GIS Tips & Tricks
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The Staff at Cloudpoint Geographics Inc is pleased to announce that we are now a part of the Esri Business Partner Network! The Esri Partner Network is a worldwide community of companies that develop and deliver cutting-edge geographic spatial solutions and services based on Esri technology. Together, Esri and its partners collaborate to support end users through successful GIS implementations and repeatable solutions.
So how do you get a highly accurate GPS location on something that is not accessible??? Using the Trimble Geo XH 6000 series and Terrasync (cm) Edition we are able to use the "Offset" command in the Data collection tools within Terrasync software. We simply tell the unit that the point is exactly 10 feet south of our current location and we start collecting data.
How do you find your underground utilities? Does your method of relocating them consist of your veteran public works director and the third-generation local excavator estimating them based upon a combined 70 years of memory? We find this all to common in today's communities where their baby-boom staff will soon retire and take with them an incredible amount of "tribal knowledge". Although they may have an incredible ability to tell where those 50 year old lines are at, someday these folks will not be available. That's why mapping these utilities with GPS equipment is so critical! Don't lose all of that valuable information, you just can't take that risk. It doesn't have to be expensive equipment that costs thousands of dollars. Even a simple $200 Garmin eTrex will get you headed in the right direction. Today's GPS equipment can provide accuracies that vary from five feet to five millimeters.In addition, if you are a local government agency that has a permitting process for underground utilities, why not start requiring the permittee to provide you as-builts with GPS coordinates. You can do this with a simple ordinance update and even specify the accuracy requirements, and they don't have to be overly tight. This is not an unreasonable request and will not place an "undue" hardship on them when the cost of GPS equipment is so insignificant these days. The point is once you have the data it can be used in so many different capacities. So why not set your agency on the right course today and make things better for the next generation!
Visit us at www.cloudpointgeo.com
Visit us at www.cloudpointgeo.com
Here is a recent map of the severity of the current drought in Illinois. This map shows the lack of rainfall throughout the state for the month of June. We are currently obtaining additional data for the entire summer that will provide greater insight as to the hardest hit areas. Contact us for more details!
Cloudpoint Geographics has performed many GIS data collection projects so far and here are some of the valuable lessons learned from completing this work:
1. Get the data when you're there
Be thorough when in the field. All too often we come back to the office and wish we had collected more information or questioned one of the sign attributes. If we take the extra minute or two when out in the field it gives us the best end result and complete inventory. This is one reason that mobile mapping is becoming so popular. You bring much more data back to the office and can post-process so much more... eliminating mistakes and questions including saving time and money from repeated site visits.
Cass Communications has contracted with Cloudpoint Geographics to complete utility mapping of its fiber optic network. The project consist of gps data collection of the utility's fiber optic lines and infrastructure over a 13 county area. The collected data will be used to implement a GIS system that will help the utility manage it's fiber network more efficiently.
