Using Field maps to map out a botanical glasshouse

[KathrynGross13]

Hi y'all,

I am an intern at a botanical garden who has been tasked with mapping the plants within our glasshouses. I have created a field map where I can start to plot the points, but since it is indoors the gps signal is not very accurate. I am not really sure what I need to plot points accurately indoors. I have been researching ArcGIS indoors however have not seen it applied to what I am specifically doing. Does anyone have any tips for mapping accurately indoors within field maps?

Thank you,

Kathryn

[erKay_nv5]

If you are only using the onboard GPS on the device, indoors, the accuracy will be bad. A better option would be to have an external GNSS receiver, such as a Juniper Geode, but indoors the accuracy still won't be great.

You are probably going to get the best accuracy in your case with a base station and rover set up, depending on the size of the greenhouse. 

You'd set the base station unit up outside to get the best satellite signal, link the rover unit to the base station, then carry the rover unit with you, tied into your device via bluetooth. 

I don't know how large the greenhouse is, but you will likely be out of range of the base-station if you tried to use bluetooth alone. I've been looking, but I don't see many options besides bluetooth, and it may not have the range you need.

Look into the Rover-Base station set up for Emlid Reach or Bad Elf. Local surveyor supply distributors may have options for renting equipment if needed. Alternatively, partnering with a local university to use their equipment if the botanical garden doesn't have the budget.