In this lab the field navigation maps created in Lab 4 were used to locate supplied UTM coordinates within the Priory. The coordinate locations were located by using the navigation maps and a digital GPS unit. The UTM coordinates were pre plotted on the map and then located. Once the coordinate location was located spray paint and ribbon were placed on the tree at that location to mark the location.
Study Area
The study area that was navigated through to find coordinate locations was a piece of land called the Priory. The Priory is an area of land owned and operate by the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. This land is used as a private dormitory and a 120 acre wooded area that is used as a children's nature preserve. Maps of the Priory in relation to the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire and the Priory itself are in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
Figure 1. Image highlighting the location of the Priory in reference to the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire main campus.
Figure 2. Image displaying the appearance of the Priory campus.
Methods
Before arriving at the Priory study location the iPhone application was downloaded onto each student's iPhone from the iTunes app store. What the app looks like can be seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1. What the iPhone application Bad Elf GPS looks like on an iPhone device.
Upon arriving at the Priory study area, the class was divided into a few groups and each group was given a printed off field navigation map created in Lab 4 and a list of five UTM coordinate locations. Each group plotted their five UTM coordinates on the navigation map with a pen. The list of five coordinates that were located by this group of students can be seen in Figure 2. The navigation map used can be seen in Figure 3.
Figure 2. List of the five
UTM coordinate locations to be
located by this group in this lab.
Figure 3. Navigation map used to locate five UTM coordinate locations on the Priory property.
Once the UTM coordinate locations were plotted on the navigation map, a digital GPS unit was given to each group to give the exact UTM coordinates of the unit to help with the accuracy of the navigation. The GPS unit can be seen in Figure 4. A tracking device was also given to each group so a track log of the path to each coordinate location could be generated after the navigation.
Figure 4. Digital GPS unit used to
help improve accuracy of the
navigation.
The Bad Elf GPS iPhone application was also opened and the map units were changed from decimal degrees to UTM. The application was helpful by giving a satellite image map that in real time gave the location of the iPhone. It also gave UTM coordinate locations much like the mobile GPS unit did. Figure 5 shows what the home interface of the Bad Elf GPS iPhone application looks like.
Figure 5. Screen shot of what the Bad
Elf GPS iPhone application looks like.
To locate all of the UTM coordinate locations the GPS digital device, UTM navigation map, and Bad Elf GPS iPhone application were all used. The navigation map gave the idea of the general direction to travel to find the coordinate point. The iPhone application was used to give reference to the exact point the group was located at live time. The digital imagery in the application was compared to the navigation map to give reference to how close the group was to the coordinate location. The digital imagery on the application can be seen in Figure 6. The GPS digital device was used once the group was close to the correct location to finalize and check that the UTM coordinates on the GPS unit matched exactly with the provided UTM coordinate location.
Figure 6. Digital imagery used in the
Bad Elf GPS iPhone application.
Upon arriving at the correct UTM coordinate location. The tree at that location was sprayed with orange spray paint and tagged with a yellow ribbon. Figures 7 through 10 show the trees that were tagged by this group in the order that they were tagged.
Figure 7. The tree that was tagged to represent the fourth coordinate location.
The fourth coordinate location was tagged first. This tree was located in a
clearing in the forest.
Figure 8. The tree that was tagged to represent the third coordinate location.
The third coordinate location was tagged second. This tree was located
in a flat area of thick forest cover with a lot of vegetation.
Figure 9. The tree that was tagged to represent the second coordinate location.
The second coordinate location was tagged third. This tree was located
in a flat area of thick forest cover with a lot of vegetation.
Figure 10. The tree that was tagged to represent the first coordinate location.
The first coordinate location was tagged forth. This fallen tree was
located on a steep slant on the side of a hill in an area
of thick forest cover and with a lot of vegetation.
Results/ Discussion
Figure 11 shows a map the track log of the path traveled to locate the UTM coordinates along with the correct coordinate locations. The path traveled does match up with the coordinate locations. Every coordinate location was placed in the generally correct spot according to the track log path. It can be seen that the most direct path to each coordinate location was not always taken. There are many loops and backtracking that occurred while locating the coordinate locations. Even with considering that coordinate location five was not marked due to fear of inaccuracy and problems with the location service devices, the track log showed that the group was in the correct location and was not far off from the place where the tree should have been marked. The terrain of the priory is very hilly with steep slopes. The vegetation is very thick making a direct path almost impossible when navigating. A possible source of error that could have occurred during this lab is if there was not a tree present at the exact location of the UTM coordinate. The tree closest to the coordinate location was marked if no tree was present at the exact spot. That could cause a minimal source of error.
Figure 11. Map of the path taken through the priory to locate the UTM coordinate locations.
The path taken suggests all marked locations were placed in the right place.
Conclusions
Reverting back to locating UTM coordinate locations using a simple UTM navigation map was more difficult than expected. Modern day technologies can make it appear that basic navigation map reading is a no longer crucial skill, but it is. Technology is not always reliable, so it is important to know how to read a basic navigation map in case advanced technology is malfunctioning or not available.
Sources
Priory Hall. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2017, from http://www.uwec.edu/Housing/residencehalls/priory/priory-hall.htm.
