GPS units are often used to gather data for export to, and use in, GIS. But there may be times when you might want to do the opposite – take GIS data and export it to a GPS. For example, you might have an area shapefile demarcating survey areas, and it could be helpful to import the boundaries of that area into your GPS unit, so that you’ll know when you’re inside (or outside) the survey area. Or you might have a point shapefile with the positions of sampling spots; it would be convenient to be able to import those sampling spot positions into a GPS as waypoints, and then use the waypoint positions to navigate to them. Two of the programs I’ve posted about earlier have the capability to import GIS data in shapefile format into a GPS unit.
Archive for January, 2007 Page 2 of 3
If you have a Google Analytics account tracking your website, here’s a fun little tool I just stumbled across. Analytics2KML will take geographic data generated in Google Analytics for your last 500 visitors, and convert it into a KML file for display in Google Earth. Just follow the simple directions on the website. Here’s shot of my recent European visitors:
7/20/08: The raw data export function in Google Analytics no longer exists, so until it’s restored, this is the next best option.
In a previous post, I covered DNRGarmin, the best solution out there for downloading data from Garmin GPS units and converting it to the GIS-friendly shapefile format. But what you do you do if you don’t have a Garmin, or you have a mix of Garmin and other brands and want to stick to a single process flow? It can be done, but it takes a bit more work than with DNRGarmin.
Continue reading ‘Exporting GPS Data To GIS II – Generic Solutions’
Geodetic-quality GPS units are usually able to output data directly into a GIS-friendly format like shapefiles, either with built-in software or with add-on packages like Trimble’s Terrasync or ESRI’s ArcPad. But what if you have a consumer-grade GPS unit without the ability to run this software (or you don’t feel like coughing up hundreds of dollars to buy a copy)? This post and the next one will cover some options for downloading data directly from a GPS and converting it to the GIS-friendly shapefile format. First up – an easy solution for Garmin GPS owners.
Continue reading ‘Exporting GPS Data To GIS I – Garmin GPS Units’
Now that I’ve written a whole slew of posts about how to download and upload data to and from Google Earth with a GPS, using several pieces of software and multiple steps, I’ve just found one piece of freeware that simplifies the process tremendously. *sigh*
Continue reading ‘GPS TrackMaker: A Better Solution For GPS Export/Import With Google Earth’
Dirk from Mountain Bike Guru wrote to say that his website (free registration required) also features a free GPX to KML converter. Right now, it only works with tracks, not waypoints, but the uploaded GPX file is saved in its original format; once they get waypoint conversion working, you’ll be able to pull up old files and convert them completely to KML. His blog also has some good GPS-related tips as well.
Geocoding is the process of assigning geographic coordinates to locations designated by some other parameter, like name or address. Google Earth Plus lets you geocode up to 100 US addresses in spreadsheet form, assigning them a location. But there are a number of tools that can do this for free, and in some cases allows you to process more than 100 addresses at a time.
One of the features offered by Google Earth Plus is the ability to import data in spreadsheet format, specifically the CSV format: Comma-Separated Values a simple text format where data values are separated by commas, and each set of data is in a different line. But Google Earth Plus has a limit of 100 points for data import. When you consider that there are free options that will convert spreadsheet data into Google Earth’s KML format without this size limitation, then it’s not all that much of a “Plus”.
Continue reading ‘Importing Spreadsheet Data Into Google Earth’
