Environmental Reclamation Assist with MobileMapper

03 June 2009, 11:55am

Rawlings, Wyoming – June 3, 2009 -- With the new push in the U.S. to retrieve domestic sources of energy, innovative gas recovery methods are bringing extensive new drilling back to the Wyoming high plains, and once the big drilling rigs have departed, federally-mandated environmental reclamation of the disturbed 2-to 4-acre work sites begins. Monitoring the progress of the reclamation in the fragile ecosystem is the job of KC Harvey, environmental consultants, headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. “We’re using the latest GIS technology to help monitor reclamation of more than 2,000 sites in Wyoming, and that number will increase in 2009,” says David Marshall, principal scientist and project manager for KC Harvey, Inc.

“We’d been using recreational grade GPS units for mapping features associated with monitoring, but with an increased need to capture more types of spatial data; polygons, lines, and points using multiple data dictionaries and of course more attribute information, we had to find a more comprehensive GPS/GIS solution. The hand-held Magellan® MobileMapper 6 is rugged, waterproof and with its integrated camera, ArcPad application software and low cost, it’s just the right solution for our environmental monitoring needs,” says Marshall.

Reclamation monitoring of soil erosion and vegetation in this, semi-arid landscape is limited to a three-month window of opportunity, usually late May through early August, when plant growth is active. “Because we deploy multiple field crews within a very short timeframe, we need a device that is both easy-to-learn and easy-to-use. The MobileMapper 6 fits the bill in both respects,” added Marshall. “What's more, we are able to load each MobileMapper 6 with aerial photographs and topographic maps of the areas in which the monitors will be working. In addition, the MobileMapper’s integrated camera permits photo points to be recorded and tagged with the locations and included as point description data in the ArcGIS database.”

About the Monitoring

Monitoring crews record vegetation density and species composition, areas of weed infestations, and rare species occurrence (both on and adjacent to the disturbed site). These data can be point or polygon data, vegetation transects, which is a linear sampling path, roads, erosion features, storm water runoff, as well as a variety of miscellaneous features. The data is collected in a series of .shp files, each of which may have three to ten attribute fields. The files are merged into an ArcGIS geodatabase.

About the MobileMapper 6

The MobileMapper 6 offers the professional features associated with more costly high-end GIS/GPS units, yet it is price-competitive with consumer-grade GPS. “The MobileMapper 6 is an economically, professional-grade GPS/GIS handheld receiver rugged-built for business applications,” says Francois Erceau, general manager Magellan Professional. “With its low-cost, lightweight rugged design, and the ability to run virtually all GIS software, it’s becoming a favorite of both large and small businesses.”

MobileMapper 6 is standard with Microsoft Windows Mobile version 6. In addition, it comes with Bluetooth for wireless connectivity, and an integrated 2-megapixel camera that can take photos, which can be tagged with the GPS location and used as a point description data in any GIS application, such as Magellan’s Mobile Mapping software, ESRI’s ArcPad, DigiTerra Explorer, or other third-party software.

Magellan Professional

Geo: International