A Comparison of Recreational- and Intermediate Survey-Grade GPS Units for Importing Data into GIS Software Packages

Global positioning systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become common tools for Extension professionals. These systems vary in terms of accuracy and cost. GPS ranges from recreational-quality to survey-quality, with intermediate levels in between. As the user moves from recreational-quality to survey-quality, both accuracy and cost increase. We compare a recreational GPS unit (Garmin) and importing data into Google Earth software and an intermediate survey-grade GPS unit (Trimble Juno) and importing data into ArcMap GIS software. These represent two of the most common GIS choices available to natural resource professionals. Cost effectiveness will depend on accuracy requirements.