Mapping new sugarbush

Were looking for input on how best to map out our large sugar bush. We have around 400 contiguous acres of sugar maple at our disposal and we are planning to start on tubing installation this summer with the goal of tapping and sugaring in the spring 0f 2012.

I was wondering if anyone out there had any experience with gps mapping and overlaying that info on GIS or satellite imagery? while we know that we will not be installing all the tubing in year one, ( more likely over 4 years ) we would like to plan it all out ahead of time to accommodate the increased flow from such a large area! Any assistance or guidance would be much appreciated. Thank you.

ArcGis should be able to easily handle your mapping needs, but unless you are familiar with the software it can be a challenge to work with. The program is also quite expensive, though there may be some less expensive options I'm not aware of.

In the field I run ArcPad software on a hand held computer with a Trimble GPS connected via bluetooth. You can put all your GIS layers including imagery on the handheld, view it while in the woods, and build new map layers (like planned mainlines, laterals, etc) directly on the hand held using the GPS. Back in the office everything downloads right to ArcGis and I don't have to worry about converting files or managing individual GPS files.

One thing to be aware of is that accuracy may be an issue if you are trying to capture every tree along a lateral.

I'm far from expert in this field, but this system works very well for me in all aspects of my forestry work.

Sounds like a fun project! Best of luck.

Hey thanks for the info Northwoods. I'll check into the ArcGis system that you suggested, it sounds intriguing. By the way, what type of forestry work are you involved in?

Yes, ArcGis ArcView is what I use at work. Version 10 now as a matter of fact. A standalone version will cost I beleive $2k or so, but I get it on State Contract so i really dont know what it would cost for the public.

I too run a Trimble GPS unit for data collecting and then downloading back into ArcGIS. works slick. But I must say that for your application you would be far better served buying a recreational GPS unit like a Garmin. They are accurate enough for what you are planning and include Software to download to so that you can label etc. That is the route I would take. For under $500 you can be all set.

GPS is the way to go for sure. There are many different levels of accuracy of course, that dictates the price. Navigation grade GPS, or recreational units like Garmin can give accuracies to 10-15', but its not a sure thing. In a hardwood stand, with a good view of the sky it should be quite good. There are units with beacon corrections that can give sub-meter accuracies, for this I would suggest hiring someone to do some of the locating and supplying you with a map.

If I was mapping a 400 acre lot, for sugaring, I might suggest that you check out Delorme's GPS receivers. They have the options to overlay TOPO maps, aerial photos and your collected waypoints right on the receiver. All these better units will connect right to your PC so you can do the planning at home. As a Land Surveyor I've got a 5 year old Magellan receiver that I use weekly doing recon on large rural lots, it still works great. You could of course hire a local Surveyor to locate every tree, but that would be overkill! Good Luck.

adk1 is right, ArcGis and Trimble are at the high end, both price and capabilities, though my PDA/GPS combo didn't run much more than a Garmin. Anyway, hopefully others will chime in, there may be cheaper options that will work for you out there.

I'm mainly doing local private forestry consulting here in VT. All aspects of woodland management including planning and overseeing sales. I used to do a fair amount of Gov't contract work, but I got tired of all the travel. Tougher to pay the bills staying local, but much more satisfying.

You know, maybe you should reach out to a local extension or school/college that you may have in the area. I bet that there is a program in cartography or GIS/CAD systems that a student is looking to do a research paper or project. This would be ideal for them, and htey would have the available equipment to do it. Jsut a thought, wouldnt cost you a dime to get everything mapped out and provided to you. You could then jsut use that as your basemap and build off of it as you go.

This is so cool to hear GIS being talked about in maple sugaring! This is what I do for a living! I don't have a stand big enough to be worried about mapping it, but I can offer services and advice to anyone who is interested.

I have a side business called Natural Resource GIS and I cater to this sort of thing along with needs from foresters, gas industry, and folks with large tracts of land looking to map various resources on their land.

I have been in GIS for 10 years now and love to see new and interesting ways that it can be utilized.

Drop me a line anyone. I'm glad to help.

Just some tips...locate your County GIS or Planning office. They are usually the ones with the most accurate and most up to date data including aerial photos. Google Earth has cool services, but they are not the ones who generate the data, they buy it from the local small governments.

Also folks, you can download a free GIS software from forestpal.com its called fGIS. It was created by the University of WIsconsin Forestry program. The old non-supported version is free, and the newer updated version by Tatuk GIS costs...but is still cheap compared to other GIS software.

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Originally Posted by adk1

Yes, ArcGis ArcView is what I use at work. Version 10 now as a matter of fact. A standalone version will cost I beleive $2k or so, but I get it on State Contract so i really dont know what it would cost for the public .

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Are you in an ELA with ESRI?

Another program you might want to look at and is fairly user friendly and will read all the shape file and image extensions as the ESRI (Arc View) products will, is Accuglobe, you can go to their website http://www.accuglobe.net/ and it is a free download. Also remember there is a lot of data out there from state and county offices, check their websites for GIS data, you are bound to find them. As for GPS mapping, if you have the capabilities, you can download a trial version of Arcpad and intall that onto a pda with a gps that operates windows mobile, it gives you the full program for a limited time. Have fun!

Try to research post processing capabilities for your GPS also. This will greatly enhance your horizontal accuracy.

As mentioned ArcGIS with a sub-meter GPS would be ideal, but a Garmin csx60 handheld GPS unit and Google Earth would do the trick. You can simply upload the data to GE. One thing to remember is that a dot on a map will likely cover several meters, so sub-meter is not that critical if all you want is a map. It's another story if you want to use the GPS to get back to a particular tree. The accuracy of that little Garmin is quite impressive though, even in forest conditions. With a $20 add-on you can even load aerials on to the unit.

Another concept if you want true XYZ location with 6" horizontal accuracy and sub-6" vertical accuracy (engineering quality) is aerial mapping. I work for a company that does that so that's my bias. We provide the raw base data by collecting planimetric and terrain (contour) data using photogrammety from aerial stereo imagery. What that means is we'd be able to fly over the trees and use the imagery in a digital stereo software environment to collect a data point at the base of the tree where it sits on the ground. That point would have its own unique ID number and XYZ location. We'd also use the imagery to collect a point field of your whole woods and determine the high's and lo's so you knew which way your sap would flow from any location. Therefore you could locate where to run your mainline exactly by using our raw base data in the GIS package of your choice. As well we could provide orthophotos and overlay that with the vector map data. Print it off or do what you'd like. Technically this is your most accurate means of data collection outside of hiring a surveyor to survey every tree in your woods. Today's gps is getting better but still not as good as aerial photogrammetry. The obvious problem is that aerial mapping isn't cheap, but it's certainly effective especially if your woods doesn't have alot of slope and every percent of grade counts. Here's the shameless plug (link to our company's website.) www.continentalmapping.com

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Originally Posted by jfroe939

Another concept if you want true XYZ location with 6" horizontal accuracy and sub-6" vertical accuracy (engineering quality) is aerial mapping. ...

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Yeah that is good stuff...and yes pricey. The only problem with a lot of the North East is the slope. We have many steep mountains...