Students Use High-Tech GPS to Map Urban Trees

A team of students from Dalhousie University in Canada found a clever way to map thousands of trees in a small town quickly and accurately. They used a special GPS device called the Eos Arrow 100, which is much more precise than the GPS in a regular smartphone.

The students paired Arrow 100 with Esri’s ArcGIS Collector on their phones and tablets. This combination allowed them to record the exact location of each tree, along with important information about it, such as its type and size.

What made this project special was that multiple teams could work at the same time, even without an internet connection. When they got back to an area with internet, all their collected information could be easily combined into one big map.

The university already had one of these devices, but they needed more to get the job done quickly. When they explained their project to Eos, and the company was kind enough to lend them extra units for free.

This technology allowed the students to map over 2,000 trees in the town of Bridgewater in just one weekend. This information is incredibly valuable for the town, as it helps them understand and manage their urban forest better.

The project shows how modern technology can make traditionally time-consuming tasks much faster and more accurate, benefiting both the students who learned to use the equipment and the town that received detailed information about its trees.

Read the full case study here.