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Collecting scientific data

Former Member
Former Member
First of all, are there any scientific threads? :confused:


I have been collecting data for multiple projects over the course of a few months. We are now collecting data that is very important and is also important to have correct GPS names/numbers on our data sheets and in another few weeks we will begin data collection at a site which has 10000 different data points. My question is how can I ensure that the GPS points will remain the same when moving from the GPS and onto Basecamp? (we already have a lot of data on Base Camp and trying to guess which numbers will be given to the points is next to impossible). I was wondering if there is a way I can set up the GPS so that they begin assigning names/numbers that wouldn't conflict with existing data within Base Camp?

I realize that there is a chance that I may be in the wrong thread and if I am please point me in the right direction.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    Be sure to save the original waypoint files (gpx format? Proprietary format?) from each portable gps device to a computer folder (directory) not associated with any mapping software. Then back it up. If the gps device can save point and line data field attributes in various comment fields, be sure that the master mapping software supports a master set of attribute fields.

    Check to make sure that the master software is capable of sorting waypoint long filename fields, as well as important comment fields, in logical alpha-numeric order that is similar to the portable gps device(s). It may be necessary to avoid free or inexpensive consumer GIS mapping software to accomplish these tasks.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    Right, well I am lucky enough to have GIS with almost all the extensions I'll need, so the data will absolutely be going into

    I was just curious about after I collect or have volunteers collect data, they will also take down the GPS waypoint number it gives them. And if they were to come and import their waypoints BaseCamp will then give them new numbers making their data almost useless. But if they could just take data points without having to manually creating a unique name and not lose the number given when importing would be super helpful.

    Soon, we are going to start using GISCollector but in the mean time I just found this a little frustrating and wondered if there was any trick I was missing out on. I will try what you suggested and see what happens though.

    Thanks!
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    In my earlier post in this thread, I tried to give you a hint about the alphanumeric sorting order used by BaseCamp. It seems that numbers in the Waypoint Name Field, whether prepended or appended to alphabetic A-Z letter characters, sort in a listing manner to which we may not be consciously accustomed. In short, 11111 will be listed ahead of 2 or 33 or 444.

    If your users are manually creating waypoint names from numbers and/or letters, importing them into B/C, and then looking at the automatically re-sorted list order, they could become confused. However, I just imported some random gpx files from a temporary junk test folder accumulation and was surprised at how much data from different categories of waypoints and direct routing Stops was imported into B/C. You might consider having some of your data collecting users take another look in B/C.
  • 0
    The problem is that in BaseCamp each waypoint name has to be unique; when you're importing a waypoint with a name that already exists in the BC database a number will be added to the name.
    The device doesn't have this requirement, but it will suggest sequential numbers for new waypoint names. It's not possible to set a starting number though (I'm assuming that you are using Garmin devices).
    The best solution is not using BaseCamp, but to import it directly into your GIS software. Most GIS applications should be capable of importing GPX files, but to ensure maximum compatiblity (without loss of any GPX data) you could use JaVaWa RTWtool to convert GPX files (multiple files at once if desired) to shape files.
  • 0
    As far as I know, there is no way to create an automatic prefix on Garmin devices. BaseCamp now allows the creation of multiple databases, I would take advantage of this for your upcoming project.

    I would probably not download the new points to BaseCamp, but use BaseCamp to export the data points from the device to a single gpx file. Then a prefix could be quickly added with a global replace in Notepad. This would look something like Replace <name> With <name>prefix. A prefix may not eliminate all issues - if collectors delete old points from there device, then the same number names will be reused. Sorting make sense if you remember that the Name data field is text and never a number, so, 11 comes before 2 just as aa comes before b.

    After the global replace, the file can be imported into BaseCamp. I prefer to import into an empty list to catch name issues, but that is up to you. It may also be a good idea to create separate lists for each collector or use the organizational system within BaseCamp in some other way to keep data straight. An example would be a Project folder containing Collection Date subfolders containing Collector lists. If you use an empty list for importing, data can then be sent to the list of choice and then removed.

    These are just some ideas to consider. But I don&#8217;t think there is an easy way.