Navigation Mapping Exercise

Introduction and Methods
While less of a formal exercise, this activity served to introduce students to the concept of navigating via map and GPS. Utilizing a navigation map previously created in the Development of a Field Navigation Map exercise )Figure 1) groups of students were tasked with marking five trees along a predetermined course of GPS coordinates. The personally assigned group and course number was 4, and the course was based off of this list of GPS coordinates:

Course 1
1 617713, 4958075
2 617767, 4958224
3 617640, 4958159
4 617553, 4958074
5 617579, 4957938

Course 2
1 618127, 4958040
2 618325, 4958110
3 618169, 4958200
4 617978, 4958196
5 617877, 4958151

Course 3
1 617708, 4958257
2 617930, 4957946
3 617619, 4958049
4 617852, 4958136
5 617695, 4958123

Course 4
1 617591, 4958171
2 617627, 4958343
3 617640, 4958444
4 617520, 4958456
5 617537, 4958263

Course 5
1 618011, 4957883
2 618093, 4957823
3 618107, 4957942
4 618195, 4957878
5 618220, 4957840

Figure 1: A navigation map utilized be groups when moving through their assigned courses.

At each GPS coordinate on Route 4, a tree was marked with both the route number and which point it was on the route. Utilizing the GPS which was synced to report back data as groups moved, a map was generated to display how each group moved on their target route (Figure 2).

As can be seen by the course data, each group did not move in a direct line between points. This is in part due to the sometimes rapid elevation shifts in the area, where the elevation may drop or rise 15 meters. These rapid changes in elevation can be seen by observing the contour lines on the navigation map. To more easily navigate these areas, groups appeared to follow the ridges as they wound around rather than attempt to scale them, in most cases. Unfortunately, there were some errors in the data collection during the navigation exercise. Groups 1 and 5 failed to have their GPS units properly turned on and synced. Thus, the exact path each of these groups took through their routes was not recorded. If this exercise were to be repeated, ensuring these devices were properly active would be of utmost priority. In addition, this route data could be spatially analysed for the total distance each group traveled and compared to the minimum possible distance on each group route.