GPS-GIS toolkit for the general public

GPS-GIS toolkit for the general public
A selection of essential low-cost tools and
typical applications
by Pierre Sauvé, NRCan
NOTE: these were the
tools used by the
author in the
preparation this poster,
they are not endorsed
by NRCan
Google Earth
GPSVisualizer
www.earth.google.com
www.gpsvisualizer.com
G7toWin
www.gpsinformation.org/ronh
GPSBabel
www.gpsbabel.org
GPSTrackMaker
www.gpstm.com
Visual GPS http://www.visualgps.net/
GPSGate http://franson.com/gpsgate/
RoboGeo www.robogeo.com
StitchMaps www.stitchmaps.com
Global Mapper www.globalmapper.com
cGPSmapper & SendMap
www.cgpsmapper.com
Plan a trip using Google Earth
Create
Create placemarks
placemarks (using
(using Google
Google Earth
Earth Search)
Search) and
and routes
routes (From
(From
…
To) and save as a .kml file. Reformat
…To)
Reformat the
the .kml to .gpx or .gdb
.gdb..
Open
Open the
the .gdb
.gdb or
or .gpx
.gpx file
file and
and upload
upload to
to your
your GPS
GPS receiver
receiver as
as
waypoints
waypoints and
and tracks.
tracks.
.kml
GPSBabel
Reformat GPSVisualizer
.gpx or
.gdb
Upload to GPS
GPSTrackmaker
MapSource
GPS waypoints
and tracks
View your GPS data in Google Earth
GPS waypoints
and tracks
Download
Download GPS
GPS tracks
tracks and
and
waypoints
waypoints and
and save
save in
in .gpx
.gpx
format.
format. Drag
Drag &
& drop
drop the
the .gpx
.gpx file
file
into
into Google
Google Earth
Earth (placemarks
(placemarks
and
and tracks),
tracks), save
save as
as aa kml
kml file.
file.
Download from GPS
.gpx
G7toWin
GPSTrackmaker
MapSource
Drag &
drop
Placemarks
and tracks
Quickbird satellite imagery in the North
Google
Google Earth
Earth
provides
provides Quickbird
Quickbird
satellite
satellite imagery
imagery for
for
many
many northern
northern
communities.
communities.
Georeference your photos
Synchronize
Synchronize your
your GPS
GPS receiver
receiver and
and your
your
digital
digital camera.
camera. Collect
Collect aa GPS
GPS track
track while
while
taking
taking photos.
photos. Save
Save your
your GPS
GPS track
track in
in the
the
.gpx
.gpx format.
format.
.jpg
.gpx
RoboGeo
.kmz
RoboGeo
RoboGeo will
will match
match time
time tags
tags and
and geocode
geocode
the
the photos.
photos. You
You can
can have
have the
the coordinates
coordinates
appear
appear on
on the
the photos
photos and/or
and/or create
create aa
Google
Google Earth
Earth .kmz
.kmz file
file with
with all
all photos
photos
resized
resized and
and imbedded.
imbedded.
Georeferenced
Photos
Get your geospatial data into Google Earth
Get
Get your
your data
data Into
Into an
an Excel
Excel spreadsheet,
spreadsheet, enter
enter the
the headers
headers “name,
latitude,
latitude, longitude,
longitude, height
height (optional)
(optional) and
and description
description (optional)”.
(optional)”.
The
The description
description can
can contain
contain text
text and
and URL’s.
URL’s.
GPSVisualizer
GPSVisualize
GPSVisualizer can
can convert
convert the
the .xls file
file to
to kml
kml
.xls
www.gpsvisualizer.com
.kml
Placemarks
Google Earth overlays via WMS
www.gpsvisualizer.com
Create
KMZ)
KMZ
Create Google
Google Earth
Earth ((KMZ)
overlays
overlays from
from aa selection
selection of
of WMS
WMS
data
data providers.
providers.
GPSVisualizer
GPSVisualizer overlay
overlay generator
generator
(.kml
(.kml file)
file) stays
stays in
in your
your Google
Google
Earth
Earth Places.
Places.
Map
Map overlays
overlays can
can be
be saved
saved on
on
your
your PC
PC hard-drive
hard-drive and
and can
can be
be
viewed
viewed in
in Google
Google Earth
Earth even
even when
when
offline.
offline.
.kmz
Map overlays
The NMEA data format
Hyperterminal
VisualGPS
GPSGate
NMEA
www.gpsvisualizer.com
.kml
All
All GPS
GPS receivers
receivers can
can output
output positions
positions
in
in the
the NMEA
NMEA format.
format. NMEA
NMEA provides
provides the
the
most
most accurate,
accurate, comprehensive
comprehensive and
and
useful
useful GPS
GPS information
information (e.g.
(e.g. GPS
GPS fix
fix
code,
code, HDOP
HDOP and
and number
number of
of satellites).
satellites).
Convert
Convert your
your GPS
GPS tracks
tracks (NMEA)
(NMEA) to
to
Google
Google Earth
Earth tracks
tracks (kml)
(kml) colorized
colorized
according
according to
to aa selected
selected parameter.
parameter.
Track colorized
according to
number of
satellites
Free geospatial data from NRCan
GeoBase www.geobase.ca
•• CDED
CDED (Canadian
(Canadian Digital
Digital Elevation
Elevation Data)
Data) Ordered
Ordered array
array of
of ground
ground
elevations
elevations at
at regularly
regularly spaced
spaced intervals
intervals (approx.
(approx. 20
20 m
m spacing
spacing in
in Southern
Southern
Canada,
Canada, 90
90 m
m spacing
spacing in
in the
the North).
North).
by
by NTS
NTS map
map sheet,
sheet, dem
dem
•• NRN
NRN (National
(National Road
Road Network)
Network) All
All roads
roads in
in Canada,
Canada, to
to better
better than
than 10
10 m
m
accuracy
accuracy (90%).
(90%).
by
by province,
province, shapefile
shapefile
•• Geographical
Geographical names
names Current
Current officially
officially approved
approved Canadian
Canadian
geographical
geographical names.
names.
by
by NTS
NTS map
map sheet,
sheet, shapefile
shapefile
•• Geodetic
Geodetic Networks
Networks Includes
Includes primary
primary vertical
vertical benchmarks,
benchmarks, CBN
CBN
(Canadian
(Canadian Base
Base Network),
Network), federal
federal 3D
3D densification
densification network
network and
and federal
federal 2D
2D
northern
northern network.
network.
by
by NTS
NTS map
map sheet,
sheet, shapefiles
shapefiles
•• National
National Hydro
Hydro Network
Network Hydrographic
Hydrographic features,
features, obstacles,
obstacles,
constructions,
constructions, linear
linear drainage
drainage network
network and
and toponymy
toponymy associated
associated to
to
hydrography.
hydrography.
by
by NTS
NTS map
map sheet,
sheet, shapefiles
shapefiles
Geogratis www.geogratis.gc.ca
•• Canimage
Canimage Landsat
Landsat 77 orthoimages
orthoimages resampled
resampled at
at 15m
15m resolution
resolution
by
by NTS
NTS map
map sheet,
sheet, geotiff
geotiff
•• Canmatrix
Canmatrix Scanned
Scanned federal-government
federal-government topographic
topographic maps
maps at
at the
the 1:50
1:50
000
000 and
and 1:250
1:250 000
000 scales
scales
by
by NTS
NTS map
map sheet,
sheet, geotiff
geotiff
•• NTDB
NTDB (National
(National Topographic
Topographic DataBase)
DataBase) Digital
Digital vector
vector data
data sets
sets that
that
cover
cover the
the entire
entire Canadian
Canadian landmass
landmass. Layers
Layers include:
include: vegetation,
vegetation,
hydrography,
hydrography, contours,
contours, rail
rail network,
network, man-made
man-made features
features
by
by NTS
NTS map
map sheet,
sheet, shapefiles
shapefiles
From shapefile to Google Earth and GPS
Shapefiles
Shapefiles containing
containing point
point data
data
such
such as
as NRCan
NRCan Geodetic
Geodetic
networks
networks monuments
monuments can
can be
be
opened
opened in Global Mapper
Mapper then
then
saved
saved as
as aa .gpx
.gpx file.
file.
You
You can
can drag
drag &
& drop
drop the
the .gpx
.gpx
file
Earth
file into
into Google
Google Earth.
Earth.
You
You can
can open
open the
the .gpx
.gpx file
file in
in
MapSource
MapSource or
or GPSTrackmaker
GPSTrackmaker
to
to upload
upload to
to aa GPS
GPS receiver.
receiver.
Global Mapper
.gpx
Drag &
drop
Placemarks
Upload to GPS
GPSTrackmaker
MapSource
Customize your Garmin receiver maps
You can add your own map data (points,
lines and polygons) to your Garmin
receiver’s basemaps. The map data can
originate from shapefiles, GPS
waypoints and tracks or be hand drawn.
Polygon and a path drawn by hand in
Google Earth and saved as a kml file.
.kml
MapSource basemap
In Global Mapper you can
open the kml file and the
NRN (National Road
Network) and create a (via
cGPSmapper)
cGPSmapper a custom
Garmin map (or overlay).
Google Earth
Mapsource map
and Custom map
can be uploaded to
the GPS receiver
(using SendMap)
SendMap
Upload to GPS
Global Mapper
Send Map
Map Gallery
CDED, Toponymy and NTDB (hydrography)
Shading and contours were generated from the CDED.
Global Mapper
CDED + Canimage. 3D viewing with water-level rise simulation.
Global Mapper
Map Gallery
Google Earth (Quickbird) imagery captured with StichMaps.
NRN, Toponymy and Geodetic network monuments were added.
Global Mapper
Canmatrix. Iqaluit is at a junction of 4 map sheets. GPS tracks in blue.
Global Mapper