Introduction:
>Provide background to
the problem at hand. What are the problems and challenges facing Hadlyville
cemetery?
The Hadlyville Cemetery
has lost all of their data, including grave names and the locations of the
graves within the site. To fix this problem we have started a class wide
project to create an interactive map of the cemetery. Unfortunately there are
many problems. The layout of the cemetery roughly follows a row and column
pattern, but not very well, and many of the gravestones are hard to read or not
legible at all due to weathering. Another challenge will be to create the
map using GIS, and attach pictures and information of each grave to its
individual point.
>Why is building a GIS
of this project better than a simple map and/or spreadsheet?
A GIS interactive map can be edited easily to do a myriad of things such as add new grave locations, change symbols, update pictures, and if necessary make it easier to read and interpret. A GIS interactive map also allows the end user more options for what they would like to convey on their website or whatever they are using it on.
>What equipment are you going to use to gather the data needed to construct the GIS; ie what is the overall approach?
We used a survey grade GPS which can accurately map the grave sites with a centimeter of their location. We also used a UAV that flew on a flight pattern twice to create a high-resolution image of the cemetery. GIS software and Microsoft Excel will also be used to compile the data and make points.
>What are the overalll objectives of the method being employed to gather the data?
We aim to create an interactive map of the cemetery that is accurate and has pictures and correct grave site data associated with each point.
Methods:
>What combination of geospatial tools did the class use in order to conduct the survey? Why?
We used a UAV with a camera, a survey grade GPS, and our field notebooks. The UAV for the aerial photograph, the GPS for the accurate data points, and our field notes for recording grave information.
>What is the accuracy of the equipment you are intending to use?
UAV: centimeter
GPS: centimeter
Field notes: human written accuracy
Camera: human accuracy.
>How was the data recorded?
We recorded the data using the UAV for the aerial photograph, this was the only way to get a good aerial photograph considering we don't own a plane and camera. We got the GPS points with the survey grade GPS, property of UWEC. And we got the gravestone information by splitting into groups and making sure we all got as much grave data as we could write down. And we also took pictures of the gravestones. A purely digital approach would not suffice because in order to see all the gravestone information we needed to go right up to it and read it. It would not be possible to read them all from the UAV aerial photograph.
>How will you transfer the data you gathered into a GIS?
The data will be transferred into a GIS by gathering and normalising the field note data into a Microsoft Excel file. The Excel table can then be transferred into the GIS software as an attribute table. The attribute table will be joined to a feature class that can be put on the aerial photograph with GPS points.
>What equipment failures occurred if any? What was done to remedy the situation?
The survey grade GPS was taking a very long time, possibly an entire second class period, we didn't have that kind of time. Instead we are going to create our own points on our aerial photograph captured by the UAV.
Conclusion:
>How did the methods transfer to the overalll objectives of the project?
The methods seemed to fit the objectives of the project very well. Having an aerial photograph of the site will be wonderful, and obviously is the needed centerpiece of the project. Having GPS points is also nice, and while it may not necessarily be needed is still a good way to show accuracy and our commitment. The photos and information collected by hand will be a great feature for the interactive map. Hand collection was the only way to really get the correct data.
>How did the mixed formats of data collection relate to the accuracy and expediency of the survey?
Each group went and got pictures/collected data from different areas of the cemetery. I thought it seemed very unorganised; however, I believe that everyone in the class is competent enough to collect the data and our accuracy will not be lowered by being all split up. I do believe that there is some discrepancy on how many columns of graves are in the cemetery, and this needs to be addressed in class before compiling the data.
>Describe the overall success of the survey and speculate on the outcome of the data.
I have faith in this survey and project. I believe that as a class we have a photo of every gravestone and information for every gravestone that was not too weathered to read. The GPS points are up in the air, I'm not sure if we completed that or not, but at least our UAV has a high resolution photo for us to use!
