Mapping – Impact GIS

February 16, 2017March 3, 2017

Robust Cultural Heritage Constraints Mapping

Need GIS skills for taking on large scale projects? Impact GIS can help!

Best practice dictates that from the earliest stages of considering a development, environmental constraints should be fully integrated with the planning process.

With most data sources for archaeological, architectural and cultural heritage constraints now available online, GIS mapping has become an indispensable tool for constraints mapping and the entire impact assessment process.

The following is a brief outline of Impact GIS’s process for archaeological, architectural and cultural heritage constraints mapping. Continue reading “Robust Cultural Heritage Constraints Mapping”

December 14, 2016March 3, 2017

Kilbeacanty Graveyard Surveys

Features from Kilbeacanty New Graveyard mapped in GIS

Impact GIS was recently appointed by Kilbeacanty Graveyard Committee to undertake aerial/drone surveys of two graveyards near Gort in County Galway, with a view to mapping and recording the graveyards.

Drone surveys were undertaken using ground control points (GCP) surveyed in with a survey grade GNSS (GPS) and the imagery captured was then processed using Pix4D to produce detailed orthophotography. Extra GCPs were surveyed in to check the accuracy of the final orthophotography. A review of GCPs in the final orthophotography found their accuracy to be within 1 to 2 cm. The orthophotography was imported into QGIS and used to producing mapping, the marking up features, including bounding walls, paths, grave plots, the locations of headstones etc. Draft mapping has now been issued to the client, who will use it to align grave numbering with previous surveys. Impact GIS and Galway County Council will then host a photographic workshop, training local volunteers to undertake a photographic survey of the graves and headstones within the graveyards. Details for all graves and memorials will be added to the GIS database and uploaded, with photographs, to Galway County Council’s Galway Graveyards website.

Continue reading “Kilbeacanty Graveyard Surveys”

November 11, 2016December 14, 2016

3D visualisations

It never ceases to amaze we what QGIS is capable of. A friend recently asked me to produce a map for a classic motorbike and car rally in aid of Movember, raising awareness about mens health issues, in particular prostate and testicular cancer, and mental health. The route passes through some of the most scenic areas of the Connemara Mountains in the west of Ireland.

I was wondering how I could make this area come alive to people, I needed 3D, so turned to the Qgis2threejs plugin, which I have used before to visualise areas in 3D. What I hadn’t noticed previously was the ‘Output’ option, which allows you to output the HTML of the entire 3D visualisation ready for upload to the web. Click on the image below to check it out.

Thanks to all the contributers at QGIS and Qgis2threejs.

October 3, 2016December 17, 2016

Mapping Killursa Graveyard

Impact GIS undertook a drone survey of Killirsa Graveyard in County Galway to generate high resolution orthophotography for mapping of grave plots. Grave plots were mapped using Geographic Information System (GIS) software, allowing for data associated with each grave plot to be stored in an accompanying database. See the slide show below.

Why use GIS?

Firstly it is probably best to explain what a Geographic Information System is. It’s all in the name, it is as system that allows you store information which is associated with location (geographic data). Most relevant to this project, GIS allows you to draw polygons, such as the squares and rectangles of the grave plots, and each one of these, as well as being spatially correct (in the right location), can have information about it stored in a database. So each grave plot can have the names, dates, inscriptions etc. stored and this information can be sorted, searched, filtered etc. This can form the basis of labelled paper maps, a searchable database, interactive online maps etc.