Benefits and Applications of GPS for GIS

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Benefits and Applications of GPS for GIS

• Bruce Peetz
• Vice President Technology
• Trimble
• 19 October 2006

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Agenda

• GPS/GIS Overview Productivity at the front end
  of GIS
• GPS/GIS Applications Real world examples
• GPS Augmentation The sub meter explosion

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How GPS and mobile information systems have
enhanced GIS

• Ability to define data to be collected prior to
  field work
• Data dictionaries
• Ability to quickly and accurately collect
  information
• Location and attribute information
• Various levels of positional accuracy
• Error checking on attribute entry
• Compatibility with GIS and CAD systems

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Ways GPS can be used in GIS

• Data collection
• Recording something, somewhere
• What do I have?
• What condition is it in?
• Data maintenance
• Verifying something, somewhere
• Is the information I have correct?
• Data use
• Current and accurate data to support decision
  making
• Finding the asset to perform maintenance/repair

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GPS/GIS Applications in Planning

• Urban Regional Planning
• Data collection/maintenance (rural addresses,
  fire hydrant, signpost inventories)
• Cadastral/Land Parcel Delineation
• Emergency Planning Response
• Emergency response (wildfire, hurricane)
• Pre-event risk assessment
• Forestry
• Data collection/maintenance
• Tree inventory, logging roads, watershed

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GPS/GIS Applications in Engineering
Construction

• Construction management
• Mapping and relocation of assets in lay down yard
• Hazardous materials location
• Road and highway construction
• Inventory of existing infrastructure
• Pavement management
• Bridge and railroad inspection
• Accurate location of inspection
• Navigation to location of previous inspection

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GPS/GIS Applications in Utilities Communications

• Asset/infrastructure management
• Inventory of streetlights, utility poles, storm
  water facilities
• Mapping and relocation of underground assets
• Cable, Telephone, Electric
• Pipeline integrity management

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Real World GPS/GIS Applications

• West Nile Virus - Richland County, South Carolina
• Mosquito control personnel would pencil in data
  on cumbersome sheets of paper
• Field paperwork would stack up back in the office
  and get recorded once a month. The data would
  then have to be re-entered into a database.

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Real World GPS/GIS Applications

• Enter Mobile GIS
• Field crews are now collecting data and
  transferring it back to the GIS using a custom
  field application (Mosquito.Mobile) on rugged,
  sub-meter Geo XT running Windows Mobile
• Benefits
• Mobile GIS has allowed for improved analysis
  using location of mosquito breeding sites,
  location of infected birds combined with mosquito
  density, rainfall and demographic data
• Now when an infected bird is located they are
  able to notify local child and senior-care
  centers within hours

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Real World GPS/GIS Applications

• GIS Road Sign Inventory and Maintenance - Boulder
  County, Colorado
• Mobile GIS/GPS systems running ArcPad
• Database on the handheld contains 7,000 signs
  along with attributes such as sign type and sign
  condition
• Field to Office
• Provides consistent flow from Mobile GIS device
  to database
• Data is then sent via network to master database
  and back to field user Field to Office
• Provides consistent flow from Mobile GIS device
  to database
• Data is then sent via network to master database
  and back to field user

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Real World GPS/GIS Applications

• Cadastre/Land Administration and Titling
• INCRA, Brazil 300 Pro XR systems in use for
  land redistribution
• PETT (Proyecto Especial de Tiutulacion de
  Tierras), Peru Pro XR systems
• IDB-funded project to formalize boundaries and
  legal title, produce cadastral maps, and record
  and deliver 525,330 titles in the Coast and
  Sierra regions to beneficiaries
• The end result will be about 178,131 new titles
  handed over to beneficiaries.

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Real World GPS/GIS Applications

• Centrales Electricas de Goias
• GPS/GIS used to collect data on 1,800,000 poles
  across 34,000 KM2
• 12 month project involving 160 field technicians
  and 16 QA personnel
• GeoXM and Recon GPS selected to meet 3 meter
  accuracy requirement
• Custom Mobile GIS application Electropocket by
  Soltec

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GPS AugmentationNationwide DGPS

• Corrections from NDGPS sites are used in
  combination with GPS position information to
  protect U.S. public safety, manage and operate
  the nations utility infrastructure and protect
  health and the environment

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GPS Augmentation NDGPS impact on public health,
safety, and utilities

• Public safety
• National Park Service employees use corrections
  from NDGPS sites in forest fire management
• Public health
• Oakland County, Michigan used corrections from
  NDGPS site to map the location of wells and
  septic systems
• Utility operations
• Emerald County Utilities Authority in Pensacola,
  Florida used corrections from NDGPS sites to map
  and relocate critical utility infrastructure
  following recent hurricanes

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GPS AugmentationAdvantages of NDGPS vs. WAAS

• NDGPS correction signals curve around the Earth's
  surface, so users are not limited to
  "line-of-sight" reception. Natural or man-made
  obstructions, such as buildings, hills or
  vegetation, typically don't interfere with signal
  reception

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Thank You