Members of our Smith community are welcome to borrow GPS equipment for teaching and research. Please consult the following details and contact the Spatial Data Specialist to schedule a time to learn how to use the equipment and pick up. If you’re interested in incorporating drones in your teaching or research, please contact Jon (jcaris@smith.edu) and review our campus UAS policy.
EQUIPMENT
GPS & Laser Rangefinder
| Make | Model | Type | Units Available | Accuracy |
| Bad Elf | GNSS Surveyor | Mapping-grade GPS | 12 | 1m (stationary); 2.5m (kinematic) |
| EOS | Arrow 100 | Survey-grade GPS | 4 | 60cm |
| EOS | Arrow Gold | Survey-grade GPS (RTK) | 2 | 1cm |
| LTI | TruPulse 360 | Laser Rangefinder | 2 | n/a |
| LTI | TruPulse 200x | Laser Rangefinder | 2 | n/a |
Data Collection App
| Name | OS | Web Editing | Compatible GPS | GPS Pairing | User Guides | Access |
| Fulcrum | iOS, Android | fulcrumapp.com | Bad Elf Pro & GNSS Surveyor, EOS Arrow 100 & Gold, full list | iOS + Bad Elf; Android + Bad Elf | Link | By request |
| ArcGIS Field Maps | iOS, Android | ArcGIS Online/ ArcGIS Field Maps | Arrow 100 & Gold | iOS/Android + EOS Arrow | Link | Sign in to ArcGIS Online |
| ArcGIS Collector | iOS, Android | ArcGIS Online | Bad Elf Pro & GNSS Surveyor, Arrow 100 & Gold, full list for iOS & Android | iOS/Android + Bad Elf/EOS Arrow | Link | Sign in to ArcGIS Online |
| ArcGIS Survey123 | iOS, Android | survey123.arcgis.com & desktop | Bad Elf, EOS | iOS/Android + Bad Elf/EOS Arrow | Link | Sign in to ArcGIS Online |
| iCMTGIS PRO | iOS | n/a | Bad Elf, EOS Arrow | with an EOS | Link | By request |
Recommended GPS & Data Collection Pairings
| Purpose | Accuracy | Conditions | Recommended Pairing |
| Points and attributes | Open/Urban | - Bad Elf GNSS Surveyor + Fulcrum
- Arrow 100/Gold + Field Maps/Survey123 |
|
| Multiple types of features (point, line, polygon) and attributes | - Open/Urban
- Dense cover |
- Bad Elf GNSS Surveyor + Collector
- Arrow 100/Gold + Field Maps/iCMTGIS PRO |
|
| Pre-defined single feature and attributes | - Open/Urban
- Dense cover |
- Bad Elf GNSS Surveyor + Survey123
- Arrow 100/Gold + Survey123 |
|
| GCP for drones | RTK/PPK | Open | Arrow100/Gold + Field Maps |
Drones
The SAL uses and maintains (more or less) a variety of drones from DJI Phantom 4 RTK to the Mini 3 Pro. Most of our drones are used for mapping and we look forward to working with students and faculty to support research efforts that need high spatial resolution imagery. Our partners in the drone space include the Geosciences, Biology, the Imaging Center and the Botanic Garden.
Some of our work can be found by search on "drone" on this website, or Vimeo channel, or in the ArcGIS Online Gallery.
Base Station
We maintain one of the National Geodetic Survey's Continuously Operation Reference Stations (CORS) - HAMP. Here's the direct data link, and please contact Tracy (htien@smith.edu) or Jon (jcaris@smith.edu) for information on how to access the RTK differential stream.
SOFTWARE
The following GIS/photogrammetry software are currently installed on SR104 lab computers. Details on access here, and for those that have a limited license (such as Pix4D and DJI Flight Simulator Enterprise) are by request. Our ArcGIS Online organization is: https://smithcollege.maps.arcgis.com/.
| Program | Description | Version |
| ArcGIS | Includes ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcGlobe, ArcScene | 10.8.2 |
| ArcGIS Pro | Desktop GIS integrated with ArcGIS Online; including Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributions driver for Access and Excel, ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud | 3.0 |
| ArcGIS Earth | 1.9 | |
| ArcGIS Maps for Office | Visualizations in Excel and PowerPoint | 5.0 |
| GeoDa | Free and open-source GIS for exploratory spatial analysis and basic spatial regression analysis for point and polygon data | 1.20.08 |
| Google Earth Pro | Virtual globe that can support GIS data, geocoding, image overlays | 7.3 |
| QGIS | Leading free and open-source GIS software | 3.24.3 Tisler |
| Pix4D | Photogrammetry software for drone mapping; 2 floating licenses | 4.8.0 |
| Drone2Map | Esri photogrammetry software for drone mapping; Basic is included, and 5 named user advanced licenses | 2022.1 |
| DJI Flight Simulator Enterprise | Drone flight simulator; only installed on #9 | 1.4.0.0 |
| Inkscape | Free and open-source vector graphic editor | 1.2 |
| Adobe Creative Cloud | Version 6 |