Thursday, November 3, 2011

First Day of Field Data Collection

I have returned from my first day of data collection at the location. It was a beautiful day to take a leisurely hike through the woods. I was able to collect several data points of specific points of interest along the main trail. This included basic land marks that would help hikers identify where they are on the trail. I was also able to collect data points for areas of interest like the hemlock groves that follow the stream running through the preserve as well as the signs of beaver activity along the stream.
So far I have two drafts of my map which include a Bing aerial view map of the area and a topographical map of the area. Both Maps have the stream running through the location marked. In the next couple of days I plan on entering the GPS data points that I was able to collect. I am also still searching for GPS data on the boundaries for the site location.
My plans for next week include hiking out into the areas of the preserve that do not have any trails and identifying the areas that might be of interest for youth groups or areas for potential trails.
Map 1: Bing Aerial Map

Map 2: Topographical Map
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4 comments:

  1. Kate MeierdiercksNovember 4, 2011 at 7:01 AM

    This is a great start, Adam. Can you make your maps a little bigger though, so it will be easier for us to see them? I look forward to seeing your maps with the field data you are collecting.
    -Prof. M

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  2. Nicholas GiannettiNovember 8, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    I agree with Dr. Diercks that it might be a little easier to analyze the maps if they were a bit larger, but so far it's looking pretty snazzy.
    Are you going to combine the contour & trail maps or have them separate?

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  3. Jennifer BonielloNovember 8, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    The two maps you have so far look really good, once you get the boundaries of the location I think it'll be even better. I think it is a nice idea to leave both maps for comparison because the aerial maps are sometimes hard to read off of.

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  4. AnonymousNovember 8, 2011 at 12:47 PM

    I like the differential between the topographical and bing aerial maps, but I was wondering what information you're going to be displaying on each one. I didn't know if some of the information you're gathering would do better on one map type vs. another.
    The GPS conversion in Excel and the addition into ArcMap can be pretty tricky. If it doesn't draw the XY coordinates right away try exporting the data into a shapefile and adding it to the map.
    I think Dr. Meierdiercks also has a taxonomic parcel boundary for your location perimeter situation.

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