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PROJECT3AVolcano
WebeginbylookingatafilegeneratedbyaGPSreceiverthatcircumnavigatedKilaueaCaldera,theactivevolcanoontheislandofHawaii.Before
youcanseeoranalyzethedata,however,severalparametersmustbesetup.(Right.JustaswhenyouusedtheGPSreceiver.Itturnsoutthat,whenyou
doGPSforGIS,aconsiderablepartoftheactivityisgettingsettingsright.Sorry.)
Closeallopenwindows(exceptthemainone,ofcourse).Maximizethewindow.
{_}IntheFilemenu,pickProjects.Clickonthefieldnextto"ProjectName."Find"Default"inthedropdownlist(youmayhavetoscrollthelistupor
downtoseealltheentries)andclickonit.Okayyourchoice.
{_}Underthe"Options"menu,select"CoordinateSystem."Youwantto"SelectBy""CoordinateSystemandZone"(ratherthan"Site").The"System"
shouldbe"Latitude/Longitude"andthe"Datum""WGS1984."Altitudeshouldbemeasuredfrommeansealevelinmeters(usetheEGM96[Global]
Geoid)."OK"yourchoices.
{_}Under"Options~Units"pickkilometersfortheDistancemeasurement.
{__}Under"Options~TimeZone"pick"Hawaii."NoticethatHawaiiantimeis10hoursearlierthanGreenwich(UTC)time.
{__}Alsounder"Options,"turnoffallfive"bars"(four"Toolbars"andthe"StatusBar")byclickingeachsothatthecheckbesidethetoolbarname
disappears.NowturnontheStandardtoolbar.Runthemousepointeroverit,pausingovereachbuttonlongenoughtoreadtheexplanatoryboxthat
appears.DothesamenowfortheMousetoolbar.AddandcheckouttheProjecttoolbar.LikewisetheUtilitytoolbar.Finally,maketheStatusBar
appearatthebottomofthewindow.(Partofthetricktooperatingcomplexsoftwareisreadingandunderstandingvariousmessagesthatitprovides
thatis,keepingupwiththestatusoftheprogram.Anotherpartisknowingthemajorcapabilitiesillustratedherebyvariousbuttonsonthetoolbars.)
ThecompletedwindowwilllooklikeFigure210inthelasttopic.
{_}UnderOptions,instructthesoftwarenottosavethewindowlayoutwhentheprogramisexited.
{__}FromtheFilemenu,clickon"Open."Awindowentitled"Open"willappear.(Toachievethesameeffect,youcouldalsohaveclickedonthelittle
yellowfilefoldericonattheleftofthestandardtoolbar.)
{__}Fillintheblanksinthewindowsothatthedirectoryis__:\GPS2GIS\HAWAII5andthefileis"Volcano.ssf."(Thefollowingstepcontains
detailedinstructions.)
{_}Navigatetothecorrectfile:
(1)clickonthelittledownarrowinthe"Lookin:"boxand,fromthedropdownlistwithamouseclick,pickthechoicethatsayssomethinglike"My
Computer"or"ThisComputer."(Usethesliderbarorarrowsattherightofthewindowtoseeallthechoicesifnecessary.)
(2)withinthelargewhiteareaofthe"Open"windowselecttheiconassociatedwiththediskdrive"__:"withasinglemouseclick(itwillbecome
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highlighted)andtapthe"Enter"key(ordoubleclickontheicon,whichcomestothesamething)
(3)pounce6on"Gps2gis"fromthelistthatappears(youmayhavetousethesliderbarattherighttogettoit)alternativelyusethedownanduparrow
keystomovethehighlight)
(4)pounceon"Hawaii"(ifyoupounceonthewrongitemyoucanbacktrackbyclickingthefilefolderwiththe"uparrow"nexttothe"Lookin:"box)
GPStrackaroundKilaueaCalderavolcano.
Figure32.GPStrackaroundKilaueaCalderavolcano.
(5)the"FilesofType"boxshouldsay"Datafiles(ssf,cor,phs,imp)."(Ifitdoesnt,selectthisoptionfromthedropdownlist.)
(6)under"FileName:"select(withasingleclick)"Volcano.ssf"butdontopenthefileyet.Note,fromtheinformationatthebottomofthe"Open"
window,thatthedatacollectionstarttimewasapproximately2:50P.M.,localtime,on15February1994.Thefileismadeupof110pointsand
occupies12.9kilobytes(KB)ofstorage.(Ifitdoesntsaythis,youdidsomethingwrongabove.Forexample,ifyoupickedtheincorrecttimezone,the
dateand/ortimemightshowupincorrectly.)Nowclickthe"Details"button(itstothefarrightofthe"Lookin:"box)toseeinformationaboutthisand
theotherfilesinthisdirectory.Youcanseefilename,size,type,datethefilewaslastmodified,andattributeseitherbymovingthehorizontalslider
barorresizingthecolumnwidthsbydraggingtheirseparatorbars.
{__}Click"Open."
{__}Displaythemapbyclicking"Map"inthe"View"menu.ItmaylooksomethinglikeFigure32.Oritmaynot.Oritmaybethatnothingappears
inthewindowatall.Nomatter!Youhavealotofcontrolovertheappearanceofthemap,asyouwillseeinthenextfewsteps.
{_}Fromchoicesthatshowupunder"View,"select"Layers"then"Features."Thewindowthatshowsup(FeatureLayers)containsalistoffeaturetype
names.
Thedatayouareworkingwithconsistsofsimplepositiondata(fixesconsistingofalatitude,alongitude,analtitude).InPathfinderOfficesuchraw
dataarecalled"NotInFeature"data.(Positionsmayalsobecollectedinsuchawayastobeassociatedwithparticularfeatures,suchasroadsortypes
ofvegetation,andthesefeaturesmayhavenamesIlldiscussthecollectionofsuch"featureattributedata"laterindetail.)
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Figure33.Definingfeaturetypesymbology.
{_}Tochangethewayrawpositiondataappearonthescreenmap,singleclickon"NotInFeature"soitishighlighted.Aboxnexttothenameshows
thesymbologywithwhichdataaredisplayed.Acheckmark,toggledwithamouseclickintheboxinthe"Show"column,determineswhetherthelayer
willbevisibleornot.Makecertainthat"NotInFeature"hasacheckmarkbesideit.Thedatayouareworkingwithconsistsofindividualpointsthatare
notpartofanyotherfeaturehencethe"NotInFeature"designation.(Makesurethe"View"optioninthiswindowissetto"Asabove.")
{_}Inthissamewindow,press"LineStyle."A"NotInFeature"windowappears.Hereyoucanselectasymbolcolor,alinethickness,andwhetheror
notyouwantadjacentdatapointsconnectedwithlinesegments.Pickamediumlineofredcolorwiththedatapointsnotjoined.(PleaseseeFigure3
3.)Okayyourchoice.
{_}Verifythatyourchoicesof"LineStyle"madeittothe
"FeaturesLayers"window.ClickOKthere.NowthemapshouldlooklikeFigure32(exceptforthecolor).(Dont"Maximize"thiswindowifyou
dothemapscaleanddistanceinformationbaratthetopofthewindowwilldisappear!)
ExploretheMap
{_}Whatmapscaleappearsonthemap?_.
Amapscalecanthereforebeconsideredasinglenumber,namelyafractionitisusuallymuchlessthanone(1.000)itsformis1dividedbyx,where
"x"isusuallyanumbermuchlargerthanone.Amapscaleisaratio:thedistanceonagivenmaptotheequivalentdistanceontheearthssurfaceeach
numberexpressedinthesameunits.Ifthenumber"x"isone(1.0000)themapissaidtohavefullscale.Otherwaysofputtingitwouldbethatthemap
scaleis1.0/1.0,or1:1,or1to1allofwhichimplyfullscale.Farmerswouldobjectifyoubeganunrollingsuchmaps.Asthescalegetssmaller
(nearerzero)lessdetailisdisplayedandmorerealestateisshownonagivensizepage.Manypeopleincorrectlyreversethemeaningoflargeandsmall
scaletheylookatthedenominatorofthefraction,ratherthanthefractionitself.A1:250scalemapisalargerscalemapthana1:500scalemap.One
dividedby250is0.004oneover500is0.002.Thenumber0.004islargerthanthenumber0.002.Rememberitthisway:Largerscalemapshavea
largerdegreeofdetail.
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{__}Doesthenumberofkilometersindicatedatthetopofthemaprefertothedistancefromonesideofthetracktotheother,ortothewidthofthe
window?_(Hint:resizetheeastwestdimensionofthewindow.)
{_}Experimentwithdifferenttypesof"Distance"unitsfromthe"Units"window,createdbyselectingfrom"Options~Units."Notethechangeinthe
valueoftheeastwestdimensionofthewindow(showninthemapborderatthetop)reflectingthatdifferentunitshavebeenspecified.Tryinches.7
Finishupbyselecting"Meters"asthedistanceunitsforthedatasetdisplay.
{__}Sinceyouhaveresizedthewindow,youmaywanttheimagetofillit.SelectView~Zoom~Extentsandnotetheresults.Nowresizethewindow
againsothatpartofthefigureiscutoff.Thistimefindthemagnifyingglassiconwiththeequalsign(=)initpressit.Againyougeta"Zoomto
Extents."8
{__}Inthe"Units"window,setthe"Area"tobe"Hectares."(Ahectareis1/100ofasquarekilometer.Ahectarecontainsthesameareaasasquarethat
is100metersonasidebutofcourseitmighthaveanyshapethereareabouttwoandahalfacresinonehectare.)Setthe"NorthReference"tobe
"Magnetic"(AutomaticDeclination),soPathfinderOfficewillautomaticallycalculatethedeclination(i.e.,thedifferenceindegreesbetweentruenorth
andmagneticnorth).9
Themapwillshowfeaturesorientedtowardtruenorthregardlessofwhether"True"or"Magnetic"Northisselected.HoweverwhentheMeasure
capabilityofPathfinderOfficeisused,thedirectionofmeasuringlineswillbeshowninTrueorMagneticdegrees,dependingonwhichisselected.
{_}Under"Options~StyleofDisplay"choosethe"Lat/Long
Format"DD*MMSS.ss"whichwillcausethesoftwaretodisplaylatitudeandlongitudecoordinatesintheformofdegreesfollowedbyminutes,
followedbysecondsincludingdecimalfractionsofseconds.10TheotherformsofdisplayareDD*MM.mmmandDD.ddd.Couldyouexpress
493030.66"(fortyninedegrees,thirtyminutes,andthirtypointsixsixseconds)intheseothertwoforms?
Thereare60minutesinadegreethereare60secondsinaminute.
{_}Nowunder"Options~StyleofDisplay"changethe"Lat/Long
Format"toDD*MM.mmm.Pushthe"Select"button(itsiconisanarrow,pointingaboutnorthnorthwest).Movethepointeraroundthemapand
observethechangeinthe"minutes"valueshownontheStatusbar.Recallthataminuteoflatitudeisabout1845meters.Ingeneral,theStatusbarwill
displaythecoordinatesofthemappositionindicatedbythepointer.
{__}Changethestyleofdisplayto"DD.ddd."
{_}Determinesomedatapointcoordinates:Slidethepointerdownoverthemap.Notethestatusbar(atthebottomofthescreen):thenumberstheretell
thelatitudeandlongitudeoftheendofthepointerindecimaldegrees.Positionthepointernearthecenterofthe"oval"madebytheGPStrack.Write
downalatitudeandlongitude:__________.IfyouclicknearapointontheGPStrack,an"X"willappear,jumpingtothenearestdatafix.Trythis.If
youmovethepointeroffthemapwindowthestatusbarwilltellyouthecoordinatesysteminuse.Trythis.
AnumberofInternetsitesallowyoutodisplaymapsatvariousscales.Atthetimeofthiswriting(andbearinmindthatworldwidewebsitesare
constantlyinflux)therearesitesthatallowyoutoputinlatitudelongitudecoordinatesandobtainamapofthesurroundingterritory.Somesuchsites
arewww.mapquest.com,www.esri.com,www.mapblast.com,andwww.mapsonus.com.
{_}IfyouhaveaccesstotheInternet,minimizePathfinder
Officeandgotoasitesuchaswww.mapquest.comandfindwhereyoucangetamapbasedonitslatitudeandlongitude.Typeinthelatitudeand
longitudevaluesyouwrotedownabove(rememberingthatwestlongitudesarenegativenumbers).Ifthemapservingpeoplehavedonetheirjob
correctlyyoushouldseeamapoftheroadaroundthevolcano.Thecentrallocationindicatedonthemapshouldbeapproximatelythelocationyou
indicatedonthePathfinderOfficeportrayaloftheGPStrack.NotethesimilaritywiththeGPStrack.
{_}BackinPathfinderOfficewiththeMapwindowactive,usingthemouse,runthepointeralongtheiconsonthemousebar.Usuallyanexplanatory
boxappearsifyoupausebrieflyoveranicon.Findtheonethatallowsyoutomeasuredistancesonthemap.(Itlookslikearuleryoucanalsofindits
equivalent"Measure"inthe"Data"menu.)
{_}Measuresomedistances:Click"Measure."Ifyounowclickanylocationonthemapnearaverticaledgeandthendragthecursoraround,youcan
seethattheStatusBardisplaysthedistanceanddirectionofthelineintheunitsyouhavesetforthedisplay.Measurementtakesplacetothelittle"+"
signcursor.Swingthemeasuringlinearoundsothatitisvertical,towardthenorth.Notethatmagneticnorthisabout10totheeastoftruenorth.That
is,togodirectlynorthyouwouldhavetofollowacompasscourseof350.
{_}Ifyounowclicktheleftmousebuttonagainyouwillanchorthemovingendofthelineandwillseeadisplayofthelengthanddirectionoftheline.
Youcancontinuethemeasuringprocess,althoughyounolongergetimmediatedisplaysofthevalues.Eachtimeyouclickthemousebuttonyouget
anotheranchorandindicationofthetotaldistancemeasuredfromthefirstanchortothelast.Thedirectionofthelastlineanchoredisshownas
"Bearing."Youalsogetareadingfor"Area."
Undertherightconditions,ifanimaginarylineweredrawnfromthelastanchortothefirstanchor(thestartingpoint),thesequenceoflinesmight
defineapolygontheareaindicatedistheareaofthatpolygon.Ifthepolygonisnotproperlydefined(thatis,ifanyoftheselines[includingthe
imaginarylastline]crossesanyother),thentheareanumberdisplayedismeaningless.)
{_}Toendthemeasuringprocess,andstartanothersetofmeasurements,makeafinalanchorwithadoubleclick.
{__}Measurethedistancefromtheleftmostsideofthemapwindowtotherightmost.Itshouldagreeapproximatelywiththelegendatthetopofthe
map.Measuresomeotherdistances.WhatisthedistancebetweenthetwopointsfurthestapartontheGPStrack?
{__}ChangetheDistanceunitstoMilesandtheAreaunitstoSquareMiles.ChangetheNotInFeaturetypesothattheGPSpointsarejoined.(Use
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View~Layer~Feature.)MeasureandrecordheretheapproximatelengthoftheoverallGPStrack.
Whatistheareaofthevolcanoinsidethetrack?_.UnderOptions~UnitschooseTrueNorth.Switchmeasuringoff,byclickingtheSelecticonnextto
the"Measure"tool.
ExaminePropertiesofGPSFixes
{__}Determinethelocation,timeofacquisition,andotherpropertiesofaparticularpoint:Choose"PositionProperties"eitherfromthe"Tool"icons
(itsa"+"signwitha"?"mark)orfromthe"Data"menu.A"PositionProperties"windowwillappear.ResizethemapwindowandmovethePosition
Propertieswindowsothattheydonotoverlap.(Youmayhaveto"ZoomtoExtents"soyoucanseetheentireGPStrack.)
{__}Selectapositionanywhereonthemap(butofftheGPStrack),clickingwiththeleftmousebutton.NotetheresultsinthePositionProperties
window.NowselectapositionontheGPStrackwiththemouse.NotethatthePositionPropertieswindowgivesmoreinformation:Youshouldsee
latitude,longitude,metersabovemeansealevel,thedateandtimethepointwastaken(inlocaltime,tothenearestonethousandthofasecond),the
positionsequencenumber,andthe"status"(whetheritisa2Dor3Dpointandwhetherthefixhasbeen"corrected").(Inanyoftheworkinthistopic,
ifyouseea2Dpoint,itgenerallymeansanerrorhasbeenmadeincollectingthedata.)
{__}BychoosingtheDOPstabinthePositionPropertieswindowyoucanseethePRNnumbersofthesatellitesthatwereusedtodeterminethe
position.IfthereceiverhadbeensettorecordDOPsatthetimethereadingwastaken,thosevalueswouldappearaswell.
{__}ThebuttonsatthetopofthePositionPropertieswindow("First,""<<,"andsoon)willallowyoutolookatthefirstpoint(First),thenextpoint
(">",not">>"),thelastpoint(Last),andsoon.Usethesetoolstomovethepointselection(alittle"x")alongthepathoftheGPStrack.Inwhich
directionwastheroadtraversed?Clockwise().Counterclockwise().
{__}Aboutwhattimedidthetripbegin?________________Whatarethecoordinates?____________Recordthesameinformationfortheendofthe
trip.
{__}Approximatingfromthedistancemeasurementsyoutookfromthedisplay,estimatetheaveragespeed,inkilometersperhour,ofthecarthatwas
carryingtheantenna.
LookingatMoreDetail
{_}FromData~PositionProperties,selectthelocationofthebeginningpointofthetrip(useFirst).ClosethePositionPropertieswindow.
{_}Usethe"ZoomIn"tool(amagnifyingglasswitha"+"onit)topointtotheapproximateareaofthebeginningofthetripandpresstheleftmouse
button.Theareaidentifiedwillmovetothecenterofthescreenandthedistancebetweenthepointswillbemagnified.Noticethatthescaleandthe
distanceacrossthewindowchange.Thedistanceacrossthewindowishalvedthescaleisdoubled.Zoominagain.Again.
{__}Noticealsothatthetrackbecomesmorejaggedasyouzoomin.Youcantellthatitconsistsofaseriesofpointsconnectedbystraightline
segments.Usethemeasuretooltogetanideaofthesizeofthese"jags."Whiletheroadmighthavefollowedthisjaggedcourse(itdidntIwasthere)
itseemsmorelikelythatthedeviationsareduetoerrorinsuccessivereadings.
{__}Nowdemagnifytheareausingthe"ZoomOut"tool(selectitfromthe"View"menu).Whichiconisequivalenttothismenuchoice?___________
YoucanZoomOutbysimplyclickingintheMapwindow.Zoomoutagain.Again.
{_}Fromthe"View"menu,choose"Zoom~Extents"toreturntotheoriginalGPStrackdisplay.
{__}Repeattheabove"zooming"steps,butinsteadofsimplyclickingapoint,dragaboxaroundtheareaofinterest.Whenzoomingin,mapfeatures
insidetheboxyoudragareenlargedtofitintothemapwindow.Whenzoomingout,theboxyoudragsuggeststheboxthatyouwanttheentire
currentlyvisibleportionofthemaptofitinto.Thesmalleryoumakethisbox,thegreaterthedegreeof"zoomingout."Themapfeaturesshownbefore
thezoomoutwillfillthisboxthosefeatureswillbecenteredatthecenterofthebox.FinishthisstepbyZoomingtoExtents.
ThefileB021602Crepresentsthefirstpartofthedrivebackfromthevolcano.ThetripbackalsoincludesthefilesB021603AandB021604A.
{_}FromthesamewindowfromwhichyouopenedVOLCANO.SSF,openB021602C.SSFwhilealsoretainingtheexisting(VOLCANO)file:Thereis
atrickhere.Youmayopenseveralfilesatthesametimebyselectingthefirstonewithasimpleleftmouseclickontheicon.Addsuccessivefilesby
holdingdownthe"Ctrl"keyandclickingonthefilenameiconsthatyouwanttoadd.(Youcanalso"deselect"filenamesbyholdingdownthecontrol
keyandclickingonafilenameicon.)Onceyouhavethesetoffilesyouwantopened(twofiles,inthiscase)pressOpenandthewindowwilldisappear,
leavingyouwitharecomputedmap.
{_}Getthe"Open"windowagainbyclickingonanicon.NowaddfilesB021603A.SSFandB021604A.SSF.Anothertrick:ifyouholddowntheCtrl
keybeforeyoubeginselectingfiles,thosefilescurrentlyopen,indicatedbyshading,willalsobeselectedasyouselectnewfiles.
{__}NowopenjusttheVOLCANO.SSFfilebyitselfanddisplayit.
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