Introduction
Technology
is not 100% reliable and will fail sometimes. Given that instance one would
have to come up with alternative means to forgo certain tasks that would be achieved
using GPS technology. This assignment allowed for the use of other instruments
in determining the location of an object. The goal was to take points and find the
standard distance and azimuth (degrees) of a point. These points were taken by
a surveyor using a tool called TruPulse Rangefinder.
Study Area
Wilson
Park in downtown Eau Claire was the area that was surveyed. Wilson Park is
situated in one city block that makes it possible to survey almost everything
around. Readings were taken from three corners of the block to get multiple
points. This park contained numerous points to be used in the survey. There
were trees, park benches, signs, picnic tables, and even garbage cans that could
be used.
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| Figure 1: The survey area of Wilson Park which is located in downtown Eau Claire and over 1 mile from UWEC campus. |
Methods
A
survey area was chosen and this area was Wilson Park in downtown Eau Claire,
Wisconsin. Three areas of the park were chosen to get as many points as
possible. To take points the TruPulse Rangefinder tool was used. There were two
methods that were needed to be able to map a point. Standard distance found how
far away an object was in meters using a laser. The next method was to find the
azimuth or degree at which the object was. The degree is at what point on earth
the object was. Degree measures are based off of the north direction. North is
set at 0 degrees and all measures are read in a full circle format. These
readings were then recorded to be used in Excel and ArcMap.
The
points were manually transferred into Excel from the note records. For each
point to work in ArcMap they had to be given a coordinate pair to work with. Initially,
when taken the surveyor point was labeled either A, B, or C. For Excel these A,
B, C points had to be given lat and long points. Using ArcMap Editor to place
points on a basemap of Wilson Park coordinates were found. A points were given
an X of 44.807475 and a Y of -91.494889, B points were 44.806898 and -91.494298,
C points were 44.806485 and -91.495175. After making the data Arc compatible it
was then transferred to an ArcMap document.
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| Figure 2: Table of points in X and Y decimal degree formatted for ArcMap |
The
ArcMap document had an aerial imagery Bing basemap with decimal degrees being
the reading. The table was opened in ArcMap and ready to run using the Bearing
Distance To Line tool. Since there were three tables each had to exported as a
single table. To do this the each X and Y coordinate group was selected separately
in the table and under the dropdown table options menu export was chosen. Now
that all three were separate a model was ran to create new features and view
the data.
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| Figure 3: A model used to run tools that yielded point results. This is the first model. All 3 run the same process but with different inputs. |
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| Figure 4: The collected points at Wilson Park. Numerous objects were chosen such as trees, picnic tables, benches, and garbage cans |
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| Figure 5: Standard Distance lines added to the points to view how far from the surveyor. |
Discussion
Due to
both human and technological errors there were some problems that arose. Because
of an object being too small a reading could have be
Conclusion
Exploring
these methods shows that there are numerous possibilities out there that can
help when problems arise. These instruments though not 100% accurate do help
with surveying. These methods are quick and easy and with limited human error
can help with problems. To make sure high accuracy results are yielded
surveying of the same points during different times would help.
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