Vol. 54—2000 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

AUTOMATING MONITORING OF ROADSIDE WEEDS
N.P. Cam', K. McKague\
L. Kingston', and S. Struger'
ABSTRACT
An integrated system was evaluated for monitoring of roadside weed locations and related
features, incorporating global positioning systems (GPS) for locating the sites in the field and
geographic information systems (GIS) for storing, managing, manipulating and displaying the
data. Weed areas, desirable vegetation, water features, culverts and sensitive adjacent land use
were recorded. Methods of recording various roadside features as polygon, linear or point data
were explored. Two systems of collecting the information were compared - a polygon, fieldbased
collection system and a linear, vehicle-based collection system. Data collected can be used
for planning of roadside vegetation management operations, contract management, quality
control, and for communication of vegetation features to staff involved in planning, design and
construction.
'Cain Vegetation Inc., 5 Kingham Road, Acton, ON L7J 1S3
'Ecologistics Limited, 490 Dutton Drive, Suite A-I, Waterloo, ON N2L 6H7; current address:
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 1 Stone Road W., 3rd Floor, Guelph, ON,
NIG4Y2
'Roadside Vegetation Management Section and Geomatics Office, respectively; Ontario Ministry
of Transportation, 301 St. Paul Street, St.Catharines, ON, L2R 7R4
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