The Utilization of GPS in Orienteering Mapping

Abstract

The areas on which study has been done include urban Pikku-Huopalahti, Helsinki and in the rural Ngangao forest of Kenya. The usability of different GPS receivers and the mapmaking software OCAD were tested in different terrains and conditions, as well as at different locations on the globe in order to get comprehensive results. But with recent technological advances the cost of accurate receivers are low enough to make this method of mapmaking advantageous. The reception of GPS signals is drastically limited by the tree canopy in equatorial indigenous forests, where the canopy may cover up to 100% of the sky view. A sensitivity with high navigation (>160 dBHz) of the GPS receiver is desired for best GPS reception. The results of comparing GPS reception between receivers in urban terrain also showed variance between the receivers and between differing terrain conditions. The technique of tablet-GPS mapping systems worked well in different conditions. Even the parameter like humidity did not cause problems, contradictory to mapping using traditional mapping methods.
The accuracy and productivity of the traditional way of making orienteering maps and the tablet-GPS method were compared. Operating the tablet-GPS method an orienteering map may be created faster and with enhanced accuracy of the final map.