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Protocols

Data Submission

Nightjar Survey Home

United States Nightjar Survey Network

Creating Map Data with GPS Unit

Volunteers who wish to collect the position of Nightjar survey points with a GPS unit for upload to your computer in a digital format should follow these directions:

Setting GPS Settings

1) Set Location Format to DECIMAL DEGREES (e.g., hddd.ddddd, or 38.701015)

2) Set Map Datum to NAD83 or WGS84

3) Mark and store Waypoints beginning with number 1 as the starting point and ending with number 10 as the last survey point.

Option 1: Uploading and Saving Nightjar Survey point locations directy from GPS to text file

1) Upload stored Waypoints from your GPS unit to your computer and save as a tab delimited or comma delimited text (.txt) file. Name the file according to its Route Name and Number such as: Taylorsville88025.txt

A useful software program to download GPS data as a .txt file can be found at:

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/tools/arcview/extensions/DNRGarmin/DNRGarmin.html

2) E-mail .txt file to mdwils@wm.edu, or save on disk and mail to; Center for Conservation Biology, PO Box 8795 , College of William and Mary, Williamsburg , VA 23187-8795

Option 2: Converting your GPS Survey Route data into a Google Earth file:

Geographic data such as Nightjar Survey point locations can be uploaded from your GPS unit and saved as KML files for use in Google Earth. KML files are a standard format that we can use during analyses. Use the following steps:

Google Earth is geographic viewing software available as a free download at: http://earth.google.com

Once the program is downloaded and installed on your computer follow these steps:

• Upload Nightjar survey waypoints from your GPS unit to your computer’s hard drive.
• Go to http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=googleearth, This website performs a direct conversion of GPS .txt files to KML.
• Begin conversion by input GPS data using “Upload your GPS data files here”. You will be asked to browse to the location of the file on your hard drive.
• Toggle General map Parameters as: Output File = Google Earth File type = uncompressed .kml
• You may keep all other options as the default settings
• Click “Create KML file” in the lower right hand corner of the page
• Right-click the output file and choose “Save Target As” from the dropdown menu. Save the file with a name synonymous of the actual Route Name and Number (e.g., Taylorsville88025.kml)