Proposed research sites

If you are a NEW researcher at RMBL or if you are a current researcher that would like to expand to a new research site area, you must collect initial coordinate(s) for the proposed site and compare them to current research and facilities to make sure that there are no conflicts.  You can collected initial coordinates by using a personal GPS unit or you can use RMBL's GeoXT GPS units.  For more information about getting an initial coordinate(s) using RMBL GPS units, click here.

If you collected the initial coordinates with RMBL's GeoXT:

1.) You should have been e-mailed a shapefile (.shp, .shx, .dbf) with your points/lines/polygons of the proposed
     site

2.) In the Barclay classroom, open ArcMap software.  You'll need to create a base layer with aerial photos, 
     the current  research sites, and the current facilities.  Click on the plus (+) symbol in the toolbar and
     navigate to Database Connections > Double click on GISdatasets.sde (if this is not present, move to a
     different computer) > Select the following files:  RMBL.DBO.DOQ_gothic, RMBL.DBO.DOQ_OHBEJOYFUL,
     RMBL.DBO.DOQ_SNOMASS, RMBL.DBO.DOQ_MAROONBELLS, RMBL.DBO.DOQ_ALMONT,
     RMBL_SITE_researchsites07, and RMBL_SITE_infrastructure07.  Use the 'i' (information) tool to get 
     information about any of the polygons in the research site or facilities file.  In the 'identify results' dialog 
     box, clicking on the link next to the metadata will bring up the form that is associated with that polgyon,  
     including contact info for the researcher and if their site can be shared. 

     HINT:  It makes viewing research sites and facilities easier if you change the symbology.  Right click on the
     research_sites07 layer and select properties.  Choose the symbology tab.  Under 'Show' select 'Categories and
     Unique values'.  Under the Value Field, select 'researcher' and click 'Add all values'.  Click Apply and OK.  Now
     left click on the symbol under each of the researcher names.  This will pull up the Symbol Selector dialog.   
     Make the fill color 'no color' and the outline a bright color (red, yellow, green, etc).  Make the outline width 2-
     3.  Click OK.  The research areas will be outlined, with each researcher having a different color.   

3.) Now that you've created the base layer, you can add in your points/lines/polygons representing your proposed
     sites.  You should've downloaded the shapefile off your e-mail and saved it to the harddrive of the computer
     where you're working.  Click on the Add button (+), navigate to where you saved the shapefile, highlight it,
     and Add it in to your project.  It should overlay with the aerial photos and other datasets.  If it does not, go   
     to the GIS troubleshooting section or contact the GIS technician (gis@rmbl.org).  At this point, you should be
     able to see whether or not your proposed site is in conflict with any research or facilities.  If it is in conflict
     with other research, contact the researcher, then the director (director@rmbl.org).  If it is in conflict with
     facilities, contact the director.  If it is not in conflict with anything, contact the director to let him/her know
     that you have found a site, and then follow RMBL GPS procedure to get the site officially mapped.

If you collected coordinates with a personal GPS unit or if you have coordinates written down:

1.) If you have written coordinates (lat/long or UTM), you need to convert them into a shapefile so they can be
     overlaid with the base layers.  For information to do this, click here.

2.) Now that you have your written coordinates converted into a shapefile, go to Step 2 above and proceed.