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News |
Michael D. Chason |
IMMEDIATE SEPTEMBER 15, 2005
BROWN INCORPORATES GPS
INTO ABAC CLASSES
TIFTON—Dr. Rod Brown, Associate Professor of Forestry at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), has been working with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the academic arena for quite a while.
“When forestry employers started using these technologies, we followed suit,” Brown said. “Our students need to be equipped with this training in order to work in today’s world.”
GPS receivers determine positions on Earth by means of radio signals continuously beamed from special satellites. Brown has implemented the use of GPS technology in several of his classes at ABAC.
“In the surveying class, students learn basic concepts of the system, how to collect field data with GPS receivers and produce simple maps, and how to find designated locations with the receivers. In the forest measurements class, GPS receivers are used to map out property lines, timber stand boundaries, woods roads, and streams,” Brown said.
“This technology is a great improvement over traditional methods of boundary location and mapping which employ the use of a magnetic compass. With GPS receivers we can map land features more accurately and more efficiently,” said Brown.
Students in the Introduction to GIS course use field information collected with GPS receivers to assist in the production of digital maps of forest lands. GIS software allows map information to be maintained in separate layers which can be displayed and manipulated as needed. To facilitate land management, timber stand databases are linked to map location.
Brown has also assisted Associate Professor of Wildlife and Forestry, Dr. Doug Waid, and the students in his fisheries course with development of a bathymetric map of a local lake using GPS/GIS technologies.
Over the past few years, Brown has researched the accuracy of positional data collected by his students using relatively inexpensive consumer-grade GPS receivers, as well as some newer models that achieve additional accuracy by receiving correction signals from a special geostationary satellite. He has also developed some techniques that can be employed to reduce positional errors in field data.
“I am in agreement with a couple of articles which have appeared recently in forestry publications regarding the use of consumer-grade GPS receivers for mapping and acreage determination,” said Brown. “By selecting one of the better models and using it appropriately, one can achieve sufficient accuracy for most forest management and inventory tasks.”
“Cities and utilities use GPS to map their infrastructure. Farmers use it to map crop yields and guide fertilizer applications. Search and rescue teams use the technology to pinpoint the location of those in danger – like victims of recent Hurricane Katrina. This is a technology that everyone benefits from, even though it is often transparent to the consumer,” Brown said.
Brown has been a member of ABAC’s faculty since 1982.
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