Abstract
GPS/GIS Mapping of Rain Forest in Costa Rica Track: Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Author(s): Ashok Wadwani The paper will cover the numerous challenges faced and how they were overcome while collecting GIS/GPS attribute data in the rain forest of Costa Rica. The project involved training about 25 educators from THE USA and other countries in GPS/GIS data collection techniques. The educators were trained on site on the latest GPS units, laser range finders, hand held PDAs, and software such as ArcView and were able to collect point, line, and polygon data in the tough rain forest environment. Once the field data was collected, the educators were taught to bring the feature/attribute files into ArcView and superimpose THEM on a background map and aerial imagery. Funding for the Costa Rica project was partially provided by GITA. The main theme will be to point out how we were able to finish the project even when the GPS signals were not readily available and map features were either not accessible or were not possible to access due to some type of danger. Ashok Wadwani Applied Field Data Systems Inc. Education Outreach 16300 Katy Freeway, ################250 Houston , TX 77094 US Phone: 281 579 0492 E-mail: afdsaw@aol.com |
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