GIS/Mapping Apps

Post by **Scooter** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 4:44 pm

I've been using an app for iPad lately called GPS Kit HD. I'd like to have something similar to that which works on Android, essentially so I can go out and walk around my woodlots with cached offline tiles and see my position via the built-in GPS, so I know exactly where I am on the property. Any suggestions?

Actually, this might be a good thread to talk about all sorts of apps that can be useful for silviculture work and related fields. Here are some of the ones that I use:
- Avenza PDF Maps, for reading geo-referenced PDF's (iOS/Android)
- PDF Expert, for annotating maps and text PDF documents (iOS/Android)
- Google Earth (iOS/Android)
- Theodolite (iOS) and GeoCam Free (Android)
- GPS Kit HD (iOS only)
- Pocketearth (iOS only)

What are some other apps that people find useful?

newforest · Post by **newforest** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:17 pm

I am interested to put to use more Apps on my phone. I have toyed with an iOS one called iGIS. I was pretty quickly able to import an ESRI shapefile I developed in ArcPad into it and then navigate around a 3200 acre property with it, showing all the roads I had previously mapped for the hunt club that owned it as well as public data such a hydrographic layer (the streams), despite a complete lack of cell service in the area. I was hoping they would be interested in paying out a little to help their members or their kids get their mapping data into apps, but most members are only ever on the property for 3 days in the late fall anyway, and they all generally refuse to listen to much from any of the land/wildlife management professions. (i.e. they think only poor people need to cut timber).

I see a dichotomy amongst the foresters I work with. The older ones who know the woods the best and are more than happy to tromp around in them, don't need GIS and aren't that interested in putting it to use. The newly minted foresters from University love GIS and know it inside out. But they are not interested in tromping around in the woods, they would rather "manage" the forest from behind the GIS screen. But then we work with smaller blocks of land and GIS is a bit less useful on such land. I used to hope to pick up work collecting GPS data, but the older foresters and land owners won't hire it out much and the younger foresters will just import it from aerial data. It's also not easy to get GIS editing work without a college degree to "prove" you can do such things, and identify stands and species, etc.

Anyway my limited experience with the iGIS app has been positive so far. I just can't generate any work (i.e. paying) reason to put it to much use.

I need to work on the skills required to put shapefiles to use (conversion) with the various Google Earth apps. But I am out in the woods too much to ever accomplish that. Google Earth uses a different data format, .kml files, I believe. Skills with ESRI software are handy at times, but a bit of overkill for Forestry applications.

Post by **Scooter** » Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:02 pm

Hey, does anyone know an equivalent of GPS Kit that works on Android devices? I want to go out to my woodlot this weekend and I only have access to a Nexus 7 right now. It's the new one (cell enabled) so it has a GPS, but I want some sort of mapping app that always let me see my current location without actually having a SIM card in it. I guess I can get the same thing accomplished by using my Android cell with Google Maps, but it would be nice to find something that allows for doing the same thing on the larger screen. I'm aware that I can download offline maps in Google Maps and do it that way with the Nexus 7, but there's got to be something even better out there. Maybe?

kootenaywrx · Post by **kootenaywrx** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:31 am

I like avenza with a geo referenced map, from a block map to an overview.
It shows me where my location is, on that particular geo map.
This is great insurance on finding blocks, locating block boundries, measuring distances on pieces or estamate area ha.
Great tool, I think the new update lays tracks.

kootenaywrx · Post by **kootenaywrx** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:37 am

Scooter wrote:Hey, does anyone know an equivalent of GPS Kit that works on Android devices? I want to go out to my woodlot this weekend and I only have access to a Nexus 7 right now. It's the new one (cell enabled) so it has a GPS, but I want some sort of mapping app that always let me see my current location without actually having a SIM card in it. I guess I can get the same thing accomplished by using my Android cell with Google Maps, but it would be nice to find something that allows for doing the same thing on the larger screen. I'm aware that I can download offline maps in Google Maps and do it that way with the Nexus 7, but there's got to be something even better out there. Maybe?

The samsung tablet I use works great, have only used it with avenza.

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:43 am

Yeah, it's my own woodlot so I don't have a geo-referenced map, but with a bit of work I could create one in ArcMap. Maybe my easiest solution will be to just take my SIM out of my phone temporarily and put it in my tablet and use Google Maps & satellite view without having to download offline tiles.

Victor One · Post by **Victor One** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:04 pm

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... s.mytracks

Saves your tracks as a KML and shows you where you are at any given time. Works best with your phone - P.I.T.A to carry the tablet around all day.

Post by **Scooter** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:15 pm

There's a week-long GIS course coming up in PG:

http://www.bookking.ca/bkunbccontinuing ... 23&crs=346

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 2:59 pm

ESRI offers a lot of (free) online seminars which give you the same info if you're able to learn well yourself:

http://training.esri.com/gateway/index. ... seTypeID=4

That course you posted Scooter looks interesting mind you because it's geared to specific field applications, but 5 days of time and $1,250 is a bit of a commitment if you're paying for it yourself. If you can find someone to pay for it and your time though you're freerolling.

newb · Post by **newb** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:47 pm

ESRI products are great. You can get a six month free trial (ArcGIS for desktop) with any esri book. I am doing exactly that with a copy of Python Scripting for ArcGIS (Preparing and considering the Centre of Geographic Science GIS Program). You can get a two month free trial with no purchase. With that you can follow the free courses that Nate mentioned.

A good open source cross platform that is gaining a lot of popularity is QGIS. It is free and you can do most of what ArcGIS does.
http://www.qgis.org/en/site/

CartoDB is user friendly and fun. Similar to ArcGIS Online, you can visualize and analyze data online. It is free.
http://cartodb.com/

Boundless have multiple products. Another good free option.
http://boundlessgeo.com/

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:35 am

Haven't heard of those, thanks for posting those links.

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:11 am

Awesome info, thanks.

newforest · Post by **newforest** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:55 pm

yes, thanks, I'll be looking into those. I've always thought the whole ARC suite of software is the gold standard of course … but for simple land mapping it is just simply too much. Too many features at far too high of a cost. I don't need to map every manhole cover in a city of 2 million people and interface that with the results of the latest Census survey. So I frequently print the results of doing some GPS work by printing a screen shot, as their entry level software doesn't include support for printing.

I have seen a recurring problem with the ubiquity of GIS in the 21st Century = Land Management being done on a computer screen, rather than via putting boots on the ground. This has a direct impact on planting projects in that I am regularly sent into completely hopeless projects (seedlings have zero chance of ever contributing to the management goals for the site), because the decisions were made looking at a computer screen, where land is just empty white space.

I really need to put in the time to find a simple app that will convert an ESRI shapefile into a Google Earth KML format….never enough 'hotel job' internet time to get to that one.

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:16 am

Brian try this for conversions: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/DNRGPS/DNRGPS.html

newforest · Post by **newforest** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:53 am

newb wrote:
A good open source cross platform that is gaining a lot of popularity is QGIS. It is free and you can do most of what ArcGIS does.
http://www.qgis.org/en/site/

thanks again for the link to this one. I just got it running on a Mac. It took the addition of several frameworks & modules first but it's working now. Looks like it could be very useful to me and I'll probably donate to them in the long run. I knew I would never come up with $2K for ARC GIS.

I also found a Shapefile>KML program that I haven't tried yet. I have DNR Garmin but use it very rarely, I haven't kept it up-to-date. It can convert several gps file formats, or you can use it to edit the files and simply erase points with data problems, iirc.

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 1:55 am

I think ArcPad mobile only supports Windows Mobile devices with ARM based CPU's.

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Sep 01, 2015 9:45 pm

This isn't related to GIS/Mapping, but it's an app that might eventually be quite useful for silviculture. It's kind of like a Shazam/Soundhound for plants, although the database looks to be somewhat limited for North American plants at the moment. Also, from the comments, it looks like it's not available on all mobile OS's yet. Anyway, lots of potential here:

http://creapills.com/les-idees/1-plntne ... s-24042015

(I hope you can understand French)

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 12:15 am

Another solution for consumer handheld GPS's like the Garmin, Magellan, and Lowrance is ExpertGPS

http://www.expertgps.com

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:05 am

Using ExpertGPS I placed a track on Google Earth of some lines I ran in some thinning.

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 12:46 pm

Nice, thanks for sharing that.

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 3:04 pm

The new Garmins now are getting pretty full of features. The 680 has an 8 megapixel camera, the 650 a 5 mp. You can now put areal photos in them but you have to convert them with something like G-Raster.

http://freegeographytools.com/2009/g-ra ... -gps-units

I see Walmart Canada is selling the 650 for $399, Amazon and others sell them for $599 CDN

Post by **Scooter** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:37 am

I got some suggestions for a bunch of aviation-related apps last night, and some of them look like they might also be useful for forestry. I'm going to go through them and report back if there's any potential in any of them.

granola · Post by **granola** » Mon Feb 15, 2016 5:52 pm

I used Avenza (PDF Maps) extensively last season. Big fan. In particular I liked the spatial measurement tools available - being able to precisely measure distance in meters and area in hectares was priceless. Also useful was the "record GPS tracks" feature - with that enabled it would track my precise movements on the block, creating a line on the block map where I walked. Super useful when flagging lines. I had it set up on my phone in a waterproof case in my chestpack - always available on the block at a moment's notice.

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Fri Feb 26, 2016 12:55 pm

Here's something I play around with on occasion using digital elevation data from service NB. The Upsulquitch river in NB where I used to fish salmon on a reserved license. Irving has logged off all the ridges of course and so the river has changed a lot with many of the pools that used to be several feet deep, now filled in with gravel. They can't tell me it's natural because I knew what it was like long before it was logged through old timers that fished and guided there.

: SD_Up_Contour.jpg (48.62 KiB) Viewed 41724 times

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:23 pm

Google Earth Pro is now free if anyone has an interest.

Article on C/Net

http://www.cnet.com/news/get-google-earth-pro-for-free

Direct link to latest version for Mac and PC.

https://support.google.com/earth/answer ... &ctx=topic

How to login is in the C/Net article or here:

https://www.google.com/earth/download/gep/agree.html

dirtslayer · Post by **dirtslayer** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:09 pm

add oziexplorer. i had used the pc version in the past found it very good, i just noticed that there is an android app as well. another thing worth mentioning is you can upgrade the maps on your old garmin these days, i was able to do it using openstreetmap.

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:40 pm

So .... Avenza.

Avenza has changed the name of its "PDF Maps" program to just "Avenza Maps." This makes sense, since the app can handle geo-referenced files that aren't PDF, such as TIFF's, JPG's, etc.

However, they also just implemented a new kink in their subscription model. The free version is still available, BUT users of the free version are only allowed to have three external maps loaded into memory now. If you want to bring in a fourth map, and not pay anything, your only option is to delete one of your existing three maps. Of course, if you have that deleted map saved on your device, you can always re-open it again at any point later when you don't all three slots filled.

Users have the option to pay $29.95 USD per year to unlock the "unlimited maps" option.

Here's a web page that some people may want to dig through:

https://appfelstrudel.com/a/388424049/a ... -maps.html

The Rev · Post by **The Rev** » Thu Nov 10, 2016 8:21 pm

...auto-updates OFF!

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Nov 11, 2016 8:05 am

...auto-updates OFF!

That brings up a great point. It's very easy to turn off the updates so your current version of Avenza doesn't update, and you retain your capability to have an unlimited number of external maps in the device.

I'm not sure how to do this in iOS, but here's how to do it with Android:

1. Go to the Play Store.
2. Look up the app.
3. Once you're on the app's download page, go to the "three vertical dots" in the top right.
4. Auto-update is the only option. Unclick it.

That's all, it only takes a couple seconds. Of course, you can always go into settings and turn off auto-updating for every single app simultaneously, but this approach is a bit more surgical.

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:42 pm

GPSMapedit is a GPS map editor. It can read and write to the image file in your Garmin SD card for instance. Forestry companies are loading their GIS information on Garmin handheld GPS's and they are stored on the SD card under the batter cover. Garmin is one of many GPS's this program supports. It's better than Garmin's Basecamp, which is pretty much useless from my stand point.

http://www.geopainting.com/index.php?lang=en_US

Post by **Scooter** » Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:05 pm

I can't remember if this was posted anywhere here before, and I couldn't find it in a search, so ...

https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse/

Google's "Earth Engine" is AMAZING. Basically, you can now watch the world change over the last 30 years in moments. Zoom in wherever you like. You can watch old cutblocks fade and new ones appear, and see how different areas were developed over time.

When this was first brought to my attention, I had been trying for several years to figure out exactly when one of my woodlots in New Brunswick was last harvested (before I bought it). This link made it possible for me to figure out the exact year of harvest in about 2 minutes of effort.

And I just used it for a similar problem a few minutes ago, which I why I remembered that I should post the link here.

mwainwright · Post by **mwainwright** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 11:15 am

So I did not heed the advice in this thread and my avenza pdf maps auto updated. Is there an app for iOS that is known to be a decent substitute?

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 11:20 am

This is probably a long shot, but check out this link:
https://sites.google.com/site/appleclub ... f-apps-ios

In particular, here's part of the info at that page:

Downgrading Apps

NOTE: This only applies to iOS devices.
Again, if the latest version of an app is compatible with your device, that is the only version that will be offered. However, if you owned an older version of the app and would prefer to use that instead of the latest one (assuming that the older version is also compatible), it is possible if you use iTunes on a Mac or PC.

First, make sure that you have an older version of the app in iTunes. Under the "LIBRARY" header, click on Apps. Find the app in question. If the app has an "Update" banner, that is usually a good indicator that it is an older version of the app.

Pages iOS app Apple
This is an older version of the Pages app, as indicated by the "Update" banner

Another way to tell is by right clicking (control + click on a Mac) on the app in iTunes and selecting "Get Info." Select the Summary tab, and find "Version." Compare it with the version listed in the App Store.

If you do not have the version you are looking for in your iTunes library, it may have been replaced by a newer version. When iTunes updates apps, the .ipa file for the older app is sent to the trash (or recycle bin on a PC). If you have not emptied the trash recently, it may still be there. If you can locate the .ipa file for the app you want, you can delete the newer version from iTunes, then drag the older version to the "Apps" section in the sidebar in iTunes. NOTE: Do not download .ipa files from anyone other than Apple, as other downloads will be tied to the owner's Apple ID and will not install without their password.

Confirm that the app you want has been added to the library. Then, you can delete the newer version of the app from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. For instructions, see: Deleting, Rearranging and Grouping Apps.

To install the older version from iTunes onto your iOS device, you can:
Conduct a sync
Drag the app from the Apps section of your Library to your device in iTunes' sidebar
Click on your device in the sidebar in iTunes, select the Apps tab at the top of the screen, select "Install" for the app that you want, and click "Apply" in the lower right

I wonder if I could find an install package for an old version of Avenza for android somewhere, that everyone could download and install.

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 11:35 am

Here's the Android 1.7.3 version from May 2016:
http://www.1mobile.com/pdf-maps-1045216.html

I just tested this on an old phone, and it is up and running with no problems.

Of course, you'll need to know how to go from a download of the APK to an installation on your device. But that's a very simple process. This link can help explain:
https://www.androidpit.com/android-for- ... n-apk-file

We are still looking for a link to an archived older version of the app for iOS. If anyone can find one, please let me know.

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Wed Feb 01, 2017 1:30 am

Scooter wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2017 10:05 pm
Google's "Earth Engine" is AMAZING. Basically, you can now watch the world change over the last 30 years in moments.

You could do this in a basic way for some time, they would display a time bar with each photo year on it, click and see the older photos. And for some time now Google Earth Pro has been free so you can now find area and not just length. It's nice that you can place a GPS track on Google. Although there is satellite imagery on Google, the close stuff is still aerial photography. The atmosphere would distort the image which inhibits the clarity compared to that of a photo from an airplane or maybe these drones now.

Post by **Scooter** » Sun Feb 05, 2017 1:55 pm

Here's a tool to create and share interactive tours through Goole's Earth Engine:

http://timemachine.cmucreatelab.org/wik ... TourEditor

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:38 am

Has anyone here tried running any android emulators on a PC? Specifically, I have Windows 10 and I'm curious about maybe looking into an Android Emulator program, so I can download and run certain apps on my laptop.

Obviously, many of those apps would be useless. Things like the Dropbox app, a good calculator, chrome, gmail, YT, etc., could all be run more easily and efficiently in native win10.
Apps such as my Koodo account app, google maps, geocam, etc., would all be useless because they're really specifically based upon a mobile framework.

But Avenza Maps, for example, could be a useful program to have on a laptop. Of course, I wouldn't get location-based data, but I'm wondering if I could still be sitting down with a foreman, bring up a geo-referenced map, and quickly carve up a block into pieces using a mouse instead of the touch-screen on the tablet, and measure areas, etc. Then I could export to Photoshop alone with the lines and shapes that I added, export to Photoshop, add info like names and prescriptions and emergency contact info to the map, print hard copies, and put them into zip-loc envelopes to hand out to planters. So several people on a crew would get a very detailed and accurate game plan for the block, which is in a water-proof ziploc.

Another useful example would be a notepad app called ColorNote that I use constantly, which lets me sync across my phone and tablet. It would be great to have on my laptop too, so it's really syncing to all three of the devices that I use frequently. ** not needed, just realized there's a PC version which I can download right now.

There are a few other minor Android apps that I might use occasionally on my laptop: My book reader, and maybe my teleprompter app. And if I could sometimes post instagram photos from a laptop, without having to go through an app like latergram, that would be cool too. I might need an emulator that can specifically emulate individual devices though (ie. a developers emu), rather than a generic all-inclusive emulator.

A couple that I've looked at quickly that seem to have the most apparent potential are AMIDuOS, Windroy, and Genymotion. Genymotion appears to be geared toward developers, and might be the most likely to solve the instagram challenge. But running Avena Maps on laptop would probably be the most useful.

PS: Unrelated question ... has anyone had any success generating geo-referenced aerial photos (for personal use only, of course) from Google Earth, that could be used in Avenza? A while ago, I vaguely remember trying to figure out if there was any free or open-source software that could generate geo-referenced PDF's from any kind of aerial footage, and I seem to remember reading that it was possible if you have GE pro instead of GE home. But you can now get GE pro if you have a special link, and to be honest, I almost think that Pro is now what everyone gets by default. I'm just thinking that it would be really cool to bring up an area of terrain on Google Earth, export that section to a geo-referenced PDF or other graphics file type, and then be able to bring it into Avenza on your phone to go hiking on a day off, etc.

Treeppy · Post by **Treeppy** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 3:38 pm

Not too sure about emulators, but I spent quite a bit of time since last summer trying to find a reliable way to generate geo-referenced files for free. I don't think you really can do that with Google Earth, there is an image overlay function which can allow you to see imported images and geo-reference them in GE, however it only accepts image formats (which means that if you have pdfs you will have to convert them to tiff, jpg or bmp first), and as far as I know you cannot export the new image as a geotiff or geopdf.

Your best bet to create geo-referenced files would be QGIS which is a free and open source equivalent to ArcGIS and will allow you to generate geotiffs which most apps (such as Avenza) can read. You would be likely to be able to draw blocks and pieces, measure areas, and add text directly from QGIS or just open the geotiff in Photoshop if it is easier to add info.

Note that the NextMap app on iphones allows you to directly geo-reference your map files inside the app which is pretty neat, but then again there is no way to export the geo-referenced file (although the newest update of the app allows the export of kml, kmz, and shp files).

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 4:54 pm

Hm. Interesting. I had always assumed that Avenza would open a geo-referenced JPG too, and wasn't just limited to GR'd TIFF's or PDF's.

I did some digging, and the specs release for Avenza 1.2 (a very early version) suggests that you can open a GR'd JPG by zipping it with the GR info as a separate file within that zipped folder. Here's a link:
http://www.avenza.com/news/2014/04/10/a ... 12-android

And here's a much more recent link, which appears to have been posted only three weeks ago:
http://www.avenza.com/resources/blog/20 ... a-maps-app

You said:

I don't think you really can do that with Google Earth, there is an image overlay function which can allow you to see imported images and geo-reference them in GE, however it only accepts image formats (which means that if you have pdfs you will have to convert them to tiff, jpg or bmp first)

- Converting a PDF to TIFF/JPG/BMP would be really easy, as I already use PhotoShop about 15 times a day, it seems like. So it seems like you're suggesting that I should be able to geo-reference the TIFF/JPG/BMP with Google Earth?

Then you mentioned:

as far as I know you cannot export the new image as a geotiff or geopdf.

So if you can GR the TIFF/JPG/BMP with Google Earth, I wonder why it's not possible to export as GeoTIFF. Are you suggesting that after adding the GR data, I might be able to at least export as a GR'd JPG or BMP?

I think my workflow would be this, if it was possible:
1. Zoom into the area that I want to create a "map" for (more accurately, a geo-referenced aerial photo), while using Google Earth.
2. Assuming that I can't just "create and export" from that point, which certainly seems to be the case, I'd do a screenshot of what's up on the screen, then in PhotoShop, I'd quickly crop the screenshot to be just the graphics part, none of the Google Earth panels and stuff in the image.
3. Load that image into Google Earth, and tag the corners.
4. Export that as a JPG (well, I wouldn't need to, since I already have the JPG) and somehow the extra geo-referencing info for that image would be exported at the same time, in a different file.
5. Bundle the JPG and the other file with the geo-reference data into the same folder, and zip it.
6. Import that into Avenza.

That seems like a lot of steps, but I wonder if it's possible.

Ultimately, I think your primary suggestion that I learn to use QGIS seems to be the smartest idea.

Treeppy · Post by **Treeppy** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 8:38 pm

Sounds fun, doesn't it?

From what I understand, GE allows to overlay an image on its own basemap, but it doesn't seem to be able to generate a geo-referenced file out of it (or at least I have been unable to find any export function to do so). My guess is that it is likely because GE is mostly a viewing software, not a full GIS software.
You can find more info on software with geo-referencing capabilities here: http://www.avenza.com/resources/blog/20 ... f-maps-app

QGIS is definitely a great tool and is free, and I just found out that an Android version of it is being developed. It is called QField for QGIS and is still very experimental for now, but I would find it very interesting to have one and only solution that I can use across all devices. Another good reason to get familiar with QGIS

Post by **Scooter** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 12:57 am

I just found this demo, which I think is going to help me get a lot closer to what I'm trying to do. It's only 14 minutes long but I definitely learned a lot from it.
Also, it looks like QGIS is getting a major update within the next month, so I'm just downloading the 2.18 version now, but I'll check back in April and see if the 3.0 version has been released.

Treeppy · Post by **Treeppy** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 10:34 pm

Great tuto Scooter! I'm sure it will help a few people!
QGIS can seem complicated at first, but it is actually pretty straight forward once you have located the basic functions you need and installed/enabled a few plugins... but I might be quite biased by my mapping background

Good to know there is an update coming, and it looks like version 3.2 will be the Long Term Release (stable) version.

Message me if you are trying to figure out some QGIS stuff, it seems like I just got more time to kill due to some snow.

The Rev · Post by **The Rev** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 8:04 am

re Google Earth - I often overlay other imagery onto GE - especially when GE is outdated or of poor quality - super handy function

It would be amazing IF the export function in GE pro created a geoPDF (I've tried, it doesn't) ... How hard would it be for them to add this functionality (???)

... I'm sure a quick email to Google HQ will do the trick.

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 6:52 pm

Avenza has some other tools available, for those who aren't restricted by silly things like budgets and money.

Two in particular seem to integrate well with Adobe products.

MAPublisher integrates with Adobe Illustrator. I almost never use Illustrator, so I've never paid much attention to this, but here's a link:
Basic Info: http://www.avenza.com/mapublisher
Additional Features: http://www.avenza.com/mapublisher/features

This is a serious GIS package, for professionals. I think the starting price is $1399.

I knew about MAPublisher a couple years ago, but at the time, I'm not sure if this next one was available. I don't remember seeing it before. It's called Geographic Imager, and it works with Photoshop. I use Photoshop on a daily basis, so this one has some potential:

Basic Link: http://www.avenza.com/geographic-imager
Licensing Details: http://www.avenza.com/geographic-imager/basic-license

Essentially, the full blown version is $699 USD, and that's the sort of price range that no planters will ever consider, although a few head offices might. But there's a scaled-down basic version for $99, which looks like it might be quite useful. The only drawback is that the basic version doesn't allow one to do a lot of "convenience" tasks, like playing with shading on maps, etc. But the basic functionality seems to allow one to import an image, tag it with some coordinate points to georeference the file, and then export is as a GeoTIFF or a couple other formats.

Here's a description from the page about the Basic License version of GI:

The Geographic Imager Basic license is suitable for occasional users who need to import geospatial images in Adobe Photoshop for editing. Quickly import your imagery or scanned unreferenced maps into Adobe Photoshop and reference them with the easy-to-use Georeference tool that includes coordinate system detection. Enhance images using powerful Adobe Photoshop tools and export to standard industry formats such as GeoTIFF or publish online using PDF Maps App format. The Basic license is is also suitable for QA/QC who review images and need to save to specific image formats to maintain georeference. Below is a table that compares the Basic and Full licenses of Geographic Imager.

I wasn't able to find any recent YouTube tutorials about either of these packages.

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On a separate note, switching gears back to the QGIS open source software recommended by Treepy, I did just find a nice tutorial page:
http://www.qgistutorials.com/en/docs/ge ... asics.html

So I definitely want to learn a bit about this software eventually, and see if I can put together a very simple video tutorial to teach people how to create their own georeferenced maps from Google Earth or other imagery sources.

granola · Post by **granola** » Tue Mar 07, 2017 3:30 pm

Scooter wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2017 6:52 pm
The Geographic Imager Basic license is suitable for occasional users who need to import geospatial images in Adobe Photoshop for editing. Quickly import your imagery or scanned unreferenced maps into Adobe Photoshop and reference them with the easy-to-use Georeference tool that includes coordinate system detection. Enhance images using powerful Adobe Photoshop tools and export to standard industry formats such as GeoTIFF or publish online using PDF Maps App format. The Basic license is is also suitable for QA/QC who review images and need to save to specific image formats to maintain georeference. Below is a table that compares the Basic and Full licenses of Geographic Imager.

You can definitely do that in ArcMap, so you can probably do it in QGIS for free.

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 1:03 pm

I wonder if something like ESRI's collector would be of any use to you?

http://doc.arcgis.com/en/collector

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Mon May 22, 2017 1:55 pm

Just acquired a Garmin GPSMap64s and discovered a way to get aerial photos onto it from Google Earth by taking a snapshot of the view, saving it with Photoshop or other photo software and then placing it as an Image overlay with a KML file. Put both photo and kml in the folder Garmin/custom maps on the main memory of the GPS. I did this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkfDqIeQ-bc

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Thu Jun 08, 2017 1:55 pm

Another great little tool to build your own custom GPS maps from free downloadable content off an FTP server from the Government of Canada is MapWel 2017.

The FTP link I recently used is here to the directory tree. Every Province is included I think. The format is ESRI shapefiles. There are back roads identified that you may not even see on a preloaded GPS, contours, streams, water bodies and annotations (place names). Free to build your own GPS map to load into the SD card. Maps can be "added to" on the GPS or deleted as well. I use a GPSMap 64s by Garmin.
http://ftp.geogratis.gc.ca/pub/nrcan_rn ... canvec/shp

The link to Mapwel is here: http://www.mapwel.net

I recently created this GPS map that has 5 layers (roads, streams, water body, contour, annotation).

: mapwel_NB_TOPO.jpg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 39641 times

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:05 pm

Ok, I finally got things figured out on how to work QGIS to create GeoReferenced images.

The source data can include images from scanned documents (ie. I scanned a survey plan and managed to GR it), and imagery can also be imported from Google Earth, Google Maps, Bing Maps, 2gis, AutoNavi, ESRI, GeoQ, Geofabrik, Kosmosnimki, Landsat, MapSurfer, Mapbox, NASA, Georgia, CartoDB, Rosreestr, OpenSeaMap, Sputnik, Stamen, strava, USGS, TianDiTu, Genshtab, Cadastre, Waze, Yandex, Bergfex, eAtlas, OSM, and more.

QGIS is a free, open-source GIS program, so it won't cost you anything.

I also use PhotoShop to put labels and things on my images before I turn them into GR'd files, but you don't have to use PhotoShop (many of you will want to avoid PS because you have to buy it). Instead, you could use any other free or open-source image-editing software.

Of course, to use the georeferenced images, you need to import them into some sort of app such as Avenza Maps, which is free and quite popular (although to improve functionality, such as being allowed to load more than three maps simultaneously, a proper license for Avenza Maps is around $39 CAD per year).

It took me quite a long time to figure this out, although now that I've done it, it's obvious that it's fairly easy. My challenge was that I didn't have a lot of experience with GIS systems, so I did a lot of experimenting and made a lot of mistakes.

I tried to distill the whole process into a tutorial video which is 55 minutes long. If this is too long for you, consider the alternative: I spent several days figuring it out. On a positive note, it seems to work. When I created a georeferenced TIF file (for Avenza) by scanning a survey plan of one of my woodlots, and correlating the pins on the scan to their geographic coordinates, it actually worked. When I went out to the woodlot to test it, I found that my "blue dot" location on the map was within about 8-10 feet of the real-world location of the survey pins. I haven't figured out yet if that error is related to the usual margin of error for GPS signals on a handheld device (my Samsung S7) or if it was also due to possibly using the wrong datum projection when I created the map. But for 8-10 feet of error in the real world, that's more than accurate enough for any planting-related or hiking-related activities which would make me want to create my own maps.

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmmmw9DAX3g&t=1687s

SwampDonkey · Post by **SwampDonkey** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:13 pm

On company ground here in New Brunswick one company we have been involved with gives us maps we load as a supplementary map onto Garmins, which has their thinning blocks and roads all included. We still have the mark them out in the field with ribbon and measure them, but they are fairly accurate as is since the block boundary was measured when submitted for harvest. The only changes would be bogs, ponds, new roads across them or inoperable areas like boulder fields and blow downs.