DeLorme PN-20 - Manual (Page 18)

17
Mapping Assets in the Field
Up-to-date maps are often critical to efficiently manage and maintain company assets. You may
need several layers of information to locate and update information about these assets in the field,
such as road, topographic, and historic maps, as well as high-resolution aerial imagery and GIS lay-
ers. The Earthmate GPS PN-20 is ideally suited to handle these needs; you can transfer virtually any
type of data from DeLorme software onto the device for use in the field, and then use the Earthmate
GPS PN-20 to map new assets and the conditions of existing assets. You can then bring this infor-
mation back into the office to update the central database.
The division managers of a utility company are responsible for overseeing the bimonthly update of
the spatial database for each division. They must collect information regarding new line locations,
conditions, and areas requiring repair or replacement to update the database and assist in planning
for the next month’s maintenance schedule.
The company uses the Earthmate GPS PN-20 with DeLorme’s professional XMap
® GIS software
to perform the updates. Each division is divided into quadrants with crews of two assigned to each
quadrant. Each crew has an Earthmate GPS PN-20 and is responsible for uploading the maps and
data they need on the device before heading out into the field. This data includes an updated copy of
the quadrant’s GIS utility line layer, road and topographic maps, waypoints of pole mile markers, high-
resolution aerial imagery downloaded from the state GIS department, and digitally scanned paper
maps of utility line schematics. These maps are geo-registered to the DeLorme map using XMap.
Preparing data for and transferring data onto the Earthmate GPS PN-20
1. Open XMap, set up a subscription to the central database, and obtain an updated copy of the
utility layer for the division.
2. Load the GIS layer into the GIS tab and use the spatial query tool to isolate the line objects
within a particular quadrant.
3. From the ImageReg tab, open the digital image of the schematic map for the quadrant. Use
the GIS line layer as reference to place points on the digital image that correspond to points
on the DeLorme map. Then, process the image to geo-register it to the map.
4. Visit the state GIS website and download any digital aerial imagery in .sid or .tiff format that
corresponds to the quadrant. Use the Map Data tab to load the imagery into XMap.
Scenarios