Converting Decimal Degrees to Degrees Minutes Seconds

Often we are supplied with coordinates in decimal degrees but need to use Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds instead. Luckily, there are several solutions that you can use, here is a simple coordinate converter tool that I use.

Manuals for Leica Total Stations

Various user manuals that I refer to when working with Leica total stations (Some I created and others from Leica … ).

Using Google Earth to obtain NGS CORS Information

Every now and then I come across some little utilities that help to make things easier while working in the field and these pages are mainly my way of sharing them with others while creating a go-to place where I can easily find them when I need them.

Here is a Google Earth file that that contains locations and basic information about all of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Continuously Operating Reference Stations CORS. Saving you time from searching for CORS stations in your area and finding out what sampling rate they record GPS data at.

GPS Calendars

GPS calendars are different then traditional calendars that most of us are used to working with, yet they are pretty common these days due to the increased use of GPS surveying. Yet there is never one around when you need one, so if you find your self doing a lot of GPS field work like myself then you may notice that you will working in Julian Days …

Converting between UTM, MTM and LAT/LONG

Canadian using a UTM map

Geographic coordinate systems enable us to spatially locate features on the Earth using specified set of two dimensional numbers. The coordinates of each feature represent the horizontal position (and sometimes vertical position when elevation is available) of it and one of the most commonly used coordinates is Geographic with values of latitude, longitude. However many different coordinate systems can be used to map the same area depending on various factors such as map extent, scale, end user etc. Therefore we often find in Geomatics that we can have data from different coordinate systems that we need to use together spatially in one reference system.

I am sure that most of us have run into times when we have features that have defined coordinates of one system that we need to use with a different one. (E.g. your map is in UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) but you have been given GPS points in Lat/Long).

If you ever find yourself in need of quickly getting values converted from Geographic to UTM / MTM (Modified Traverse Mercator) or UTM / MTM to Geographic then here is a free online geographic coordinate convertor tool that I often use provided by Canadian Spatial Reference System

Real Time Kinematic (RTK) Surveying Guidelines

Over the past decade Real Time Kinematic (RTK) surveying with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) has become common practice in geomatics. RTK surveying can allow people to achieve relative positioning with centimetre (cm) precision, however there are several important factors that need to be considered and thus a need for a good guide of best practices …

Where will your Geomatics Career Bring You?

My career and has allowed me to be involved in many projects that go well beyond what my education prepared me for …

Precise Point Positioning GPS Processing

Sometimes when doing GPS field work I will often require a way to double check my own GPS Processing work or am sometimes too far from an active control network to tie into. Using Precise Point Positioning (PPP) service in these situations has often come to my aid, especially on jobs in Nunavut or in Northern Ontario
The Canadian Geodetic Service provides a free online global GPS processing service called CSRS-PPP, where you can process files containing RINEX observations from either a single or dual frequency receiver in either static or kinematic modes. The service is free but does require that you sign up to obtain a username and password to gain access.