[joytron]

So this might be a long shot, but figured some of you might have some experience with the ARC Gis program.

Do to scheduling conflict I was forced into taking Geological Information Sciences as an elective course. I have absolutely no need for it in my future, so I figured I would just try to make the class a little less miserable.

We are essentially spending the whole semester on one project and I am looking for ways to incorporate mountain biking GPS data into GIS. Since the class just started and I have very little knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of the program some starting points would be very helpful.


thank you

 

[evasive]

Start poking around a bit in the GPS/HRM forum. There are a few threads in there. You'd get a better respons in there, too.

Geological or Geographic?

I use GIS frequently in my day job, but even though I have ArcMap at home, I've never bothered pulling my biking/skiing GPS into it. Probably the best way to do it is with DNR Garmin.

 

[waterdude]

Ask around here: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/
I've gotten some really good custom maps from there, and they have info on how to do it yourself.

 

[Harold]

What exactly do you want to do?

The possibilities are darn near endless.

Building a map is only the beginning.

You can analyze the characteristics of the trails on a particular trail system (elevation change, slope, aspect, etc).

You can set up a trail counter and determine usage. Multiple counters and you can determine usage patterns over a series of trails.

You can look at climate or soil data and determine suitability of a site for trails.

You can compare trail locations & miles to all sorts of demographics.

 

[joytron]

Yeah that is what I am having trouble deciding. We have only really spent one day messing with the program but I want to start coming up with ideas as soon as possible. I was hoping to have elevation change as well as trail difficulty and maybe trail type. I feel really limited by my knowledge of the program. Thanks for the help guys! Will look into all your sites and hopefully get a better understanding what is feasible.

 

[Harold]

don't worry about the program. chances are, it will do what you ask as long as you have all the data you need.

So you know you want to use mountain bike trails - that's good. That gives us something to start with.

There are MASSIVE piles of free data available for all kinds of things. You could easily find soil data for your whole state. Elevation data is easy, too - and from it you can calculate things like slopes and stuff. With the elevation data, you can have Arc drape the trails over a 3d view of the terrain. Your school probably has a whole bunch of census data stored on its servers for students to work with. You could make use of it in one way or another, too. It may have other types of data you can't get for free online...for example, my school is a big forestry school, so we have lots of landcover data, and even LiDAR data showing forest structure and it's all pretty much available for students to use in class projects unless some professor is doing something in particular with it.

For my graduate level GIS course, students had to use ArcScene to create movies and 3d flyovers in Big Bend National Park. I downloaded trail data from the interwebs and had my movie follow a trail.

Being so early in the semester, don't worry TOO much right now about what to do with the trail data you find. Just get started assembling a map with the data in it. As you work with the program, you will inevitably stumble across new functions you can play with. Definitely look to see what extensions your school has installed, because that may or may not affect what things you can do.