In one of my blog entries, I discussed the way I save my lunchtime walking course at the ESRI Denver office as a saved track on my GPS receiver. What is the easiest way I can map this course? The easiest way is to use a web-based, Flash-enabled GIS on the web, ESRI’s ArcWeb Explorer. ArcWeb Explorer is really a showcase to help people understand what web-based GIS services are and how to use them. However, it is also a very useful tool for education, enabling an educator or student to quickly map his or her own data, as well as make satellite image, shaded relief, or even choropleth maps of census variables, as Tom Baker and I have described in the lesson “ArcWeb Explorer—Flash Based GIS on the Internet” on http://www.esri.com/arclessons. No software, other than a web browser, is required to do make all of these maps.

How can you use ArcWeb Explorer to map your field data? First, use a program to transfer your GPS track to your computer. I used the Minnesota Garmin DNR program to save my track as a comma-delimited text file. Open your points in Excel, which pulls up the text import wizard. Indicate that the text is delimited and that the delimiter is a tab, as follows:

After saving your file as an Excel spreadsheet, navigate your web browser to ArcWeb Explorer, http://www.arcwebservices.com/awx. Use the “Find” widget, select the “Find in Excel spreadsheet” tool, navigate to your Excel file, and select “OK.” ArcWeb Explorer maps all of your points onto a shaded relief, road, choropleth map, or satellite image map, such as the one shown below.

This field coordinates map provides instant gratification and is an excellent introduction to the power of the combination of GPS with GIS. To map the attributes of your field data, or to hyperlink your field data to videos or photographs requires a logical progression to the next level of tools, such as desktop GIS—ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education (AEJEE) or ArcGIS.

- Joseph Kerski, ESRI Education Manager