Alexander
Wallace

A field guide for land use research in Saint Lucia

Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks

Notes from the field

Alexander Wallace in a warm mood portrait, late afternoon Saint Lucia light, dyed red curls catching the tone

Small habits that have saved me from a misleading overlay or a confidently wrong report. None of them are clever. Most of them are about being honest with yourself when nobody is watching.

  1. 01Always georeference an estate map at the corners of the estate, not at the corners of the page. Pages were trimmed. Estates were not.
  2. 02When two cadastral versions disagree, project both, label both, and leave both visible. Do not pick the prettier one.
  3. 03Walk the boundary if the boundary can be walked. If it cannot, write down why.
  4. 04Photograph the file in the planning office before you photocopy it. Filenames and stamps matter as much as the lines.
  5. 05Trust the foot path that has not moved in fifty years over the fence that has moved in five.
  6. 06Note every assumption you made to make the overlay work. The next person reading your file will need them.
  7. 07If something you draw in QGIS surprises a long-time local, the QGIS layer is the one that needs checking first.

Tools I keep within reach

  • A 30-metre tape — for arguments with my own GNSS reading.
  • A small notebook for assumptions and another for things that surprised me.
  • A printout of the working overlay at A3 — small enough to carry, large enough to mark.
  • Spare batteries. Always.