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June 16, 2005
Geospatial Applications: HGIS – A GIS Program for Hand-held Computers
The Handheld Geographic Information System (HGIS) is a GIS program designed for use in hand-held computers. StarPal Inc. in Fort Collins, Colo., makes HGIS. The software is available from a network of dealers across the country and around the world. HGIS is designed for easy use, particularly for farming applications. Even though the interface is not graphical, the common GIS tasks are clearly described in the help menus. This program includes standard wizards to simplify creation of point, line, boundary and soil sample layers. For example, a wizard takes the user through a five-step process to mark field boundaries. A strength of HGIS compared with other GIS programs I have used in hand-held computers is its ability to geo-reference images. HGIS can be used to align images to another GIS layer, such as a field boundary. It also can be used to realign an image that already has been geo-referenced but is slightly off location. Geo-referencing in HGIS is a simple process. Select points on the image and then drag these points to known locations on the reference layer. HGIS operates on Windows operating systems, including Pocket PC and Windows CE. StarPal also has software versions for desktop, laptop and tablet computers. HGIS creates and uses MapInfo or shapefile for spatial files. It supports JPG and BMP image formats. HGIS supports NMEA and TSIP GPS data formats. The NMEA format is a standard GPS data protocol format. TSIP GPS is a Trimble proprietary format. The HGIS screen display includes a position window that indicates the number of GPS satellites, the position coordinates, speed, elevation, bearing and the estimated position accuracy. The position coordinates can be set to display in several coordinate systems. A downside to HGIS is the length of time needed to load layer files. The county boundary file for North Dakota took two minutes to load on my hand-held computer. HGIS is available
in several options with prices ranging from $400 for the HGIS Basic to
approximately $1,000 for the HGIS Professional. More information is available
from the StarPal Web site at www.starpal.com/.
### Source: John
Nowatzki, (701) 231-8213, jnowatzk@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
Market Advisor: |
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North Dakota State University |
