GPS Mapping Courses
About the Courses
GPS mapping courses offered in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences prepare students for jobs involving geospatial work. An important component of all courses is understanding mapping issues (datums, coordinate systems, projections, scale, accuracy and precision) and how they can affect geospatial data. Most of the courses include the option for service learning, where students work on real-world projects that benefit the community.
A brief description of each course is provided below. More information, including sample student maps, is available by visiting the link for each course. All courses are 3 credits and include a 2-hour lab each week.
Fundamentals of GPS, GIS and remote sensing, and their application in a wide range of disciplines. Exploration of the increasing use of geospatial technologies in our world and their impact on our lives. Students will gain hands-on experience with GPS receivers, and GPS, GIS and remote sensing software.
GPHY 357: GPS Fundamentals and Applications in Mapping
PREREQUISITE: GPHY 284. Theory and application of the global positioning system Global Positioning System (GPS) to mapping in natural resource and land management sciences. Mapping issues and accuracy assessment are emphasized. Labs and term mapping project include hands-on experience with GNSS receivers and work with RTKPost, ArcGIS Pro, and ArcGIS Online. Students will benefit from profiecency with the latest version of ArcGIS, but will also improve their skills of data collection and management across an enterprise GIS.
GPHY 358: GPS Mapping Service Learning
COREQUISITE: GPHY 357 Participation in one of two established GPHY 357 service-learning projects: City of Bozeman GIS Urban Mapping Projects; AGAI canal mapping to update the Gallatin Valley inventory of water resources (section 2); Gallatin County Emergency Mangement (Search and Rescue) trail mapping; Montana Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) precision Ag. data collection.
Other Services
GPS equipment is available for use by MSU researchers and graduate students, when not being used by students enrolled in the courses. ESRI and Postprocessing software are free to students and researchers. Charges for personnel services cover wages for GPS mapping project assistance.
GNSS Equipment
- EMLID RS2 https://emlid.com/reachrs2/
- Trimble Geo 6x and 7x with Radio receivers for RTK collection https://geospatial.trimble.com/products-and-solutions/geo-7x
- Samsung Tab Active 2 and Tab Active 3; used as data loggers for EMLID RS2 Samsung Tab Active 3
Charges
- Personnel Services $50/hour
- Training
- Technical support
- Data management (database design, data processing, etc.)