GIS Inventory

Discussion

At the start of your GPS for GIS project, take stock of your park's GIS database and determine what field information will need to be collected.

A GIS inventory of the park and surrounding area should be completed before GPS data collection begins. READ MORE >>

This is important for identifying any previously collected GPS data, similar GIS data available at different scales, incomplete GIS data, and data not currently in a digital format. In ideal situations, your park will have a well established GIS program with an easily accessible, organized GIS data structure. If this is the case, work with the GIS data and/or the GIS data managers before you go into the field to make sure the data you collect will be compatible with the park's current GIS data. In less than ideal situations, your park might not have a current or active GIS program. In these circumstances, spend time gathering GIS data and associated metadata relevant to your project into an organized structure.

Adopt an straight forward GIS Data Structure to organize the inventoried GIS datasets. READ MORE >>

If your park already has a working GIS data structure, discuss with the park GIS specialist about the best way to insert your GPS data into it. If your park's GIS has little to no structure, spending time up front building a data structure before collecting data will go a long way in soothing the integration of new data. A good way to learn about GIS data structure is by learning about how other parks organize their data and utilizing tools like the Inventory and Monitoring Program's GIS Theme Manager designed to assist in the retrieval and display of GIS Data. Examples of good GIS data structures and the GIS Theme Manager tool are available in the Links section.

There are many forms of GIS data collection. Gathering and management of data in a GIS is estimated to be 80% of a GIS's cost (Trimble, 2000). GPS is just one method of data collection, the others include digitizing from paper maps, scanning, on-screen digiting, remote sensing and photogrammetry. With GPS, positions are collected directly in a digital form in the field and both spatial features (points, lines, polygons) and attributes are collected simultaneously, thereby eliminating transcription errors.

Once GPS has been chosen as a GIS data collection method and a GIS inventory is complete, identify the project's GPS unit requirements.

Watch outs!

Time - If you are at a park unit without a lot of GIS resources, it may take some time to inventory, collect, create, and organize the GIS datasets needed for your project into a GIS data structure.

Documentation (metadata) - Keep in mind, all finalized GIS datasets created as a result of your GPS data collection will need to be documented with FGDC compliant metadata. Plan ahead for this effort. See the Data & Process Documentation step for more details.

Glossary of Terms

attribute - A characteristic of a geographic feature described by numbers, characters, and images typically stored in a tabular format & linked to the feature by a user-assigned identifier [Source: ESRI ArcDoc help]. Attributes can be referred to as non-graphic data in a GIS and each feature may have more than one. Attributes can be thought of as questions about a feature that you want answered during data collection. For example, 'Surface Type' would be the appropriate attribute for a question like, "What is the surface of the road (line feature)?"  [Adapted from Source: Trimble, Classroom Manual "Pro XR/XRS with Asset Surveyor", Revision A, 1988]

feature -A feature is a physical object, or the site of some event or phenomenon. Features are often referred to as graphic data in a GIS. Examples include a tree (point), road (line), or land parcel (polygon).

metadata - Data about the data. This word used in the context of GIS datasets usually means a specifically formatted document with information about the dataset's origin, quality, projection, and distribution.

Links (Step-by-Step How To)

• GIS specialist at park (if applicable)
• Park personnel and their PCs and/or a park server
• The NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program, NR-GIS Metadata and Data Store - science.nature.nps.gov/metadata/  [2003]
• The Regional Support Office's GIS Program: www.nps.gov/gis/contacts/cordinators.html
• The Inventory and Monitoring Network Data Managers [RTF Document] (113 Kb) List of I&M Coordinators and Data Managers  [July 2004]
• Informal self questionnaire/checklist of GPS collectable features. From the NPS, Intermountain Support Office [MS Excel] (~18 Kb) - gps_inventory_generic_NPS-IMSO.xls [2002]

• NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program suggested structure [MS Word Document] - http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/datamgmt/docs/datastr5.doc [February 2001]
• NPS Intermountain Support Office, GIS Program Office's suggested data structure [Adobe PDF] (~33 Kb) - Park Directory Structure [June 2004]
• NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program's GIS Theme Manager for organizing your GIS data (currently written as an ArcView 3.x extension, the ArcGIS version will soon be released) - www1.nature.nps.gov/im/apps/thmmgr/ [January 2003]

Site Suggestions. Contact ifer_mccollom@nps.gov if you have any suggestions or possible Step-by-Step How To links.