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BeyondtheBasics(GPSandGIS)Part1

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BeyondtheBasics(GPSandGIS)Part1

INWHICHyoulearn(a)howtocollectattributeinformationabouttheenvironmentsimultaneouslywithcollectingGPSpositiondata,(b)howtoplanfor
importantGPSmissions,(c)aboutdifferentialcorrectionthattakesplaceimmediately,and(d)howtonavigateusingaGPSreceiver.1

OVERVIEW
Attributes,GPS,andGIS
Overheard:GlobalPositioningSystem?Asystemforpositioningtheglobe?

ObtainingGISAttributeDatawithGPSEquipmentandSoftware
Fromasoftwarepointofview,aGIScouldbedefinedasthemarriageofagraphic(orgeographic)database(aGDB)withotherdatabasesmostfrequently
arelationaldatabase(RDB).TheseotherdatabaseswhichcontainattributedataaboutfeaturesintheGDBareusuallytextualinnature,butsometimes
consistofdrawings,imagesorevensounds.(Forexample,youcouldkeyin,orclickon,astreetaddresstoyourGISandbeshownaphotoofthehouse
there.)ThecombinationofaGDBandRDBallowstheusertomaketextualqueriesandgetgraphicalresponses(e.g.,showwithared"X"thosestreetlights
whichhavenotbeenservicedsinceAugust1995)or,conversely,makeagraphicalqueryandgetaresponseintext(e.g.,indicatethedailyyieldfromparking
metersinthisareathatIhaveoutlinedonthisimageofthecityusingamousepointer).
IfaGISisadatabasewithattributeinformationaboutgeographicalfeatures,thenitseemsreasonabletocollecttheattributedataatthesametimethe
positionaldataarecollected.ThusfarinthistextwehavenotdonethiswithGPS.TheprocessofaddingattributedataoccurredafterwegeneratedtheGIS
coverages,sinceourGPSfilescontainedonlypointsin3Dspace.Supposeyoucollectedasequenceoffixesalongatwolaneroad.Oncethearcwas
depictedintheGIS,youwouldhavetolateraddthe"twolane"facttotherecordwhichrelatedtothearc,ifyouwantedthatinformationinthedatabase.

ProbablythemostefficientandaccuratewaytouseGPStodevelopaGISdatabaseistocollectthepositiondataandtheattributedataatthesametime.
SinceahumanoperatorisrequiredtotakethepositiondatawithaGPSreceiver,itmakessensetohaveherorhimentertheattributedataaswell.SomeGPS
receivers,includingtheGeoExplorers,allowthissortofdatacollection.

TheOrganizationofAttributeData
TheentryofattributeinformationintoaGISbyusingaGPSreceiverisfacilitatedbyadatadictionary,whichisahierarchicalcollectionoftextualterms
storedintheGPSreceiversmemory.Thetermsfallintothreecategories:
Feature
Attribute
Value
"Feature"isusedasitisinArcInfoandArcView.Itreferstothefeaturetypethatisthesubjectofacoverageorshapefileitisthe"Feature"of"Feature
AttributeTable"suchasanArcInfo"PAT"(PointAttributeTable)or"AAT"(ArcAttributeTable).InArcView,theparallelconceptofFeatureisthe
Theme.AfeaturetypebecomesanArcInfocoverageoranArcViewtheme(madefromashapefile).Examplesoffeaturetypesareparkingmeters,paved
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roads,andlanduse.Apoint(ortheaverageofasetofpoints)collectedbythereceiverforagivenfeaturemaybecomethebasisforarecordinaPATora
recordinanArcViewpointthemetable.AsequenceofpointsrecordedalonganarcmaybecomethebasisforarecordinanAAT,orarecordinanArc
Viewlinethemetable.
"Attribute"isalsoaconceptparalleltooneinArcInfoandArcView.Attributesarethe"items"or"columns"or"fields"ofatable.Suppose,forexample,
youaredevelopingaGISdatabaseaboutparkingmeters.Inadditiontothepositionaldatacollectedatthemetersautomatically,youmightwishtobeableto
recordeachmetersidentifyingnumberasoneattribute,andtheconditionofthemeterasasecondattribute.Informationaboutthemonthlyrevenuecouldbe
addedlaterasathirdattribute.
"Value"referstotheactualnumericorcharacterentriesinthetable.Continuingourparkingmeterexample,youwouldenterameternumberastheidentifier
ofaparticularparkingmeterandselectamenuitem"fair"toindicatetheconditionoftheunit.
Asyoucansee,thereisahierarchytotheseterms:afeaturecontainsattributesattributesarecolumnsofvalues.
OnceyouhavecollectedfeaturedatawithaGPSreceiver,ifyouareconvertingthesedatatoArcInfocoveragesorArcViewthemes,eachfeaturetype2
becomesaseparateArcInfocoverageorArcViewshapefilewithitsownfeatureattributetable.Thetableconsistsoftheusualinitialitems(e.g.,inArcInfo:
area,perimeter,internal,anduser_idsforaPATfromandtonodes,leftandrightpolygons,length,interval,anduser_idsforanAAT)pluscolumnsforeach
attributeforwhichtherearedata.Ifagivenfeature(record)hasadatavalueforagivenattribute,thatvaluebecomesanentryinthefeatureattributetableor
themetable.

TheDataDictionary
Adatadictionaryneednotbelongorcomplicated.Forexample,considerthefollowingone,namedVery_Simple.Itcontainsonlyfeaturetypesitcontains
noattributes,soalsonovalues.
Rocks(point)
Trees(point)
YoucouldmakethisdatadictionaryonyourPCusingthePathfinderOfficesoftware.ThenyoucouldtransferittoyourGeoExplorerreceiver.
TocollectfeaturedatawiththeVery_Simpledatadictionary,youmightbeginaGPSfile(forexample,A010101A),settingupthereceivertorecorda
featuredatapointevery10seconds.Youmightthenmovearoundtheareaofinterest.Whenyouarrivedatatree,youwouldselectthefeature"Tree"from
theGeoExplorermenuandcollectanumberoffixesat,say,10secondintervals.Youwouldthenclosethefeatureand,perhaps,movetothesiteofanother
tree,openingthefeature,collectingdata,andclosingthefeature.Shouldyouencounterarockyoucouldopenthefeature"Rock"andrecordfixesthere.The
fixesyourecordateachindividualobjectareautomaticallyaveragedtoproduceasinglepointthatapproximatesthepositionoftheobject.
UponreturningtoyourPC,youwouldusePathfinderOfficetotransferthefileA010101A,andgeneratePOSNPTS.SSF.
ThenyoucouldusePOSNPTS.SSFtogeneratetheappropriateESRIfiles.IfyouwantArcViewshapefilesyoucangeneratethesedirectlywiththe
PathfinderOfficeSoftware.
POSNPTS.SHP
ROCKS.SHP
TREES.SHP
POSNPTS.SHPwouldconsistofthepointsthatthereceiverrecordedwhileyouwerewalkingbetweenfeatures.
ROCKS.SHPwouldcontainasinglepointforeachrockyouvisited.Thepointforagivenrockwouldbetheaverageofthefixescollectedatthatrock.That
pointwould,therefore,provideapproximatecoordinatesforthatrock.APATwouldbeformedwithseveralrecords,onerecordforeachrock.(Thesameidea
wouldholdtrueforTREES.SHP.)

FeatureswithAttributesAttached
Youmightinsteaduseasomewhatmorecomplexdatadictionary,Still_Simple,whichmightlooksomethinglikethis:

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Assumingdataweretakenforallthefeaturetypes(Rocks,Trees,Streets,Intersections,Hydrants,andStreetlights)sevenshapefilescoverageswouldresult:
POSNLINE.SHP,ROCKS.SHP,TREES.SHP,STREETS.SHP,andINTERSEC.SHP,HYDRANTS.SHP,andSTREETLI.SHP.(Generatedshapefilenames
willbeamaximumof8characterslong).
Inadditiontothestandarditems(columns,fields)intheshapefiletable,ROCKS.SHPwouldcontainthecolumnsSIZEandCOLOR.Thevalueswhichcould
appearinthesecolumnswouldbe"Small,""Medium,"and"Large,"ornovalueatallforSIZE.WhatvaluescouldappearintheCOLORcolumn?

FromtheEnvironment,throughGPS,toGIS
TheprocessofrecordingattributedatawithaGPSreceiverisagoodbitmorecomplexthansimplyrecordingpositiondata,whichisitself,asyouknow
onlytoowell,notatrivialmatter.Torecordattributedatayouhavetogothroughseveralsteps:
BuildaDataDictionarywithacomputer.ThiscanbedoneonaPCusingthePathfinderOfficesoftware.
LoadthedatadictionaryfileintotheGeoExplorer.ThisprocessissimilartotransferringpositionfilesandalmanacsfromthereceivertothePCthedata
simplygotheotherdirection.ThePCmaycontainanumberofdatadictionariesaGeoExplorermaystoreonlyoneatatime.(AGeo3maycontainmultiple
datadictionaries.)
Takethereceivertothefieldandopenafile.Selectaparticularfeaturetype(forexample,apointfeature)fromthemenu.Whiletheunitisautomatically
collectingpositioninformation,youmanuallyselecttheappropriateattributeandvalueitems.Whenenoughfixeshavebeencollected,stopthedatacollection
processforthatfeature(i.e.,closethefeature).Ifthefeaturetypeisofthe"point"type,thefixesobtainedwillbeaveragedsothatasinglepointrepresentsthe
givenpointfeature.
Continuetocollectdatainthefield.ThedatacollectedwhennofeatureisselectedmayultimatelybecomeoneArcInfocoverageorArcViewshapefile.
Foreachfeaturetypeforwhichyoucollectdata,acoverageorshapefilemaybebuilt.Thatcoverageorshapefilewillcontainthenumberofindividual
featuresforwhichyourecordedpositioninformation.NotethatagivendatacollectionsessioncouldresultinanumberofArcViewshapefiles(orArcInfo
coverages),thedataforwhichmightallbecontainedwithinoneGPSfile.Linearfeaturesmaybecollectedinasomewhatsimilarway.
ClosetheGPSfile.Openanewoneifyoulikeandcollectadditionalfeaturedata,orsimplypositionaldata,asyouwish.
ReturntoyourofficeorlabanduploadthefilesfromyourGPSreceivertothePCintheusualway.
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Differentiallycorrectthefiles.
UsingPathfinderOffice,produceArcViewshapefiles,whichwillbecomethemes,orproducetheSMLs(forPCArcInfo)orAMLs(forworkstationor
UNIXArcInfo)andassociatedESRIfilesthat,whenexecuted,willproduceArcInfocoverages.
TopracticeseeingandusingthefeatureattributecollectionabilitiesofGPS,doPROJECTS7A,7B,7C,and7D.

STEPBYSTEPAttributes,GPS,andGISPROJECT7A
DemonstratingFeatureAttributeData
InMarchof1999ondifferentoccasions,alightplanewasflownfromLexingtontosurroundingairportsrecordingGPSpositionandfeaturedata.Usuallya
"touchandgo"(brieflandingandtakeoff)wasaccomplishedinwhichtheaircraftwheelscontactedtherunwayandaGPSfix(includingtheGPSaltitudeand
localtime)wasrecordedintheGPSreceiver.Featuredata,includingthealtitudereadingfromtheaircraftaltimeterandthepublishedaltitudeoftheairport,
waslikewiseinput.Youwillexamineoneoftheseflights:atripfromBluegrassAirportnearLexington,KentuckytotheMontgomeryCountyAirportnear
MountSterling,Kentucky.Onthisparticularflightafullstoplandingwasdoneatthedestinationairport.ThedataloggingwasdonewithaTrimbleAspen
PCMCIAcard(withrequiredexternalantenna)inalaptopcomputer,ratherthanaGeoExplorer.
TheAspensystemhasseveraladvantagesoversimplyusingaselfcontainedreceiverdatalogger.Forone,youhaveafullkeyboardwithwhichtoenter
data.

Figure71.Screenlayoutofmap,timeline,position,andfeaturewindows.
Further,youhaveascreenwithwhichyoucandisplayamapoftheareaandseeyourlocationsandprogressincontext.Ontheotherhand,thelaptopisless
ruggedandusesmorepowerthanaGeoExplorer,andsomelaptopscreensaredifficulttoreadinbrightsunlight.ThecostofAspensoftwareandPCcardis
lessthanaGeoExplorer.Whenyouaddthecostofthelaptop,thetotalcostismore.Butyoumayalreadyhavethelaptopcomputer.Asyoucansee,thereare
manyconsiderationsinvolvedinwhatGPSdataloggingsystemyoushoulduseforparticularapplications.
{__}InPathfinderOfficesetupthefollowingparameters:Kentuckystateplanecoordinates,northzone,NAD83surveyfeetforalllinearmeasurements
timezoneESTaltitudeMSL.
{__}OpenuptheMap,TimeLine,PositionProperties,andFeaturePropertieswindows.MaketheMapwindowoccupymostoftheupperpartoftheleft
twothirdsofthescreenandarrangetheotherwindowsasshowninFigure71.
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{__}Inthefolder_:\GPS2GIS\Flying_Tour,openthefileR032720A.CORandthebackgroundgeotifffilesLEX.TIFandMTS.TIF.RepresentNotInFeature
datawithmediumreddots.ZoomtoExtents.
{__}ZoomupthewesternmostimagesothatitfillstheMapwindow.YoushouldseemostofBluegrassAirport,includingthenortheastend(thedeparture
end)ofrunway4.(SeeFigure72.)TheGPStrackwasstartedjustaftertakeoff.UsingPositionProperties,determinethealtitudeoftheplaneatthefirst
GPSfix._.Thepublishedairportelevationis979feet.
Airportrunwaysaredesignatedbytakingtheirapproximatemagneticheading(tothenearest10)anddroppingthefinalzero.Soaircrafttakingofforlanding
onrunway4headapproximately40,thatis,almostdirectlynortheast.
{__}Zoomuponthenortheastendoftherunway.Youcanseenumberspaintedontheconcrete.Aircraftlandingtowardortakingofftothesouthwestwould
refertothisrunwayas"twotwo"220isthereciprocalof40.UseZoomtoPrevioussothattheentireairportimagefillsthemapwindow
{_}InView~Layers~FeaturesyouwillnoticefeaturenamesofAltitudeandAirport.Represent"Altitude"withabluedotand"Airport"withagreendot.
PathfinderOfficeisawarethattheAltitudeandAirportlayersexistbecauseyouhaveopenedafilethatcontainsthosefeaturetypes.Represent"NotIn
Feature"dataasfatreddots.
{__}MaketheMapwindowactivebyclickingonitstitlebar.TurnonAutopantoSelection.Usingthepositionpropertieswindow,push"First"andthen
beginmovingalongtheGPStrackwiththe">"button(orAlt>keycombination).Notetheaircraftsaltitudesduringtheclimboutphaseoftheflight.At
point14or15,stopandexaminethetrack.Youshouldseeabluedottotheeastoftheselectedfix.
Thebluedotrepresentsaquickmarkapointfeaturethatismadewhilemovingalongapath.Aquickmarkspositionconsistsofaninterpolationbetween
thetwofixesthatboundit,intermsoftime,onebeforeandoneafter.Normally,asyouwillseelater,apointfeaturespositionismadeupoftheaverageofa
numberoffixesthatarecollectedatthesamespot.Youcantdothiswhilewhizzingpastapointofinterestat100milesperhour,sosomeGPSequipment,
suchastheAspenPCMCIAcardwithalaptopcomputer,allowsyoutocollectquickmarks.Aquickmarkidentifiesapositionandtheoperatorcanputinthe
attributeinformationlater.(WithotherGPSequipmentwithoutthequickmarkfeatureyousimplyhavetotakeapointfeatureconsistingofasinglepointat
therightmoment.)

Figure72.GPStrackdepartingBluegrassAirport.
{_}ContinuemovingalongtheGPStrack.Afterfix16,"NotinFeature:16"willchangeto"Position:Quickmark."IntheFeaturePropertieswindowyouwill
see"MSL0"and"Barometer29.92."3Thesearedefaultvaluesforthepointfeaturethatis,theoperatortriggeredthequickmarkthatrecordedtheposition
butdidntenteranyfeaturevalues.
{__}ContinuealongtheGPStrack.NoticethatthecountingofNotinFeaturefixeshasrestartedat1.Thereareonlythreesuchfixesbeforethenext
quickmarkpointfeature.Moveaheadtothatpointfeature.Heretheoperatorrecordedthattheaircraftaltitude(MSL)was2,800feet,accordingtothe
altimeter,whichwassetat30.18thevaluethatthegroundcontrollershadtransmittedtothepilotbeforetakeoff.WhatwastheGPSaltitude?
{__}ContinuealongtheGPStrackwiththe">"button.Youmaynotethattherearesome60plusfixesremainingandthatthesceneryhasbecomeverydull.
Wecanspeedthingsup.MaketheFeaturePropertieswindowactivebyclickingonitstitlebar.Ifyoupausethepointeroverthe">"buttoninthatwindow
youwillseethatitwilltakeyoutothenextfeature.Clickthatbutton.
{_}YoushouldseeaDOQoftheairportnearMountSterling.
Justastheplanelandedaquickmarkwastaken.ExaminetheinformationintheFeaturePropertieswindow.
TheAirportNamewasselectedfromamenuinthedatadictionary(weknewwhichairportswewouldbeflyingtoIOBistheairportdesignation).The
altitudefromthealtimeterwasreaddirectlyfromtheinstrumentandtypedintothelaptopcomputer.Thetimewaslocaltime,basedonUTCtimetaken
automaticallyfromthereceiver.Thepublishedaltitude,therunwaynumber,4andtherunwaylengthwereinputafterconsultinganaeronauticalchart.Notice
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thedifferencesbetweenthealtimeteraltitude(1,040feet),thepublishedaltitude(1,020feet),andtheGPSaltitude(takenfromthePositionProperties
window)of1,012.644feet.ThedifferencesinthesealtitudesindicatewhyonedoesntwanttouseanaltimeteraltitudeoraGPSaltitude(evenacorrected
one)asthesoledeterminerofaltitudewhengettinganaircraftontheground.Amatteroftwoorthreefeetverticallycanmakethedifferencebetweena
smoothlandingandacontrolledcrash.
{__}YoucanexperimentbyclickingonvariousiconsintheTimeLinewindow,intheFeaturePropertieswindow,inthePositionPropertieswindowandon
theMapwindow.Sometimesthesewindowsdontseemtobecompletelycoordinated,butyoucanalwaysultimatelygettoviewagivenentityinseveral
ways.Practicesteppingthroughthevariousfeaturesfromthefirsttothelast.
{__}IntheUtilitiesmenu(oronthe(UtilityToolbar)selectDataDictionaryEditor~File~Open.Navigateto__:\GPS2GIS\Flying_Tour\Apt_Info.ddfand
openit.Thisisthedatadictionaryfile(ddf)thatwasusedtocreatethefeaturesinR032720A.COR.ClickonthevariousFeaturesandAttributestobetter
understandtherelationshipsbetweenfeatures,attributes,andvalues.Illsaymuchmoreaboutdatadictionariesandtheiruseinthefollowingprojects,butthis
exerciseshouldgiveyouthegeneralideaofhowitallfitstogether.
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GlobalPositioningSystemandGIS
BasicConcepts(GPSandGIS)Part1
BasicConcepts(GPSandGIS)Part2
BasicConcepts(GPSandGIS)Part3
BasicConcepts(GPSandGIS)Part4
BasicConcepts(GPSandGIS)Part5

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