GIS For Biologists: Tip #23 – How To Set Your Smart Phone To Record High Resolution Spatial Data

Collecting high resolution spatial data for use in biological research used to require the purchase and use of a dedicated GPS receiver. However, almost all modern smart phones contain GPS receivers, and by downloading and installing a suitable app, you can turn your smart phone into a fully functioning GPS receiver.

However, before you can use any smart phone app to record spatial data for biological research, you need to ensure that it is collecting high resolution spatial information based on its GPS receiver, and not low resolution spatial information based on other methods of geolocation (such as nearby wifi signals or cell phone towers).

This video shows you how to set up an Android smart phone so that it only records high resolution spatial information that is suitable for use in biological research. Similar steps will need to be taken with smart phones which use other operating systems before they are used for biological data collection.

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