Trimble Pathfinder to GRASS

[cameron at ogg.stl.dec.com]

G'day from down under,

Problem Statement

        Need hints on what programs in GRASS to use for this task,
        and a sequence of operations that would be optimal.

History

        I've wandered over a block of land with a Trimble Pro XR DGPS
        generating 6327 data points following roads, fences and other
        interesting features.  The data is accurate to .75m - it was
        real-time differential corrected.  The data includes elevation.
        I've installed GRASS 4.1 on a DIGITAL UNIX system and a DEC
        Ultrix system.

Task

        Plot the path of a proposed access road so as to minimise cost
        of construction and cost of maintenance.  The road should be
        short enough to be cheap, and yet not so steep as to cause
        maintenance problems after the five yearly heavy-rainfall event.

        I am buying the block of land to live on, moving out in two
        years, and I'd like to take a first cut at this path before
        I involve road contracting surveyors.

Problem

        How do I get the data into GRASS?  I've finally managed to get
        point data in as sites by using s.menu to import it in ASCII
        format from Trimble's Pathfinder software.

        The Trimble software has also generated for line and area
        features what it calls ASCII exports for GRASS, but I'm at a
        loss for how to import them.

        I can create maps in my mapset, but how do I make them
        permanent?

Looking forward to any replies.  I've been listening on these two
distribution lists for about a week now.

I'm a software engineer, so I can understand most things as long as I
have the words defined.  I like bicycles too.  ;-)  [ref grassp joke]

--
James Cameron                                    (cameron at stl.dec.com)
Digital Equipment Corporation (Australia) Pty. Ltd. A.C.N. 000 446 800