including metadata.
If you are collecting data for your project then send a point layer shapefile for that data instead.
This should be sent to the Lesson Seven Cultural Points Drop Box as a Layer Package.
Layer packages can be made from the tool in the Data Management Toolbox (to see an example click here [20]).
4. Discuss the weekly topics on the discussion forum.
5. Frustration Revisited. Having got so far, now the final project might look pretty uncoordinated. Do not become disheartened by this, as this is normal. As you begin to write it up it will all fall together. Remember that in Problem Based Learning the process is more important than the product. If you need to change course, project expected deliverables, or want to modify what you had planned, do not worry. I will take this into account at this point, too. Remember to document all your efforts and keep me informed. Contact me directly if you feel the need to discuss your plans in person. Sometimes a few words are worth a ton of emails
You have just completed module 7.
Don't forget...if you have any questions, feel free to post them to the Lesson 7 Discussion Forum.
Links
[1] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog488/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog488/files/downloads/lesson7_8files.zip
[2] http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/
[3] http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/]
[4] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog488/node/2073
[5] http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/tools/arcview/extensions/DNRGarmin/DNRGarmin.html
[6] http://support.esri.com/
[7] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog488/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog488/files/downloads/Mscomm32.ocx
[8] http://www.geocaching.com/
[9] http://www.geocaching.com/]
[10] http://www.confluence.org/
[11] http://www.confluence.org/]
[12] http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0104/rec-gps.html
[13] http://www.trimble.com/gps/index.shtml
[14] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog488/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog488/files/downloads/gps.pdf
[15] http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090422/full/458959a.html
[16] http://www.garmin.com/manuals/GPSGuideforBeginners_Manual.pdf
[17] http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/arcpad.pdf
[18] http://nationalmap.gov/TheNationalMapCorps/
[19] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog488/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog488/files/image/BBC.digitalplnt.mp3
[20] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog488/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog488/files/image/LayerPackage_2.jpg