SOP #02: Using a GPS, Navigation & Measuring Techniques, Version 1.3. Vegetation Monitoring Procedure for the Southern Plains Grassland Protocol
Owen M. 2025. SOP #02: Using a GPS, Navigation & Measuring Techniques, Version 1.3. Vegetation Monitoring Procedure for the Southern Plains Grassland Protocol. Southern Plains Network, National Park Service
This Standard Operating Procedure explains how to use a GPS, as well as navigational and measurement techniques necessary for the specialized equipment used during grassland monitoring in the parks of the Southern Plains. As field personnel, monitors must be able to use a GPS to navigate over open terrain, determine distances traveled, and plot transect locations on a map. The following sections discuss the correct use of three of the basic tools used by monitors in the field—a GPS, a compass, and a clinometer— as well as some basic mapping techniques for locating and mapping transect locations in the field. Information and graphics for this SOP are from the 2003 USDI-National Park Service Fire Monitoring Handbook (USDI NPS 2003). This version will be implemented during the 2026 field season. Note that version 1.1 listed in this new 1.3 version was never published and was not used during a field season. Version 1.2 and this version 1.3 contain all changes that were made in 1.1.
- Type
- Standard Operating Procedure
- Authors
- Owen, Merran
- Date of Issue
- 2025
- Publisher
- Southern Plains Network, National Park Service
- Units
- SOPN
- Keywords
- grasslands, monitoring, sampling, SOPN, Southern Plains Network, vegetation
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Fire and Fuel Dynamics | Fire and Fuel Dynamics