Dry Valley Ecosystem Resilience

International Center for Terrestrial Antarctic Research

Welcome to the DryVER GPS Tool, created by the International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research (University of Waikato, New Zealand) as part of the Dry Valley Ecosystem Resilience project (funded by the New Zealand Government). The main purpose of the DryVER GPS Tool is to provide visitors (both scientists and tourists) to the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica with information that helps them better understand the requirements and restrictions within the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) Antarctic Specially Managed Area Manual.

Features of the DryVER GPS Tool include:

  • 1:50,000 topographic base map
  • Landsat satellite imagery
  • Locations and boundaries of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs), Scientific Zones, Restricted Zones, Facility Zones, and Visitor Zones
  • Geofenced warning with proximity to Restricted Zones and ASPAs
  • Specific ASPA maps
  • Geological maps
  • Surface sensitivity maps
  • ASPA Management Plans and the McMurdo Dry Valleys ASMA Manual
  • The ability to import and export ESRI shapefile, GPX, and KML files

The software is based on Oruxmaps and contains custom data and features for use in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. A complete user manual for the Oruxmaps is available in a number of languages from here. Be aware that the Oruxmaps manual is specific to the latest version of Oruxmaps and may contain features not present or different from the DryVER GPS Tool.

Latest Basemaps for the DryVER GPS Tool (02/07/2021)

Landsat Satellite Basemap LINZ Topo50 Basemap

Sourced from the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) Data Service and licensed by LINZ for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence..

Overlays

ASPA 250m Buffer KML ASPA KML Landscape Sensitivity Zone KML Aquatic Sensitivity Zone KML ASPA 250m Buffer KML GNS Geology KML

Sourced from GNS Science and licensed by GNS for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.

Other data

The McMurdo Dry Valleys ASMA Manual and Maps

Download and extract this zip file (PDFS.zip) into the DRYVER folder in the internal shared storage on your device. You may need to download a file manager, and the ASUS File Manager is a good free option. The final path for the extracted folder should be “Internal shared storage>DRYVER>PDFS”. Once installed, the McMurdo Dry Valleys ASMA Manual and maps of various Restricted/Scientific/Facilities Zones and ASPAs can be accessed under the "Documents" dropdown menu. Additionally, you can make your Preliminary Environmental Evaluation form (PEE) accessible if it is placed within the PDFS folder with the name PEE.pdf