GPS & DNR Garmin Tutorial

DNR Garmin Software The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources developed this software program to easily transfer GPS data into GIS software. It serves mostly as a data transfer tool that speaks to both your GPS unit and to the GIS program. To read about the program in more detail and to download the program you can follow this link: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/tools/arcview/extensions/DNRGarmin/DNRGarmin.html Below are steps to follow for a few commonly used tools in the DNR Garmin software package and are relevant to your use of GPS units both in the field and office.
Connecting to your GPS Unit

Before you can use any tools in the MN DNR Garmin program, you must connect the program to your GPS unit. 1. Open DNR Garmin program 2. Turn on your GPS unit and connect to your computer via USB (or other port) 3. Click on GPS on the main menu and go to 'Auto Connect to GPS'

4. Once the program is connected, you will be able to upload and download data to/from the unit.

Setting DNR Garmin Properties

When using DNR Garmin program, you can set properties that will influence your way your data is uploaded and/or download between your GPS unit and ArcGIS. 1. Open DNR Garmin 2. In the main menu, click on File and go to 'General Properties'

3. Set the properties for: units; projection; fields in the waypoints, tracks, and routes that you import; and ArcMap properties.
Exporting data from GPS unit to ArcGIS

Follow these steps to download data collected with your GPS unit and convert into a shapefile to use in ArcGIS. 1. Open MN DNR Garmin program and connect to the GPS unit (steps above)

2. There is the option to download waypoints, tracks and routes. On the main menu, click on one of those 3 options (depending on what was collected in the field) and go to 'Download'

3. The program will automatically download the data from the unit. All points are displayed in the table in the DNR Garmin window 4. Above the table, you will see that either waypoint, track or route is highlighted. 5. The next step is to convert the data into shapefile format. There are other format options available as well including .dbf, .kml, .txt, and .gpx, among others. 6. On the main menu, click on File and go to 'Save To' and then 'File'

7. Navigate to a folder to save the file and be sure to specify what file type you want save the file as (most likely a projected shapefile) 8. If you are importing a 'track' it will ask you to specify the geometry type of the shapefile point, line or polygon. Choose one and click OK

9. A pop-up window will appear that lets you know the file has been saved successfully. 10. If you have waypoints, tracks, and routes repeat the steps above to download individual files for each. 11. Open ArcMap and overlay your GPS files with all other GIS files.