Ranger Case Incident Reporting Tools

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Ranger Case Incident Reporting ToolsDenali National Park and Preserve

National Park ServiceU.S. Department of the Interior

The objective of adding GPS and GIS to the way that we report incidents is to improve communication and operational effectiveness by gathering accurate information, and then managing it in a way that makes it accessible and understandable

Simple, easy to understand digital file and photo management

Assume court case is possible

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Project Goal

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ArcMap

Patrol Routes(lines)

Patrol Reports (text)

Outputs Maps, Stats

Photos and Sketch Maps

(hyperlink)

Observations (points)

Data Model

Linked DataCase Incident Reports

GPS

ArcMap Document

Photographs

Status of Program at Denali Since 2003 backcountry ground patrol data has

been collected in this manner with recent expansion to capture aerial patrols

LE staff and trained and using it routinely Field operation have access to increasingly

more accurate data (airstrips, OHV trails) Photo management is next big challenge Waiting on forthcoming national efforts in CIR

reporting, hence keeping things simple

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Case Incident Reporting (CIR) Process

Develop standard operating procedures Equipment Setup Field Collection Procedures Photo File Management and Downloading Track and Waypoint

Downloading Import into ArcMap Report preparation

Practice and more practice

Data online at AKRO GIS Web Pagehttp://165.83.62.205/rgr/akgis/index.cfm?action=dsp&topic=gps&item=recreational

Equipment Setup Garmin Map76CSx setup

Equipment and supplies checklist Setup parameters

WAAS enabled Page sequences Local Time Datum:WGS84 Position Format: ddº mm.mmm’ Heading: magnetic, degrees Calibration

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Equipment Setup (cont’d) Digital Camera

Set local time offset with GPS or UTC time clocks Clear all photos Set to highest resolution

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Field Collection Procedures GPS

Active Track collection Waypoint collection

Digital Camera Synchronize camera and GPS

before each patrol Never change date/time

during patrol Keep a photo log

Coordinate System?Datum?

Communication Procedures

3 Ways To ExpressLatitude / Longitudeon a Garmin

Error in Latitude Example

35° 24´ 45˝ N

35° 24.450’ N

1/3 of a mile

File Management Procedures Standardized directory structure

A self-extracting zip file to build the structure for each incident

Ranger_CIR_FolderMaker.exe

Photo Management Procedures Standardized Photo directory structure

Photo Management Procedures File Renaming

GPS Data DNR Garmin

Set Projection to standard Alaska PCS (Albers Equal Area NAD83)

Use standard naming for shapefiles Example: CIR_09_0123_4-

15_TRK GPS Photo Link for Geotagged

Photos Aerial Patrol routes, flight

tracks, area delineation GeoTagged Photos KML/KMZ Shapefiles

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Watermarked Photos

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Import Data into Arcmap Map Templates and Layouts preset Emphasis on basic display of information Standard naming conventions

Ex: CIR_09_0123_9_12_Map1

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Case Incident/Patrol Report Export ArcMap Layout as JPEG and insert into

narrative Basis for court documentation Rollup of multiple patrols “All_CIRS_2010.mxd”

Web-based Report Tracking

Web-based Report Tracking

Software / Tool Summary

Software DNRGarmin GPS-Photo Link Bulk Renamer Folder Maker

Zip self-extracting file ArcGIS

Tools Garmin Handheld

Recreational GPS units Digital cameras Compass Pen/Paper Radio

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Annual Training and Protocol Document

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Summary This is simply our present attempt to solve

what has been a huge limitation on our effectiveness to protect park resources…our inability to:

Document where we are looking What we are seeing Where we found it And then communicating that to others.

There are other ways and we’d be interested in hearing what others are doing

Denali National Park and Preserveand

Alaska Regional OfficeJoel Cusick (ARO) –GIS Specialist – 907.644.3549

Jon Paynter (DENA) –GIS Specialist – 907.683.9571Joe Van Horn (DENA)–Wilderness Coordinator–

907.683.9539