[Taxacom] GPS units that record the time a waypoint was taken, accuracy, datum

[Sean Edwards]

An example from the EXIF data of a recent GPS tagged image (Canon EOS with 
Garmin GPSMap):


Latitude 51,8.7942N
Longitude 0,42.73W
Altitude 107.76 m
Time Stamp 14/03/2009, 07:43:15
Speed Ref K
Speed 2/10
Track Ref T
Image Direction Ref T
Map Datum WGS-84
Destination Bearing Ref T
Destination Distance Ref K
GPS Differential 0


Note the difference in decimal points between lat (=4) and long (=2) 
minutes...  Why?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sean Edwards
email: sean.r.edwards at btinternet.com



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Finn N. Rasmussen" <finnr at bio.ku.dk>
To: <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 10:10 AM
Subject: [Taxacom] GPS units that record the time a waypoint was 
taken,accuracy, datum


> Do the programs and gadget that transfer GPS-info to, e.g., cameras,
> also transfer information of the geodetic datum used when recording this
> particular set of coordinates? If not, the accuracy is less than 2 km.
> Many field collectors seem to be unaware of the importance of the
> geodetic datum. When reviewing taxonomy papers that include geographic
> coordinates with great details I always demand the datum [e.g. EUR50,
> WGS84 or RT (if in Sweden)] mentioned, or fewer digits included. It
> often turns out that authors don't know what I am talking about!
> Finn N Rasmussen, Dept. of Biology, Univ. of Copenhagen