Field Activity 2: Developing a Proposal for Mapping the Cemetery

Introduction

o Provide background to the problem at hand. What are the problems and challenges facing Hadelyville cemetery?

*From Activity 1*
Hadleyville cemetery is currently without any maps or records of the plots on their land. This poses potential problems for the visitors to the lot who don't have information on where their family members or friends are buried. This could also pose problems to the county of Eau Claire as they could sell the same lot to multiple people without any records on the plots.

o Why is building a GIS of this project better than a simple map and/or spreadsheet?

A GIS is better than a simple map for this project because visitors to the cemetery will be able to use the online GIS to search through the information and find the burial plot of the one they are looking for before even going. It will also allow them to view the status of the headstone before visiting to find the plot much easier.

o What equipment are you going to use to gather the data needed to construct the GIS; ie what is the overall approach?

A survey GPS unit will be used to plot out each grave stone so that the information will all be stored online. A survey drone will also be used to collect land data and allow the points to be added to a visual map. Digital cameras will also be used to take pictures of the headstone for each burial plot. Pen and paper will also be used to collect data.

o What are the overall objectives of the method being employed to gather the data.

The objective to this activity are to create an easy to use GIS service that will alow visitors of the cemetery to plan out a visit with ease.

Methods

o What combination of geospatial tools did the class to use in order to conduct the survey? Why?

The class used a combination of hand collected data, aerial UAV data, and GPS collected data. This allowed all of the data to be added to the UAS map to be viewed with utmost accuracy.

o What is the accuracy of the equipment you are intending to use? (Be sure to cover each piece of equipment)

The survey GPS is accurate to the cm. The UAV is within mms of accuracy, and the hand collected data is accurate to the visual eye.

o How was data recorded? List the different methods and state why a pure digital approach is not always best. What media types are being used for data collection? Formats?

Figure 1: Jeff collecting hand-written data.

The data was first collected with hand written notes. It was also partially collected with a survey GPS, and an aerial imae was taken with a UAV. This was very important, because as the study discovered, it was very difficult to do all of the burial plots with a survey GPS unit in the time allotted, and because the UAV took such a high resolution image, the data collected by hand was able to be digitized into the aerial map to create a GIS.

o How will you transfer the data you gather into a GIS

The data will be transferred into point vector data onto the aerial map to create a GIS.

o What equipment failures occurred if any? What was done to remedy the situation?

There was no equipment failures outright, but the trees over some of the burial plots blocked out the signal for the GPS and made collecting become a very slow task. The process described earlier to create a GIS was the solution to the time difficulties experienced in the field.

o What might have been done to facilitate data collection in terms of equipment and refining the method?

If the survey would have known the GPS unit would pose so much difficulty, the data needed for the GIS could have collected with more accuracy as well as collecting more of a quantity of grave stones.

Conclusion

o How did the methods transfer to the overall objectives of the project?

The methods transferred pretty well. The grid system allowed groups to assign themselves different rows, and the whole class was able to collect the data with ease. With the time difficulties of the GPS unit, we were able to collect enough data with hand written notes that we will be able to create a GIS with the information we ave on the aerial.

o How did the mixed formats of data collection relate to the accuracy and expediency of the survey?

The drone survey created such an accurate map that it allowed us to bypass the difficulties of collecting each burial plot, and the time it would have taken.

o Describe the overall success of the survey, and speculate on the outcome of the data.

The survey seemed to be fairly successful. The overall outcome should be pretty good once it is created.