The goal of the first part of the project was to assess the accuracy and usability of the one meter resolution USGS digital ortho photo files for resource management and appraisal applications on a county wide basis. Photo-id points were selected from the digital ortho photo files using a workstation running GRASS GIS software and a coordinate was determined from the database for each point. That exact location was then visited with GPS in the field and a GPS ground coordinate was determined for the same point. The two coordinates were then compared to determine the accuracy and consistency of the digital ortho photo files throughout the county.. The goal of the second part of the project was to ascertain the usability of the USGS PLSS database as a section line overlay for the one meter resolution digital ortho photo files. To accomplish the goal, coordinates were selected from the PLSS database for several section corners across the county that were known to have been recovered and easily accessible. Those section corners were then visited with GPS in the field and GPS ground coordinates were determined. The database coordinate and GPS coordinate were then compared to assess the accuracy and usability of the PLSS database. All GPS field work and data reduction was accomplished by Civil, Surveying, and GIS students and faculty of the Civil Engineering Technology section of KSU-Salina, College of Technology with assistance from the National Resource Conservation Service staff in Salina. The students gained valuable real world experience through their participation in this project. The quality of the digital ortho files and PLSS database proved to be adequate for the applications tested. GPS proved to be a fast reliable method of registering the digital ortho photo files and the PLSS database to the true ground locations.
Location: Osage County southwest of Topeka, Kansas, USA
Kansas State University-Salina, College of Technology, Salina, Kansas,USA
Kansas Department of Revenue, Property Valuation Division, Topeka, Kansas, USA
Natural Resources Conservation Service, state office, Salina, Kansas USA
U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California, USA