Looking for GPS Mapping...

I tried searching the forum but couldn't find what I think I'm looking for. Here's the story.

We've got over 80 acres of land in southeast Louisiana that is mostly populated by very tall pine trees. What I'm looking for is a hardware/software combination that will allow me to plot our land on a map, or each field individually, and be able to track where we place key structures on the field. An aerial overview of our land aided by GPS waypoints would help this immensely.

I'm not looking at all for something to tell me how to get from point A to point B. I'm more looking for something that I can map the land, and assist in placement of structures on the land.

Is there such a program and where can I get that?

I own 50 acres of trees in the Missouri Ozarks, and have been very frustrated trying to use GPS for surveying. Our county maps have no reference to GPS coordinates, so there seems to be no way to cross-reference points. There are no USGS benchmarks within a few miles to use as a basis, either.

I have used my Magellan hand-held to obtain GPS coordinates of the corners of my property. It has an 'averaging' function that allows you to collect fixes over a period of time, and derive an accurate fix for a point. I let the GPS sit at each point for an hour or so to try to minimize the atmospheric impact on the GPS signal. Any consumer-grade GPS could still be 20 feet or more off from reality.

It has been a while, but I believe Google Earth will allow you to enter coordinates, and display them on top of a satellite image. Maps.google.com can find and display a single point on a satellite image, too. Just enter the GPS coordinates in the search box (watch out for format; HMS and decimal degrees are quite different!). If you'd like to see where my cabin is, try this link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...=15&iwloc=addr

If all you want is a rough diagram, you might get it done. Don't try to use consumer GPS for any kind of surveying. If you want to know how professional surveyors use GPS, do a search on 'differential GPS'. I have a USGS benchmark in my back yard, and about once a month the surveyors have their differential GPS set up on top of the benchmark, while they are out in the neighborhood with their hand-held stick.

Rick

Hi badlag,

Have you looked at your property in Google Maps satellite view?

Is the image resolution high enough so you can zoom in and make out individual recognizable features on your land? If so, you could download Google Earth (it's free), which uses the same satellite maps. In Google Earth you can place the cursor on any point on the map and read off the longitude/latitude coordinate from the status bar at the bottom.

In Google Earth you can create "Places" that are nothing more than points on the map with names you give them. You can do that by clicking on points on the map. Or you can do it by taking a GPS reading with a handheld GPS and entering the coordinates.

Before spending any money I would download Google Earth and play around with it to see where it gets you. But check out your property online on Google Maps satellite view first. Many areas of North America have good quality, high resolution images where you can zoom way in and see things like a car parked in the driveway or a small garden shed. Other areas have low resolution shots that won't be remotely useful for your purposes.

As Rick said, you can't use a consumer grade GPS for survey quality work. You'll be really luck to get within 15 or 20 feet even with a really good quality unit. Even to get approximate readings, in an area that has lots of tall trees you'll need a pretty good quality unit with the most up to date GPS technology in it.

...ken...

I can refer you to a great solution called Comet Tracker by Actsoft, Inc. (www.actsoft.com) With a mobile phone you can plot your landmarks (i.e. pieces of equipment, assets, etc.) We will place the lat. and long coordinates on a map for you, even if the map (Telogis/Navteq) doesn't show but a wide open space you are able to also display our landmarks with Google Earth or Windows Live Local so as to have satelite imagery. It's a great way to keep track of waypoints/landmarks. Not to mention that our software is capable of so much more. I just wanted to respond to the initial question because I believe that I can help badlag with exactly what he's looking for.

Thanks!