Mapping Exercise

ANTL 207

Follow the directions below, and construct a map on graph paper. When you have finished, keep your data for entry into the ArcView program. Please answer all questions on a separate sheet of paper, and turn it in.

Pace-and-Compass

1) Help lay a tape measure out on a due E-W direction. Measure how many of your normal strides it takes to cover 10 meters.

2) Now, you and your partner line up 2 meters apart on the tape measure. You should be on even measurements—for example, if one of you is at 0 m, the other should be at 2 m. If one of you is at 4 m, the other should be at either 2 or 6 m, etc.

3) Note on a sheet of paper what tape marks you are on. This is your transect.

4) Now, start pacing due N (using the compass and going from there), and count your paces. When you arrive at something you want to map (sidewalk, tree, bush, etc.) note down your pace # and transect. Keep going.

5) When you have finished a transect, go back to the tape measure and start with another 2 transects. Keep going until you’ve covered all transects on the tape measure.

6) Now, calculate the distance in meters of each mappable thing from the tape measure. Use your pace/10 m measurement that you took in step 1.

7) Get a sheet of graph paper. Decide what scale you want your map to be—your map should fit on one 8.5 x 11” piece of graph paper, and scale works best in easy-to-multiply increments, like 1 m: 10 cm.

8) Lay out the tape measure as your X axis on the graph paper.

9) Using your calculations from step 6 and your transects, map in everything you paced. How does it look? Be sure to label everything, write in the scale, and put your names on the map.

10) What did you like about this type of mapping? What didn’t you like about it? Keep in mind that ALL mapping uses mathematics.

Total Station

1) Watch Dr. Reber set up the total station. Why does the station need to be level?

2) Decide what points you want to map and discuss them beforehand.

3) Then, write down the height of the stadia rod and the height of the total station on your mapping form.

4) One partner should get behind the total station, and the other should take the stadia rod and go to a mappable feature. Point the mirror at the total station, and hold the stadia rod as still as possible, following the directions that Dr. Reber gave in the orientation talk.

5) The person behind the total station should focus the telescope on the cross-hairs in the stadia mirror. When the telescope is focused to the right spot, hit the button with the triangle on it, and write down V (Vertical angle) H_R (Horizontal angle) and distance

6) Then, hit the button with arrows on it, and write the result after the Z coordinate under Height. Hit the Angle button, then wave your arms for the stadia person to go to the next spot.

7) Write the results of the Angle button down while the stadia person is walking to the next place.

8) Repeat until half the mapping points are done.

9) Switch, so that the stadia rod person is at the total station, and the total station person is at the stadia rod.

10) When you are done, it is time to transform your data into X,Y coordinates. Use the master Excel Spreadsheet that Dr. Reber hands out to do this.

11) When you are entering your VA and HA data, you must transform your degree/angle/minute data into decimal format. The best way to do this is the following: if you’ve got 18º 20’ 45” for the horizontal angle, type (18+20/60+45/3600) in the parentheses in the HA format [this gives you the decimal degree]. The *3.14159/180 part of the spreadsheet transforms degrees to radians. Do the same for the vertical angle.

12) Your XY coordinates are in the UTM E and UTM N columns—E is X and N ix Y. Can you figure out why trigonometry is involved in this? (Trig is the sine and cosine part of the UTM formulae.

13) What did you like about this type of mapping? What didn’t you like about it? Keep in mind that ALL mapping uses mathematics.