Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Services

General Introduction to GIS

“Everything happens somewhere”. Whether it is where wildlife lives, sites being developed, surveys being undertaken, bats roosting, birds feeding and breeding, rain falling, rivers flowing, all of these things happen somewhere. How they happen, the impacts of their location on what happens and how what they do impacts on their immediate locality are all essential aspects of understanding the geographical elements of wildlife and ecology.

Wildlife Services & Associates is a mapping and locational analysis consultancy which provides the geographical missing piece to wildlife and ecological assessments. Whether it is providing a map of ecological interest or analysing large volumes of data relating to specific locations, we help put wildlife and ecology on the map.

Wildlife Services & Associates provides a flexible personal service with an in depth knowledge of all aspects of GIS, spatial analysis and map production. Bringing over 25 years of experience in the spatial analysis of environmental and land management information, we can provide the missing piece to the jigsaw of making sense of the vast amount of information that we find ourselves having to deal with.

Wildlife Services & Associates uses a wide variety of GIS software in delivering GIS solutions and has extensive experience in using ArcGIS and all its associate add-on extensions (eg. 3D Analyst, Spatial Analyst, Network Analyst), MapInfo and QGIS.

As well as providing mapping and locational analysis for a wide range of projects, Wildlife Services & Associates can also deliver bespoke training courses on using GIS for both absolute beginners and more experienced users. Whether you are new to GIS and mapping or want to make the most of your mapping facilities you already have, then we will be able to provide the support you need.

Wildlife Services & Associates also offers extensive experience on all aspects of spatial data management from designing and implementing organisational spatial management procedures through to the purchasing and management of external data provided by suppliers such as the Ordnance Survey, Emapsite and Landmark information.

Simply email us with your requirements for anything GIS

There are 4 general works areas where GIS could be of value to you:

Asset Mapping – whether it is sites, properties or locations of monitoring equipment, mapping their location to provide a single map overview of asset distribution can easily be provided and kept up to date (eg. Mapping of locations of nature reserves, land parcels, locations of data loggers within a single site)

Site Mapping – If work is being undertaken at a particular location, detailed maps of the site, its general location and specific items of interest within the site can be mapped. This can be done using existing free mapping data provided under the OS Opendata license, or for more detail and accuracy, OS mastermap data can be purchased for the area concerned. Aerial imagery can also be used as a basis for mapping, either to provide a contextual backdrop for wildlife areas where OS mapping doesn’t provide sufficient ecological detail, or as a basis for doing ‘desktop’ habitat and land use mapping.

Locational contextual mapping – For sites where information on the surrounding geography is needed, a variety of maps can be provided specific to your interests. For example: Mapping of Natura 2000 sites in proximity to a site; Current and future planning policies impacting on the site or neighbouring areas; Identification of possible polluting industrial sites in proximity to a wildlife site

Socio-demographic assessments – eg. How many households with young families live within 30 min drive time of a proposed nature reserve?

Data analysis and representation – If considerable amounts of data are being collected from data loggers or other surveys or there are sites where a number of data loggers are being used, efficient analysis of the data and presenting this on a map can help make sense of the spatial patterns and variations that may be present in a survey. Whether it is analysis of records from Anabat loggers or just interpreting ‘walk over’ surveys, mapping the results to show patterns and variations across a site can give insights that spreadsheets and tables just cannot provide.

Examples of previous work include:

Phase 1 habitat maps – Mapping and area calculations for current habitat types and areas lost through re-development
Analysis of data logger data – mapping counts and species types at multiple locations or multiple time periods
Identification of ‘protection areas’ to avoid sensitive species disturbance for site developments (eg. Windfarms)
Site geometrics – calculation of site area and perimeter for costing of fencing. Identification of topographic parameters (max height, height range, slope angle aspect.

Simply email us with your requirements for anything GIS

Possible questions to ask yourself to establish scope for GIS mapping work:

Are you managing multiple locations? – eg. several sites or multiple survey locations within one site?
If site based work, does the site have habitat/land use variations within it? Would it be useful to know the location and size of these?
Is survey work being carried out at multiple locations or across the whole site? (eg. data loggers at more than one location, phase 1 habitat / NVC surveys.)
Is the purpose of the study to identify patterns or variations within the site?
Is work being carried out as part of a formal investigation? (eg. EIA, Planning application) If so accurate and appropriate mapping will be required
Is the work being undertaken for a third party ‘end client’ which requires data being provided in a digital or GIS format?
Have you been provided with data in a GIS format that can’t be made use of as the required software isn’t available?
Do you already have GIS/mapping capabilities? (eg. ArcGIS, MapInfo, QGIS, Google Earth)
Would you value bespoke training to enable you to make the most of the mapping capabilities you already have?
Do you already have mapping data available for a site? (e.g. have you already purchased OS mapping data on which other data needs to be added)
Do you need provision of mapping data for your site or area of interest?
Would you value a full ‘equipment and data analysis’ package? e.g. provision and set up of survey equipment and initial data analysis and mapping of results?

If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes” then there is likely to be some service that Wildlife Services & Associates can provide to help you.

Simply email us with your requirements for anything GIS

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