Instructions for use of GPS for Tracking Aerial Overview Survey Flight Lines

Objective:
The Forest Practices Branch requires a record of flight activities to determine the level of coverage that
has been completed by the aerial overview survey. The simplest method to track these flights has been
determined to be through the track line recording function available on GPS units. These instructions
will guide you through the set up of the Garmin II plus GPS – most Garmin models are similar. Also
described are the download procedures and the data reporting method. Refer to the owner's manual for
set-up instructions if you are using a different make or model of GPS.

GPS Set-up:
1. Load fresh batteries - The GPS can run for up to 24 hours continuously on one set of fresh alkaline
batteries. To ensure that data is not lost, change batteries frequently, and carry spare batteries in the
plane. Battery loading instructions are described in the manual.

2. Acquiring Satellites: If this is the first time you have used the GPS, you will be required to initialize
it by entering the INIT METHOD menu. The GPS will prompt you to do this or you can open the
menu by pressing ENTER when you are in the ACQUIRING EPE screen.

Select SELECT COUNTRY FROM LIST and choose "CAN-B Columbia" and press ENTER. This
tells the GPS which satellites it should expect to "see" and will save it time in acquiring them.

3. Set-up Tracking Interval - The GPS will automatically begin "tracking" its position at a specified
interval once it has acquired sufficient satellites to fix its location. To set the track interval, press
PAGE until you reach the Map Screen. Press ENTER and arrow over to “OPT”, press Enter, then
select TRACK SETUP, scroll down to the METHOD, which will say either AUTO or TIME
INTERVAL. If it says AUTO, highlight the word, press ENTER and toggle up or down and it will
change to TIME INTERVAL. Press ENTER, and toggle down to the "00:00:30" values. Press
ENTER, the first number will be highlighted, and then toggle over to the number you want to
change. To change the value, simply toggle up or down and press ENTER. 30 seconds will record
for approximately 8 hrs. before the log is full. 20 seconds (approximately 6 hrs.) should be adequate
for most flights. Even 30 second intervals will produce a reasonable track line. If an exceptionally
long flight is planned, a laptop should be carried for downloading tracks during a fuel break.

If there are tracks already in the memory, these should be cleared by toggling down to CLEAR
LOG? A dialogue screen will appear to verify your choice to clear the track log. Select YES and
ENTER. Be sure to clear the log before every flight.

4. Set-up Tracking Mode - The GPS can track continuously up to 1024 track points. When it reaches
its limit it will either over-write the oldest data (Wrap mode) or stop recording points (Fill mode).
To change track recording mode, press PAGE until you reach the Map Screen. Press ENTER and
select TRACK SETUP, press ENTER, and use the toggle button to highlight the RECORD field
option. It should say "FILL", "WRAP" or "OFF" and the whole field should be highlighted. Press
ENTER and only the first letter will be highlighted. Press the UP or DOWN toggle and the option
will change. Once you get to ”FILL”, press ENTER.
Using the GPS in the aircraft:
1. The GPS needs to "see" the sky to acquire signals from the available satellites. Thus, the unit must
be positioned in the front window. The unit should be temporarily affixed on a strut or the
dashboard to prevent it being tossed about the cabin by turbulence. Ask the pilot for his permission
and advice on placement of the unit at the time of booking the aircraft, so necessary securing devices
can be obtained before the flight. Velcro works well. It is not vital for you to be able to monitor the
unit during the flight therefore it may be placed in a location that will not interfere with the pilot's
view.

2. To begin recording, simply turn the unit on (the button with the "light-bulb" icon), wait until the unit
has acquired the minimum number of satellites, clear the log, position the unit on the dash, and then
begin the flight. Turn the unit off upon landing, or when done surveying.

3. Upon completion of the flight, turn the GPS off by pressing the red "light bulb" button for a few
seconds until the unit finishes its shut down sequence.

4. Data should be downloaded as soon as possible to ensure that it is not lost or accidentally erased.
There are only limited track points available in the GPS's memory so it is essential that you do a
daily download or the GPS will either stop recording once the memory is full or over-write older
data, depending on the options selected (see point 4, in the GPS Set-up description above).

Downloading the tracking data to a PC:

2. Ozi Explorer/Garmin GPS configuration: For the GPS to download to the PC, Ozi Explorer must be
configured to recognize the brand of GPS being used. Several models and brands are supported.
Once Ozi Explorer is loaded, select FILE  CONFIGURATION  select the tab marked GPS 
select GPS MAKE  select GPS Model.
3. Load the digital map base from the Spectrum CD. This CD contains the entire provincial set of
1:250,000 UTM maps plus a 1:1,000,000 index map. The maps must be used to output the tracking
data in Ozi and they can also be used to print out tracks, waypoints and other customized maps.
Note that set-up for the maps on the Spectrum CD only copy a link to the maps, not the maps
themselves. Therefore, the Spectrum CD must be loaded to access the maps. The maps are read-
only files, and cannot be copied onto a computer. Once the disk is loaded, in Ozi Explorer click on
the “LOAD” button, followed by “LOAD MAP FILE” – look in the CD drive for the appropriate
map and choose “OPEN”. The Index Map is the easiest to use, unless you need more map detail.

4. Downloading data: Turn the GPS on, connect the cable to the port at the back of the GPS, and then
click on "GARMIN" on the top tool bar. Select GET TRACK FROM GPS and the software will
begin the download. You will be able to see the number of records transferred. Download after
every flight.

5. Displaying the Track: To view the track, select the SHOW button on the toolbar.

You can also "play back" the track if you turn on the Track Control tool bar. The tracks load into
OziExplorer as .plt files.
6. Exporting the track data to an ArcView Shapefile: Once the tracks have been loaded into
OziExplorer, the track data can be directly exported as an ESRI ArcShape file that may be readily
read by GIS and GIS viewers like Arc/Info, ArcView, ArcExplorer and GeoMedia. To begin the
export process, click on the Save button on the tool bar (not File  Save) and follow the figure
below until you get to "Tracks to Polylines".

The dialogue box below will show up and will ask you where to save the track shape file.

When you click on SAVE, the Shape File Import/Export Options box will appear. This is a very
important step as the specific projection settings must be as illustrated.
Toggle the Position Format from UTM to Albers and the following box will appear. Input the settings
exactly as illustrated in the figure below.

Press CLOSE and you will return to the previous box. Press OK and the file will be exported. Three
small files will be created with the extension .dbf, .shp and .shx. All three are required for display by a
GIS. A district outline shape file may be used for reference and can be obtained from the MOF external
ftp site at:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/ftp/hfp/external/!publish/aerial_overview/blank_bdys/shape/new_bdys/shape/n

Shape files, whether made in Ozi or another program, should be checked against the district outline
shape file to ensure they are projected correctly. If they don’t show, try “View” then “Full extent” in
ArcView as wrong projections often show up far north of BC as in the following example:
Transferring the Track Data Files to the Forest Practice Branch Aerial Overview Monitoring
Contractor

1. Daily downloaded track files should be saved using the convention: "Contract area, date, surveyor
initials ", for example “NIFRwest Jun10 JH_DW”. Save the files as both .plt and shape files. Once a
week's data is collected, sent to Joan Westfall (overview monitoring contractor) at
entopath@shaw.ca. Only send tracks you have not sent before.

2. If a track is inadvertently not recorded despite all precautions, the flight line as drawn on the sketch
map must be digitized and sent with the other track files the week of the flight.

3. The tracking data will be used to verify the mapping activities and invoice information by the
regional and/or provincial contract co-ordinator.