Learning Center

Maps, LiDAR and files

Build LiDAR drainage maps on the tablet or in the Geo-Surface™ owner portal, put them under your survey and grading maps, and move files on and off the tablet.

Plan the route before you hitch up. A LiDAR drainage map shows where water flows, where it ponds and where the low spots are, so the ditch goes where the water wants to go.

Do the map work while the tablet has internet. Once it's saved, it works in the field with no connection.

Where do you want to start?

Make a drainage map on the tabletLiDAR & Mapping: draw the field, get flow lines, ponding and a saved DEM. Plan in the officeThe Geo-Surface™ owner portal on a computer, then take the map to the tablet. Get the map ready for the fieldCache satellite imagery before you join the module Wi-Fi. Put a file on the tablet, or take one offUSB cable, Google Drive or email, USB stick, and picking the file in the app. Find or back up the app's filesThe Documents/DitchAssist folder, backups, and freeing up space.

Words used on these pages

WordWhat it means
LiDARElevation measured from the air with a laser. Public LiDAR covers most US and some Canadian farmland.
DEMA digital elevation model: the ground surface as a grid of heights, made from the LiDAR. The app saves one per field.
Flow lines, ponding, depressionsThe drainage layers: where water runs, where it sits first, and hollows with no way out. See Read the drainage layers.
OverlayYour own map (a picture or a KML of lines) drawn under the live map. See Add a map overlay.
World fileA tiny text file, with the same name as a map picture, that tells the app where the picture sits on the ground.
Download folderThe tablet folder for files you bring in. The app's file picker calls it Downloads. See Move files to and from the tablet.
ExportA survey saved as a standard file (CSV, XYZ, KML…) for other programs. See Export a survey.

How LiDAR & Mapping fits together

LiDAR & Mapping, start to finish Five steps. While the tablet has internet: 1, draw the field boundary on the map, up to 800 acres; 2, the app fetches public LiDAR elevation data, USGS 3DEP in the US or NRCan HRDEM where it covers Canada. No internet needed from here: 3, the tablet itself works out flow lines, depressions and ponding and saves them with the field; 4, the Drainage Planner turns the flow lines into a drainage plan you save; 5, in the field on the control module Wi-Fi, add the layers from Map Layers, and Levee, Contour Tiling and Contour-Guided Terracing use the saved LiDAR DEM. LiDAR & Mapping Needs internet Draw the field Up to 800 acres 1 Fetch LiDAR Public elevation data 2 No internet needed Tablet maps the water Flow, low spots, ponding 3 Plan drains Drainage Planner 4 Use it in the field Layers and saved DEM 5

Prepare each field on internet Wi-Fi before you go. Everything it makes works offline on the control module Wi-Fi.

  1. Draw the field. Tap its corners on the map, up to 800 acres. Steps 1 and 2 need internet: farm Wi-Fi or a phone hotspot, not the control module.
  2. Fetch LiDAR. Public elevation data: USGS 3DEP in the lower 48 states, NRCan HRDEM where it covers Canada.
  3. Tablet maps the water. Flow lines, depressions and ponding are worked out on the tablet and saved with the field. Nothing is sent away.
  4. Plan drains. The Drainage Planner turns the flow lines into a plan you save.
  5. Use it in the field. No internet needed. Add the layers from Map Layers, again after each app restart. Levee, Contour Tiling and Contour-Guided Terracing load the saved LiDAR DEM.

LiDAR Drainage Mapping is the feature's name; on the tablet the Home card reads LiDAR & Mapping.

LiDAR & Mapping in the app

Geo-Surface™ owner portal

Map layers

Files

Related

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