[Taxacom] gps records: why precision counts, antweb

[Donat Agosti]

Antweb.org just created another landmark with the integration a mapping tool
creating the most stunning results.

See for example on antweb.org bioregions, Madagascar, Madagascar species
list, metapone madagascarica, map it and zoom in.

What you see are the single collecting points of Brian's and his colleagues
collecting sites in Madagascar, right on the spot few meters of the track.
If you look at the small fragments he sometimes collected in, it becomes
clear, that only the best GPS resolution can live up to the latest technical
developments google is delivering. A georeference for an area where things
are to be collected isn't good enough anymore. 

It also shows the limits of all the records we now try to georeference,
whereby we end up with minutes, or about a radius of more than 2km error,
not to speak of the inherent error introduced by the inference of
geolocations from label data.

Brian's (and in fact Dave Thaus' as well) landmark is not just the
integration per se, but that he has now over 120 sites collected in
Madagascar with precise geolocations and standard protocols applied on each
site. 

Donat





Dr. Donat Agosti
Science Consultant
Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History and Naturmuseum der
Burgergemeinde Bern
Email: agosti at amnh.org
Web: http://antbase.org
Blog: http://biodivcontext.blogspot.com/
Skype: agostileu
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