New Zealand Journal of Forestry (1995) 40(2): 21–22
©New Zealand Institute of Forestry

Research article
Three forestry applications of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in New Zealand

Murray Lawrence , John Firth and Rod Brownlie



The authors' experience using a medium-accuracy GPS receiver for locating sample plots in the forest, navigating for an aerial survey, and delineating forest roads is described. The system worked well, provided the satellite's signals were not attenuated by overhead vegetation or the topography, in which case the accuracy dropped and, in some cases, no data was collected at all.

Keywords: Aerial navigation, forest inventory, forest maps, GPS.