Peter Van Geit www.ChennaiTrekkers.

org March 2011

Contents
Trekking in South India Topographic maps Sources of India maps GPS Global Positioning System Trail mapping tools Geo-referencing maps Overlaying maps, trails

Trekking near Chennai

Trekking in South India

Topographic maps, contour lines

A contour line (also isoline or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value.[1] In cartography, a contour line (often just called a "contour") joins points of equal elevation (height) above a given level, such as mean sea level.[2] A contour map is map illustrated with contour lines, for example a topographic map, which thus shows valleys and hills, and the steepness of slopes.[3] The contour interval of a contour map is the difference in elevation between successive contour lines.[4

Topographic maps

Identifying peaks

Identifying valleys, streams

Identifying side-streams

Identifying ridges

Vegetation density

Access Roads

Earth 3D view - North

Earth 3D view - East

Draining area of a stream

Creating trails, terrain detail

Sources of India topomaps

Google Maps 1:25K Google Earth Wikimapia Survey of India 1:50K, 1:25K AMS (US Army) topomaps 1:250K Russian topomaps - 1:200K NASA ASTER DEM 1:100K Openstreet maps

Survey of India

Survey of India

US Army Map Service

US Army Map Service

US Army Map Service

Gadidaipenta guest house

Russian Army Maps

Russian Army Maps

British fort Tada

NASA ASTER DEM 1:100K

(Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Digital Elevation Model)

Wikimapia

Openstreet maps

GPS Global Positioning System

Constellation of 30 satellites at height of 11.000 miles Developed by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) GPS can provide any point on earth with a unique address (its precise location) Position is identified as latitude, longitude, altitude

Fixing your location

Requires clear view to 3 satellites (4 if elevation is needed) Triangulates position using relative position to 3 or more references

Summary of satellites[9]
Satellite launches Launch Period Currently in orbit and healthy

Block

Success

Failure

In preparation

Planned

I
II IIA

19781985
19891990 19901997

10
9 19

1
0 0

0
0 0

0
0 0

0
0 11 of the 19 launched 12 of the 13 launched 7 of the 8 launched 0 0 0 0 30

IIR

19972004

12

IIR-M IIF IIIA IIIB IIIC

20052009 20102011 2014?

8 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 2

0 10 0 0 0 10

0 0 12 8 16 36

Total

58

Latitude, longitude

Earth perimeter
40.000 km 1 nautical mile = 1852 m 21598 miles 360 degrees 1 degree = 60 miles 1 minute = 1 mile 1 second = 31 meters

Latitude, longitude

Garmin GPSMap 60CSx

Satellite Screen
Shows visible satellites Satellite lock and signal strength Shows position and accuracy

Map screen
Shows build-in topomap with POI-s Shows current location and direction User can mark waypoints Logs trail at pre-set frequency

GPX GPS data exchange format

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?> <gpx xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1" creator="MapSource 6.11.6" version="1.1" > <wpt lat="13.477889" lon="79.799722"> <ele>34.733154</ele> <name>Falls</name> <cmt>08-MAR-09 12:46:22AM</cmt> <desc>08-MAR-09 12:46:22AM</desc> <sym>Flag, Blue</sym> </wpt> <trk> <name>My first trail</name> <trkseg> <trkpt lat="13.454117" lon="79.812160"> <ele>114.534180</ele> <time>2009-03-08T02:37:50Z</time> </trkpt> <trkpt lat="13.454200" lon="79.811997"> <ele>110.688843</ele> <time>2009-03-08T02:38:05Z</time> </trkpt> </trkseg> </trk> </gpx>

Profile screen
Shows altitude profile of trail Increase or decrease in altitude per unit of distance or time along traversed trail

Compass screen
Electronic compass Shows direction of movement and angle to target Indicates time and distance to target

Misc
Daylight - sunrise, sunset Phase of moon, moonrise, moonset Assists in planning till overnight campsite

Exporting GPS trails

Gpsvisualizer.com

Overlaying GPS trails

Overlaying GPS trails

Overlaying GPS trails

Altitude profile

Geo-referencing maps

Geo-referencing maps

OziExplorer Map Data File Version 2.2 200k--d44-20.gif G:\DATA HOME\MAPPING\map data\HIMALAYAS\TOPOMAPS RU\200k-d44-20.gif 1 ,Map Code, Pulkovo 1942 (2),WGS 84, 0.0000, 0.0000,WGS 84 Magnetic Variation,,,E Map Projection,Latitude/Longitude,PolyCal,No,AutoCalOnly,No,BSBUseWPX,No Point01,xy, 90, 85,in, deg, 14, 0.0000,N, 79, 0.0000,E, grid, , , ,N Point02,xy, 4361, 86,in, deg, 14, 0.0000,N, 80, 0.0000,E, grid, , , ,N Point03,xy, 4361, 2990,in, deg, 13, 20.0000,N, 80, 0.0000,E, grid, , , ,N Point04,xy, 89, 2990,in, deg, 13, 20.0000,N, 79, 0.0000,E, grid, , , ,N

Geo-referencing maps

Geo-referencing Google Maps

Geo-referencing maps

Overlaying maps & trails

Overlaying maps & data

Overlaying maps Google Earth

Overlaying maps Google Earth

Geo-tagging photos