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Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Started by campbell63, September 28, 2010, 10:18:24 AM

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campbell63

I'm looking for a good Map for Yellowstone and Grand Teton, if anyone has any good sources, please let me know. Thank you.

jbensman

This is so weird.  I worked a couple of summers in the Tetons and I really like the area.  So would you beleive today I have been downloading lots of data off the NPS servers and adding it to My Trails.  I was also just now looking to download data for hydrology.  I just came here to look to see if anyone has posted aobut the new way to download USGS data.  So stay tune.  NW trails has the trails, but the NPS site has so much more. 

maps4gps

Use caution with the NPS digital vector files.
There seams to be no consistency in file naming, projection, nor source data.
In the metadata, I have seen GPSing, digitizing 24K or 100k quads.
Projection may be geographic, UTM, or not even included.

If you are going to be obtaining all NPS has available, I will not do anything more with them.

jbensman

I have seen some NPS data that is really bad (like Smokey MT NP) and others that is outstanding like Rocky MT.

Both Grand Teton and Yellowstone appear to be mostly survey grade GPS.  The biggest problem is format-very little is in shapefiles.  Yellowstone was mostly e00 which involved a couple of conversions.  Grand Teton had a geodatabase for facilities.  I found a tool in fwtools to convert it to shapefiles (with prj files).  All of the data appears to be extremly accurate.  For Tetons they have every single structure in the park (which I have on the map), water, bathrooms, waysides, overlooks, and all kinds of stuff I added.  They also had the footprint of every building-I added the bigger ones.  Both Yellowstone and Teton had all back county campsites and buildings.  All the trails look like they are in the correct location.  I will probably spend some time fine tuning some stuff better but I just posted a new version of My Trails that has all of this. 

I created a map with all the GNIS data for WY, but some of the elevations seem to be off.  I don't like thier data format as the state files are in meters.  I used expert GPS and a spreadsheet to convert to feet, but they seem to be a bit off.  I will probably upload a new version of My POIs soon.

I've got all the hydrology downloaded and prepared for the area-hoping you will let me use your maps to ad the contours  :) 

maps4gps

I had most of a multi paragraph explaination on the GNIS elevation issue written and must have done some key combination which deleted most of it.

Shorter - About three years ago they used NED to estimate an elevation for the locations in GNIS.
Both the NED elevations and GNIS locations can be in error - sometimes by an unbelievable amount.  Gridded elevations obtained by the earliest two of the eight production methods USGS currently lists can be off by 200', perhaps more.  GNIS locations are likely to be off by 100' simply because it was the best that could be digitized 30 years ago to many hundreds of miles.

When they first did this there were many posts about peaks/summits becomming lower.  As a summit is defined as higher than its immediate surroundings in all directions, if the coordinates are not at the exact summit, the elevation would have to be lower.

maps4gps

Quote from: jbensman on September 29, 2010, 10:32:06 AM
I've got all the hydrology downloaded and prepared for the area-hoping you will let me use your maps to ad the contours  :) 
Thanks for asking.  I do not feel I fully understand what you intend to make or the area extent of it.

Between your post and emails -
Extend your 'my topo' - never defined where, I took it to mean SOME of the States bordering your current coverage.  Now it seams you may be doing Wyoming next to my home State which by agreement with OZ I did not do since IndyJpr had one on his website.  I do not have the time to update my growing number of mapsets every year, or even two, so if you or anyone else would like to do some of them I would be happy to assist and ask OZ to remove mine from this site when a replacement is ready for upload.

You mentioned starting with my contours and adding hydro - those two do not make a topo map.  From this and your posts on transparent hydro issues I get the impression you may intend to make a transparent mapset by adding hydro to my contours and having it 'compete' with the contour only transparent mapset I recently uploaded and spent hundreds of hours creating.  You seam not to be using GlobalMapper, but I would think what you are using allows for some control - I contour with GM and simply use more smoothing than the program defaults to.  You or anyone else could do the same and obtain similiar looking contours.

Could you provide more detail on the use you would be using my contours for and the geographic areas you would be using them for.  Thanks.

-Oz-

I agree with maps4gps; it is very hard to update even the number of mapsets I have.

jbensman: Are you intending to turn your POI and trail files into full blown topo maps with everything built in or keep them separate.
Dan Blomberg
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GPS Units: Garmin Dakota 20, Garmin GPSMap 60csx, Nuvi 255W, Nuvi 250W, ForeRunner 110, Fenix 2, Tactix Bravo, Foretrex 401
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jbensman

I plan to keep them seperate. 

My Trails now has GTNP and Yellowstone.  Since NW Trails covers WY, I am not going to add anything else in WY.  I just uploaded a new version of MY POIs that now includes the GNIS data for WY.  I corrected the elevations on some features in the Tetons. 

Maps4gps gave me permission (and has saved me lots of time!) to use some of his maps to add to My Topos.  I have the Tetons and Yellowstone added (I will not add anything more in WY).  He is alos letting me use his maps to fill in some states that My Topos does not completely cover.  My Topos is a really big file so I update it much less than my other maps.  But I should post a new version in the next day or so they will include the Tetons/Yellowstone.