GIS Tool: Wayfinding with GPS

We talked in episode 2 about GPS units and their varying accuracies, and in episode 7 I talk about using GPS units to navigate back to the locations you GPS-ed.  

As you may know, navigating back to a specific site or point can be a critical part of the process in certain studies, like water quality monitoring.  If you’re able to get back to the general area that might work for some studies, but if you need to know which outfall pollution is coming from so you can trace it back to its source, getting back to the exact outfall is important.

Just as with collecting data, getting back to the same point also requires a higher degree of accuracy.

In almost all cases I can think of, you can use the same device or application you used to collect the data to get back to the feature.  You can also get points taken by someone else and load them into your GPS unit or into an application such as Collector for ArcGIS (making sure the accuracy of your device is appropriate for your needs and that the points were collected to the degree of accuracy you need also) and navigate back to the spot.

Mapping grade GPS units don’t typically navigate you using turn-by-turn directions (they aren’t Siri), but show you where you are in relation to the point you want to get to.  You can put other background information onto your GPS unit or into your mapping application to assist you in finding your point (such as aerial photography, roads, and water bodies), but you will need to use your own navigational skills to get there in most cases.

You’ll need to look up instructions for your specific device and/or application.  The function is typically called wayfinding or navigation or something similar. Here are a few links to get you started.

If you use a Trimble device with TerraSync, see Chapter 7 in their documentation.

Perhaps your device uses ArcPad - they have a help page for the navigation toolbar.

Garmin units also have the capability to add and navigate to waypoints, but each point must be added manually. I would also caution that Garmin units are meant for recreation, not mapping.

Do you use a different device or have a different workflow? Let us know in the comments!