Abstract
Virtual Expeditions with GPS and ArcGIS Online
Track: Teaching with GIS Across the Curriculum
Authors: Trudy Dunham, Stephen Brown, Esther Worker
In December of 2011, citizen adventurers and arm chair travelers from around the globe got to participate in a 16-day virtual mountaineering expedition up the 22,820 foot tall Cerro Aconcagua in the Argentine Andes. The expedition was carrying a GPS beacon that transmitted the group's coordinates to the Internet every 10 minutes while climbing. Utilizing the new ArcGIS Online website, participants could insert the coordinates into an online GIS and, through a variety of online maps or locally obtained data, explore the same environment as the expedition. Participants could see the same terrain as the expedition through aerial photography and understand route decisions using topographical data. This presentation will explain how to easily and inexpensively create similar virtual expeditions utilizing a GPS beacon in combination with ArcGIS Online, and the role of virtual expeditions in informal learning and travelogues for youth and adults.
Paper