Microclimate

Introduction

 This exercise was to collect the data for our previously created micro-climate geodatabase. To collect this data we used Trimble Juno GPS units. This data is for the domains that are in the geodatabase. The data features were temperature, wind direction and azimuth, wind speed, snow depth, relative humidity, and time. Some groups took notes. The class was separated into groups of two and were sent to separate areas of campus. My group, Lee and I, were sent to upper campus.

Study Area

Our study area was upper campus, mainly around the dorms closest to the campus hill. We began with some points behind the McPhee Strength and Performance Center, made our way down the sidewalk near Murray Hall, then crossed the street to Tower’s courtyard, to in front of Towers, to the flagpole in the middle of upper campus, the backyard of Horan, and then finished around Governors. The deepest snow depth was farthest from the sidewalks and mostly in the backyards of the dorms.

Figure 1: This shows our study area of upper campus at UW-Eau Claire

Methods

Before using the GPS unit to go out and collect data we had to set up our project in ArcGIS. There were a few steps that had to be taken to make sure that our data would be exported properly into Arc. The first two steps were pretty basic and were to edit symbology and add a raster image the GIS.

Next is to add the ArcPad Data Manager Toolbar. This toolbar is used so that we could get data from ArcPad which is a program on the GPS. For this toolbar to work the ArcPad Data Manager extension had to be turned on. To do this go to Customize > Extensions and check the box “ArcPad Data Manager”. Once this is done we move onto the next step.

Figure 2: This shows our ArcPad toolbar and extension on how to get it to work. The #1 is the toolbar and #2 is the extension

On the ArcPad Data Manager Toolbar click the first icon, Get Data for ArcPad. This opens up a wizard which will begin the process for our data collection. At the first screen click Next. The next screen is the Select Data screen. Here click Action and choose Checkout all Geodatabase layers only. This will select all of our domains for data collection. Click Next. The next screen is Select Output Options. For this we wanted to store the output options in our Microclimate folder > Checkinout_username (for me it was fabianev) > micro_fabianev. After this the next screen was Select Deployment Options and there the “Create the ArcPad data on this computer now” was selected. Finish. The deployment was then successful.

Connect the GPS to the computer. The information is transferred to the GPS. To do this the checkinout folder was pasted in the SD card of the GPS

Figure 3: This shows the second window. Here is where we selected "Action"

Figure 4: The process on where the ArcPad data was saved.

After all this technical work we went outside. As stated earlier our study area was upper campus. To collect our points we opened ArcPad on the GPS and navigated to our document that was just created. The map popped up and from there points were collected. The points that were collected were our domain types that were created earlier and also mentioned earlier. We walked around upper campus collecting points from various locations; near McPhee and around the dorms. One has to enter all the information manually into ArcPad. To collect our data we used a special tool which found, temperature, dew point, relative humidity, and wind speed.

After all these points were collected we went back to the lab. To get our data from the GPS to the GIS we copied and pasted the folder from the SD card. Now, we go back to the ArcPad Data Manager Toolbar and select ‘Get Data From ArcPad”. Here the green plus symbol was selected and our data was added. Click check in and all the data will be added to ArcMap.

Results

The whole class’ data was stored into a geodatabase called “classmicro” A classmate merged all the shapefiles together to combine all the data. A series of maps were made to show what information is out there.

Figure 5: Snow depth in centimeters around campus

Figure 6: Wind speed in mph around campus

Discussion

For some reason some of the points ended up outside of campus and very far away at the equator. I attribute this to a GPS error as it was acting up and not cooperating. From what I understand there were others that were having issues. But, to overcome these technical issues is very important.

Conclusion

This exercise was useful and showed that even within a small area there are many changes and climates. It was very useful to learn how to use ArcPad and is something that will come in very handy in the future.