GPS Documentation
Definition
Recording latitude, longitude, and often elevation for every exhibit, photograph station, track, and boundary marker in the field. Produces a reproducible spatial record that supports court maps and satellite-image overlays.
- Data captured
- Latitude, longitude, elevation per point
- Applies to
- Exhibits, photo stations, tracks, boundary markers
- Output use
- Court maps and satellite-image overlays
- Field context
- Wildlife and outdoor crime scenes
Common questions
Why is GPS documentation more critical outdoors than indoors?+
An indoor scene has fixed walls and furniture as reference points, but a field or forest scene has no permanent landmarks, so a GPS coordinate is often the only way to relocate an exhibit's find spot or reconstruct the search pattern later.
What accuracy is typical for handheld field GPS units?+
Consumer-grade handheld units typically resolve to a few metres, which is adequate for plotting a search grid or a general track, but a survey-grade or RTK GPS is used when sub-metre precision is needed to tie a specific exhibit to a scaled scene diagram.
Related terms
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