GIS Equipment

GPS Base

Toolik Field Station maintains a continuous GPS base station for use by the Toolik community and the general public. The base station runs continuously year-round with files permanently archived and available for download through this website. See the Base Files page for DAT, SSF, and RINEX file downloads.

Antenna geodetic 1 Antenna geodetic 5 Antenna geodetic 6 Net R8

Receiver: Trimble NetR8 Survey Grade w/internal batteries, external power, internal storage, web interface

Receiver Antenna: Trimble Zephyr Geodetic 2 ROHS w/TZGD Dome, w/ 30m cable

Radio: Pacific Crest RFM96W, 2 watt and 35 watt toggle, Astron 12V 2.5A power supply, broadcast frequency: 464.500MHz, broadcast antenna: Base Omni 5dB

Computer: Dell PowerEdge 2400, Pent III, 1GHz, 1Gb RAM, Linux Fedora

Software: Custom File Conversion Script - UNAVCO

Mobile GPS Base

Toolik Field Station provides a mobile GPS base station with radio link for RTK for use by the Toolik community on an as needed basis. The base station can be set up over known benchmarks or post-processed for base coordinate solution.

2005 mobile base 2 2005 mobile base 7 2005 mobile base 8 5700 mobile base

Receiver: Trimble 5700 Survey Grade w/internal & external batteries, Sandisk 128mb flashcard

Receiver Antenna: Trimble Zephyr Geodetic, w/ 30m cable

Radio: Pacific Crest RFM96W, 2 watt and 35 watt toggle, Astron 12V 2.5A power supply, broadcast frequency: 464.500MHz, broadcast antenna: 1m 5dB Whip or 10cm rubber

Method Typical Accuracy Occupation Time Typical Applications
Continuous < 0.5cm Months or more Crustal deformation, geophysics, reference stations

Survey Grade Rover

Toolik Field Station provides survey grade field GPS services for registered users, administrators and managers. Accuracies range from greater than 10cm to sub-centimeter depending on distance from base station and field method (see tables below). Applications include but are not limited to: Stream channel morphology, Archiving of research plot locations, Facility / building survey, Localized, fine-scale DEM creation, Long-term glacial and tectonic monitoring, Precise landscape metrics

5700 rover 1

Receivers: Trimble 5700 Survey Grade w/ internal/external batteries, Sandisk 128mb flashcard

Receiver Antennas: Trimble Zephyr Kinematic/Geodetic and Trimble Zephyr 2 Kinematic/Geodetic, w/ 10m & 1.6m cables

Receiver Controllers: Trimble TSC2 and Trimble TSC3 w/ 2m cable

Bipod/Rangepole: Trimble 2m carbon fiber

Radio: Pacific Crest RFM96W, 2 watt and 35 watt toggle, receive frequency: 464.500MHz, receive antenna: 1m Whip & 10cm rubber

Method Typical Accuracy Occupation Time Typical Applications
Static 0.5-5cm Hours to days Crustal deformation, geodetic control, very long baseline surveys, geophysics
Rapid static 1-5cm Minutes Short baseline surveys, glaciology
Kinematic 1-5cm Seconds Short baselines, closely spaced points, vehicle positioning, feature surveys, GIS and mapping

Mapping Grade Rover

ToolikGIS provides a range of mapping grade receivers for use by station residents, administrators and managers. These are suitable for myriad applications, and all support the use of data dictionaries, allowing the user to enter field measurements and various attributes while recording the features in the field with the GPS. Data dictionaries can be customized to meet the users' field needs and offer very flexible and efficient data capture. With minimal processing after the user returns from the field, the data can be distributed in a variety of formats including tabular (e.g. excel), GIS (shapefile, coverage), or delimited text. To check out a GPS unit please go to the equipment page on the .  

GEO XH

 Receiver A: Trimble GeoXT, with 2m antenna (Windows Mobile)

Receiver B: Trimble GeoXH, with 2m antenna (Windows Mobile)

Receiver C: Trimble GeoXH, with 2m antenna (Windows Mobile)

Receiver D: Trimble GeoXH, with 2m antenna (Windows Mobile)

Receiver E: Trimble Geo7x, with 2m antenna (Windows Mobile)

Receiver F: Trimble Geo7x, with 2m antenna (Windows Mobile)

Receiver G: Trimble Geo7x, with 2m antenna (Windows Mobile)

Receiver H: Trimble Geo7x, with 2m antenna (Windows Mobile)

Method Typical Accuracy Occupation Time Typical Applications
Code differential 50-300cm Seconds Coarse GIS, mapping, positioning
Carrier differential 15-100cm Minutes GIS, mapping, positioning

Recreational Grade Rover

ToolikGIS provides limited support for registered residents who bring their own recreational grade GPS units to the station. We can help users configure their GPSes and ensure that they are set to the appropriate coordinate system/datum for use with maps, coordinate lists and waypoints while they are working at Toolik. Users are expected to have and maintain any software required for their units, and to perform their own waypoint / data entry from information provided by Toolik GIS.

 Garmin eTrex Garmin gpsMap Magellan Meridian Magellan Sportrak

Method Typical Accuracy Occupation Time Typical Applications
Point positioning 100-800cm Minutes to hours Rough positioning (uncorrected)

High Resolution Bathymetric Unit

ToolikGIS provides a high resolution bathymetric unit that we use to collect bathymetric data in lakes, streams and ponds around Toolik Field Station for registered users, administrators and managers. After data processing, ToolikGIS can use this data to create 2D and 3D bathymetric maps for use in field work or publications. Depth range for this unit is reported to be 0.3m - 75m.

Bathymetric Unit
Dimension Typical Accuracy
Vertical 1cm / 0.1% of depth
Horizontal 5-30cm