7th Grade Winter Hike, Feb 2010 Global Positioning System (GPS) data was collected using a Garmin GPS Receiver. The data was then downloaded to a computer.

WE CAN USE THE DATA FROM THE GPS UNIT TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

Where did you hike? ...How far? ...How high? ...How can you view/use GPS data?

FIRST, A REMINDER - What is GPS ?

SOME PICTURES from the hike

INSTRUCTIONS

Open the GPS Visualizer page ( www.GPSvisualizer.com )

Click the on 'Browse' button ...

In the new window that opens, COPY and PASTE the text below into the 'File name' box and Click 'Open' ...

http://crossrivendelltrail.org/Winter_survival-hike_7th-grade_03-10-10.gdb

Back in the 'Get Started now:' box Click

WHAT HAPPENED?

The GPS data should have been processed and a Google Map should be displayed with color imagery ( from aircraft or satellite ) in the background

TRACKS

The GPS data is displayed as a line -or- track where the track is made up of many points that are connected; DIFFERENCE with Waypoints ?

QUESTION

Where did we begin the hike?

WORKING WITH THE INTERACTIVE MAP

This is an Interactive Map where you, as user, can change features
Change map features using the map tools shown in red boxes below

QUESTIONS

What is the general name for the area where we started ?

What are the two ways in which you can move ( i.e. Pan ) the map ?

What do you notice about the track when you zoom-in ?
What would explain the appearance of the track & track segments ?

How far do you think we hiked ( round-trip in miles ) ?
How would you estimate distance traveled on the map ?

Use the map tools to zoom-in near the top of the track. What do you see that might impact the number of waypoints and distance hiked ?

Change the Map Background to view names of places & features
What is the name of the stream along the side of the road / trail ?
Do any of the map backgrounds show a road ( which ) ?

What do you estimate was our maximum elevation ( in feet ) ?

How do you turn the visibility of the track on / off ?

The crosshair in the center of the image corresponds to the
Latitude and Longitude coordinates shown in the bottom left

When you move ( Pan ) the map, the crosshair is in a new location

Which Map Background shows the Appalachian Trail - AND -
What are the coordinates where we crossed this feature ?

View the satellite imagery map background ( 'G. satellite' ) ...
What kind of human activity is taking place around Pickeral Ponds ?

DRAW A NEW MAP

Draw the map again this time using your input ...

Click on 'DRAW A MAP' at the top of the GPS Visualizer page

On this new page change Track Options ( ex. color and 'Colorize by' Distance )

In the lower right of the page you will need to COPY and PASTE the text below into the field asking for the URL ( i.e. web address ) of the GPS data file

http://crossrivendelltrail.org/Winter_survival-hike_7th-grade_03-10-10.gdb

Then Click to 'Draw the map' a new window and map should appear

MORE PICTURES

CREATE AN ELEVATION PROFILE

View Elevation & Distance GPS data using an Elevation Profile

Click on 'DRAW A PROFILE' at the top of the GPS Visualizer page

On this new page under General Parameters change Units to 'U.S.'

In the lower right of the page you will again need to COPY and PASTE the text below into the field asking for the URL ( i.e. web address ) of the GPS data file

http://crossrivendelltrail.org/Winter_survival-hike_7th-grade_03-10-10.gdb

Then Click 'Draw the profile' and a new window with a profile should appear

The X-axis displays 'Distance' in miles
The Y-axis displays 'Elevation' in feet

QUESTIONS

Why does the profile appear this way ? Compare this to the graph you created.

NOW how far do you think we hiked ( round-trip in miles ) ? Is this different than your previous estimate ? Why ?

What was our maximum elevation ( in feet ) ?

Did we hike all this way ? How can we tell ?

View the raw GPS data ... hike_database.xls (MS Excel File)

SNOW DEPTH

We also measured snow depth by elevation ...using these measurements we can predict snow depth in other areas ...

We can use a Geographic Information System (GIS) to predict snow depth ... What_is_GIS

Geographic Information System (GIS) instruction using online mapping applications featuring Google Maps, the Vermont Interactive Map Viewer (VCGI), and the New Hampshire GRANIT Data Mapper

The interactive map viewer for Vermont can work with GIS data as Shapefiles ...
crt_trail-segments_vtsp83.shp and crt_trail-segments_vtsp83.dbf are the files necessary ...

GOOGLE EARTH

You can also view GPS data using Google Earth using a KML file

To use this file, start the Google Earth program and then select File, Open

In the new Open window, COPY and PASTE the text below into the 'File name' box and Click 'Open' ...

http://crossrivendelltrail.org/7th_Grade_Winter_Hike_March-10-2010.kml

The Google Earth window should zoom-in to the GPS track

You can also download this file ( not necessary if you used the steps above )
Right-click on the link below and choose to 'Save Target As' or 'Save Link As'
KML file for this hike : 7th_Grade_Winter_Hike_March-10-2010.kml

Note: clicking on the link above will not open Google Earth but will let you view the file code - it looks a lot like web page code (i.e. HTML)

You would then Open the file once in Google Earth

Why Use Google Earth ?

There are many other tools and features available for viewing GPS data ... can you figure out what these are and how the are used ?

Other data in KML format:

Cross Rivendell Trail KML File (including the trail -and- points) for use in Google Earth:
crt_trail-segments+waypoints_wgs84dd.kml

Appalachian Trail (NH-VT only) for use in Google Earth: at_centerline-vt-nh_wgs84dd.kml