Researchers Track A Puzzling Pattern Of Tree-killing Insects

This image shows the location of the LIDAR study in the Ozark National Forest near White Rock Mountain. The researchers hope to determine patterns in the red oak borer infestation that may lead to new forest management practices to deal with the beetles.

Credit: Jason Tullis


The red oak borer, a middle-sized, nocturnal brown "long-horned" beetle, lived in relative obscurity in red oak trees in the Ozark Mountains until 1999, when forestry professionals and researchers began noticing oaks dying in droves. When Fred Stephen, University Professor of entomology, and his students began examining the trees, they found them filled with borers.

gement practices.
The red oak borer, a middle-sized, nocturnal brown "long-horned" beetle, lived in relative obscurity in red oak trees in the Ozark Mountains until 1999, when forestry professionals and researchers began noticing oaks dying in droves. When Fred Stephen, University Professor of entomology, and his students began examining the trees, they found them filled with borers.

The red oak borers have a two-year life cycle, spent mostly as larvae that bore into the heartwood of the host oaks. The larvae carve out galleries in the wood, chewing through layers of rings in the middle of the tree and creating small holes.

Most of the time natural controls on population growth, including the defenses that oaks mount, successfully combat the larvae. But an unexplained dramatic increase in larval density -- from an average three or four to a tree to 70 or 80 in a tree -- led to the deaths of tens of thousands of trees.

Then in 2005, the red oak borer population dropped 98 percent, returning to typical levels.

"We're tying to understand why all of this happened," Stephen said.

To do so, Stephen and geosciences professor Jason Tullis have taken their research into the air. Tullis is working with light detection and ranging (LIDAR), which uses pulses of laser light to accurately map a forested area of the Ozark National Forest near White Rock Mountain, where many trees succumbed to red oak borers during the infestation.


The LIDAR instrument, mounted in an airplane, shoots about 50,000 near-infrared laser pulses per second at the earth. Depending on the path of a given laser pulse, up to four return pulses are recorded by the instrument's receiver. In the case of a typical red oak tree, return pulses originate from leaves, branches, the trunk and the ground.


Using GPS, gyroscopes and other instrumentation, the location where each LIDAR return pulse originated is computed, allowing the researchers to study a three-dimensional "point cloud" representing forest structure and terrain. This information will be used in conjunction with field studies to look for patterns that might provide insight into the origins of the outbreak.

"If we could map the vulnerability of these ecosystems, we might be able to determine what areas need extra attention," Stephen said. Practices such as thinning the forest or changing species composition might help create forests less vulnerable to such infestations.

"GIS and remote sensing can help find a pattern, and this can help us understand the underlying science of the ecosystem," Tullis said.



Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University Of Arkansas. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Article source: Science daily

Goulburn Valley Water Improves Efficiency with Customized GPS Software

Guest article from Trimble.
“To the left of the driveway behind the shed.” Imagine how long it takes to locate the water meter on a property when that’s all the information you have about the meter’s location. Now imagine it has been several years since anyone visited the meter at the property, and the shed no longer exists.
That’s a typical dilemma facing Goulburn Valley Water, a water utility located in Victoria, Australia.

Goulburn Valley Water provides urban water and wastewater services to 121,000 people in 54 towns and cities in an area stretching from the outskirts of Melbourne to the Murray River. With 58,000 water meters spread over 20,000 square kilometers (12,000 square miles), checking water readings and maintaining meters is a time-consuming and costly exercise.

Goulburn Valley Water intends to reduce that cost by accurately capturing the locations of all 58,000 meters, and replacing hard to access meters with meters capable of transmitting readings on water usage. Eventually they hope to have whole towns fitted out with this technology, which will enable the organization to obtain hourly flow data from the meters to gain an accurate snapshot of the water network. They will be able to use this information to track down leaks and other problems in the system, leading to better water conservation and management, as well as savings for customers.

“With this technology we’ll be able to get a snapshot of the network at a particular point in time, whereas at the moment we can’t. It’s physically impossible to read every meter in a town at the same time”, says Noel Squires, Information Systems Manager at Goulburn Valley Water. Currently, meters are read every four months. “That means a customer can have a leak for four months and won’t realize it until they get their next bill. This can result in customers paying for water they’re not actually using,” says Squires.

The first step in the project is to find all of the existing meters and record an accurate location so that they can find them again. To do this, Goulburn Valley Water equipped their meter reader field crew with Trimble® GeoExplorer® 2008 series GeoXH™ handhelds and Zephyr™ antennas mounted on rangepoles. They chose GeoXH handhelds because they wanted the most accurate and reliable solution possible. Initially they chose a more complicated GIS data collection solution to run on the handhelds but as the meter readers are not GIS experts they were unable to collect the data they needed quickly and accurately. “It was too complicated. It’s not what they [meter readers] do. We quickly realized it wasn’t something we could just hand over.”

After discussing the problem with the staff at Ultimate Positioning, their Trimble reseller, Goulburn Valley Water was advised to approach Thinking Windows, a software development company dedicated to providing billing solutions to the water industry. Thinking Windows was the obvious partner, as Goulburn Valley Water was already using their AquaRate software. What Goulburn Valley Water needed was additional GPS positioning functionality within the AquaRate software, and the Trimble GPS Pathfinder® Tools Software Development Kit (SDK) provided these tools.

The GPS Pathfinder Tools SDK provides a complete Application Programming Interface (API) that enables third-party developers to integrate GPS functionality into a software program. With just three developers, Thinking Windows was able to use the SDK to produce a reliable application that they named Aquire, for Goulburn Valley Water in just four months. Steve Tearle, Director of Thinking Windows, believes the SDK’s robust API was critical to the team’s success: “It was vital. We wouldn’t have attempted it [the project] otherwise.”

Writing applications for the Windows Mobile® operating system is complex and best practices must be employed, especially for managing memory, to ensure reliable software. The GPS Pathfinder Tools SDK is an example of leveraging these best practices. “We could develop the business application without worrying about low-level coding because the class library provided was so good. You can see this in the field because the end application is so robust” says Tearle. The result is a professional software product that meets the needs of their customer. The Thinking Windows team even provided full product documentation, including help files and training materials.

The Aquire software was a tremendous success for Goulburn Valley Water. With it, the organization is now considering changing the meter reading process so that the meter reader picks up the location of the meter as well as the actual reading. Instead of a complicated user interface, meter readers simply see a big green button on the screen that says “Start”. The training time for the new software is just one hour, and meter readers feel much more confident and are happy to use it.

The faster data collection process is expected to result in real savings for the utility: “Every time you save five seconds, you can multiply that by 58,000” explains Squires. Previously, Goulburn Valley Water used pen and paper to record meter readings and then each meter reader spent up to one and a half hours traveling back to the office to deliver the paper forms. Originally, the organization envisaged hiring two additional staff: one person to coordinate loading the handhelds with data and then postprocessing the data, and another as an additional meter reader. The custom solution meant those two additional staff were not required, potentially saving Goulburn Valley Water ongoing salary and training costs. Instead of having a coordinator in the office, Thinking Windows was able to customize the AquaRate software to send information related to groups of meters to the handheld, which mimic the walk route sequence the meter reader uses. Hence data is collected using the most efficient route, saving time in the field. Using a web service, up to 1000 meters per route sequence are exported to the handheld via a web service from the AquaRate billing system, which uses a Microsoft SQL Server database. At the end of each day, each meter reader sends the data to the office using the GeoXH handheld’s integrated Wi-Fi radio to connect straight to the internet from their home–saving them up to one and a half hours’ travel time each day. The data from their route is uploaded via the web service back to AquaRate, complete with uncorrected position information. AquaRate then uses the GPS Pathfinder Office software to postprocess the position data.

Recently the Thinking Windows team added laser rangefinder support to their Aquire software. The handheld is connected to the laser rangefinder using a Bluetooth® wireless technology. When a meter is located in a spot where GPS signals cannot be received, the meter reader uses a laser rangefinder to “shoot” the position from a known GPS location. Once again, the software user interface has been kept simple, with the addition of a single button to take the laser reading and automatically send the data wirelessly from the laser rangefinder to the handheld.

Goulburn Valley Water is also looking forward to the long term benefits offered by this solution. Over time each meter is intended to be replaced with an RF-enabled meter, which can transmit water usage to a “collector”, an RF-enabled device which collects the data from all water meters within a range of 200–300 meters (650–1000 feet) and sends the information back to the office. The GPS location data they are collecting now will be crucial in designing the network and deciding the most efficient location for each “collector” to be installed.

Satisfied with their meter location solution, Goulburn Valley Water is now contemplating other uses of high accuracy GIS data. The GPS Pathfinder Tools SDK is likely to be an integral part of any future solution, as it enables the simplification of data collection, allowing field crews to stay productive. “You never know when there’s something you’re going to need the location of” says Squires. He too, believes the GPS Pathfinder Tools SDK has been crucial to their success: “It’s the Swiss Army knife of GPS. It’s brilliant!”
Project Summary:

PROJECT: Field Application Development with Pathfinder Tools SDK for Mapping and Reading Water Meters

PROJECT DATE: June 2010

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Mapping 58,000 meters and collecting monthly water usage readings
Custom GPS Pathfinder Tools SDK application makes data collection fast and easy
Wireless data transfer significantly reduces time and fuel costs
Accurate GPS locations will result in better, more efficient network design

THE EQUIPMENT USED ON THIS PROJECT INCLUDES

• GeoExplorer 2008 series handhelds

• GPS Pathfinder Tools Software Development Kit (SDK)

• GPS Pathfinder Office software

• Zephyr antenna

Source

Enmapp Transitions from Traditional GPS Handhelds to TerraGo Edge and Eos Arrow Receivers

Cuts hardware costs by over 75%, dramatically improves pipeline data collection efficiency and customer service for some of the world’s largest energy companies



Enmapp, a leading pipeline services company based in Calgary, has replaced its proprietary GPS handhelds with TerraGo Edge® and Eos receivers. TerraGo Edge is a mobile GPS data collection platform which seamlessly integrates with the Eos Arrow series of GNSS receivers to bring advanced sub-meter and centimeter real-time accuracy to any smartphone or tablet.

Enmapp provides data collection services to energy companies for pipeline construction and maintenance. Prior to TerraGo Edge, Enmapp relied on all-in-one GPS handheld devices, but became convinced the cost, features and performance were increasingly out of line with the mobile revolution fueled by Apple and Android solutions. After an extensive evaluation, Enmapp selected TerraGo Edge and Eos Arrow 100 receiver for a field trial so they could compare their performance against the GPS handhelds.

After downloading the app on the crew’s iPads and pairing the Eos Arrow 100 via Bluetooth, they were up and running within minutes. The results were astounding. Not only did the Eos GPS receiver meet the GPS handheld’s accuracy requirements, in some cases it was much better. The efficiency of the crews was far superior with the native iPad features of TerraGo Edge, versus the old-style stylus and PDA screens of the legacy equipment. The labor costs were also reduced because they were able to use real-time GPS from the Eos Arrow 100 and reduce post-processing. Enmapp declared TerraGo Edge and Eos the clear winner, and have now deployed TerraGo Edge on all field personnel iPads, along with a Bluetooth-connected, sub-meter GPS receiver, the Eos Arrow 100.

“The hardware savings are enormous with the new GPS kit at less than $10,000 compared to the old kit which was over $70,000. But the ongoing reduction of project labor costs is even more valuable over time,” said Lance Fugate, Program Manager at Enmapp. “The cost reductions and efficiency improvements are a game-changer for us. As our industry continues to look for innovation from its service providers, TerraGo Edge enables us to deliver more efficiently. We can pass these savings directly to our customers with each and every future project.”

Try the TerraGo Edge iOS or Android app for free.

About TerraGo
TerraGo develops software applications and mobile apps that make it easy for our customers to collect data, share information and work together anywhere, any time. From sharing feature-rich maps and imagery to deploying on-demand apps for a mobile workforce, TerraGo builds intuitive products that enable collaboration from any place on the planet.

Founded in 2005, TerraGo invented the industry’s most widely adopted geospatial collaboration technology with its innovative GeoPDF products and is revolutionizing field data collection with its TerraGo Edge mobile platform.

TerraGo’s customers include the world’s leading defense and intelligence departments, government agencies, non-profits and commercial enterprises in every industry, with over 2,000 global customers based in over 70 countries and all 50 US states.

About Eos Positioning Systems
Eos Positioning Systems, Inc. (Canada) specializes in the design and manufacture of high-accuracy GPS and GNSS receivers for GIS mapping, surveying and machine control. The Arrow series products are leading edge GPS/GNSS receivers that incorporate bullet-proof Bluetooth connectivity, advanced sub-meter and centimeter real-time accuracy, long battery life and compatibility with every mobile device you use in the field, including iOS, Android, Windows, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.

The Arrow series product line sets a new standard for high-accuracy Bluetooth receivers in supporting multi-constellation (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS), universal Bluetooth (iOS, Android, Windows) and variable-range Bluetooth (up to 1 kilometer) in addition to being lighter and more affordable than any high-accuracy Bluetooth receiver available on the market today.

Eos’ Chief Technical Officer, Jean-Yves Lauture, is the “father of high-accuracy Bluetooth GPS”. He designed the pioneering SXBlue series product line that resulted in thousands of receivers being fielded for more than a decade.

Source

TerraGo Edge® Combines Smart Forms and Advanced GPS to Improve the Speed and Quality of Mobile Data Collection

Version 3.7 includes new intelligent, responsive forms that dramatically improve the speed, quality and efficiency of asset inspections, land surveys and any location-based data collection project




TerraGo, a pioneer of geospatial collaboration and enterprise mobility software, announces the availability of TerraGo Edge 3.7, which features smart forms as well as new GPS features and GIS enhancements.

TerraGo Edge smart forms can dramatically accelerate the data collection process by automating and accelerating user entries while also eliminating any unnecessary or redundant steps. Smart forms can be completely customized to meet the unique workflow requirements of customers in any industry.

TerraGo Edge delivers the best of both worlds to field operations and GIS departments with its open platform design and integration. With the GIS and GPS enhancements in TerraGo Edge version 3.7, field project teams can rapidly collect data with intelligent, user-defined forms, survey-grade accuracy, and custom basemaps, including real-time, cm-level accuracy and ArcGIS® Online custom basemaps.

New features in version 3.7 include:

• Form groups – new form element to organize multiple related fields
• Conditional fields – new attribute for radio button, combo or checkbox so additional fields appear based on user entry
• Barcode and QR code support – instantly scans standard codes and eliminates manual entry
• Repeating fields and groups – new attribute to dynamically “add another row”
• Expand/collapse – new feature to expand or collapse all groups and repeating fields
• Calculated fields – new form element to define a calculated result using other form field values
• Multiple form attachments – ability to attach two or more forms to a single Note
• High Accuracy CHC GPS integration – X20i (Sub-foot (30 cm)), X91i (Centimeter (8mm))
• Esri® ArcGIS® Online enhancements - access to custom maps

“TerraGo Edge’s new smart forms do much more than just transition data entry from pen and paper to mobile devices with advanced features that improve worker productivity, and make data collection faster and more accurate,” said Dave Basil, VP of Products and Services at TerraGo. “Our new mobile form design takes full advantage of the mobile interface to reimagine and reinvent the field user experience for data collection.”

Try the TerraGo Edge iOS or Android app for free.

Learn more about the latest enhancements in the upcoming webinar on September 15, 2015 at 12:00 PM ET. Register Now.

All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About TerraGo
TerraGo develops software applications and mobile apps that make it easy for our customers to collect data, share information and work together anywhere, any time. From sharing feature-rich maps and imagery to deploying on-demand apps for a mobile workforce, TerraGo builds intuitive products that enable collaboration from any place on the planet.

Founded in 2005, TerraGo invented the industry’s most widely adopted geospatial collaboration technology with its innovative GeoPDF products and is revolutionizing field data collection with its TerraGo Edge mobile platform.

TerraGo’s customers include the world’s leading defense and intelligence departments, government agencies, non-profits and commercial enterprises in every industry, with over 2,000 global customers based in over 70 countries and all 50 US states.

Source

TerraGo® Partners with CHC Navigation to Deliver High Accuracy and Improved Productivity to Mobile GPS Data Collection

TerraGo Edge® integrates with high-accuracy, affordable GPS receivers to provide sub-meter and cm-level accuracy to mobile data collection users on iOS® and Android® devices



TerraGo, a pioneer of geospatial collaboration and enterprise mobility software, announces a technology partnership with CHC Navigation that combines the mobile GPS collaboration platform, TerraGo Edge, with CHC’s rugged high-accuracy GNSS systems to meet the needs of the most demanding field positioning tasks.

TerraGo Edge now offers advanced integration and support for CHC’s line of GNSS receivers, including the X20i DGPS and X91i RTK high-accuracy receivers. Bringing cost-effective, half-meter and sub-inch performance to smartphone and tablet users, these compact, cable-free and lightweight units are rugged enough for any field environment.

“TerraGo Edge and CHC are helping lead the mobile GPS revolution with survey-grade accuracy and intuitive workflows at a price point that provides an immediate return on investment,” said Lance André, North American Manager for CHC Navigation. “With our X20i and X91i receivers, users get the accuracy they need with the shortest possible site occupations, making this an ideal high-accuracy companion for TerraGo Edge field users.”
TerraGo Edge meets the needs of GPS users, survey teams and GIS departments while delivering substantial cost savings over legacy technology. The TerraGo Edge app directly integrates with CHC’s GPS/GNSS receivers to give mobile users dynamic monitoring and capturing of high-precision GPS data on iOS® and Android® devices. For GIS departments, TerraGo Edge provides the ability to define minimum accuracy standards, as well as the tools to monitor the data quality while uploading the information to the GIS system of record. Many organizations are able to reduce costs by 90 percent or more by leveraging modern, mobile devices to replace proprietary handhelds.

“TerraGo Edge combined with a CHC GNSS receiver is a superior solution for our customers in utility, energy and other industries that require high-accuracy data collection,” said Dave Basil, VP of Products and Services at TerraGo. “Our integration makes it possible to capture the full fidelity and GPS data record with a user experience and features unmatched by legacy GPS data collectors.”

Try the TerraGo Edge iOS or Android app for free.

All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.


About TerraGo
TerraGo develops software applications and mobile apps that make it easy for our customers to collect data, share information and work together anywhere, any time. From sharing feature-rich maps and imagery to deploying on-demand apps for a mobile workforce, TerraGo builds intuitive products that enable collaboration from any place on the planet.

Founded in 2005, TerraGo invented the industry’s most widely-adopted geospatial collaboration technology with its innovative GeoPDF products and is revolutionizing field data collection with its TerraGo Edge mobile platform.

TerraGo’s customers include the world’s leading defense and intelligence departments, government agencies, non-profits and commercial enterprises in every industry, with over 2,000 global customers based in over 70 countries and all 50 US states.

About CHC Navigation
CHC Navigation designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of professional GPS/GNSS solutions in more than 70 countries. Privately owned with over 800 professionals and local offices worldwide including a full-service office in the US heartland. For more information, visit http://www.chcnav.com.

Source

Trimble Launches VRS Now Service in New Mexico

Accurate and Reliable Centimeter-Level GNSS Performance for Geospatial Professionals





Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today the launch of Trimble® VRS Now™ correction service in New Mexico. The commercial subscription service provides surveyors, civil engineers and geospatial professionals in the region with instant access to Real-time Kinematic (RTK) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) corrections without the need for a base station.

Using both the GPS and GLONASS constellations, the Trimble service delivers centimeter-level RTK corrections customized for each GNSS receiver's location anywhere in the network via cellular communications. The Trimble VRS Now service supplies accurate, reliable and easy-to-use GNSS positioning for a variety of applications including surveying, urban planning, urban and rural construction, environmental monitoring, resource and territory management, disaster prevention and relief and scientific research.

“As we continue to expand our VRS Now network infrastructure throughout the U.S., users in New Mexico now have increased reliability from both GPS and GLONASS corrections to enhance their work,” said Lisa Wetherbee, business area director of Trimble’s Positioning Services Division. “Our suite of correction services offers a variety of performance options, designed to meet the different requirements and budgets of our customers. VRS Now in New Mexico delivers centimeter-level accuracy to a wide range of industry professionals.”

Service in New Mexico is a continuation of Trimble’s focus on providing solutions that enable customers to increase productivity by simplifying access to high-precision positioning around the world. Similar VRS Now services are operating in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Oregon and parts of Europe and Australia.

About Trimble VRS Now

Trimble VRS Now offers instant access to centimeter-level positioning tailored to the users’ geographic location; the service is always on wherever and whenever they need it within the network coverage area. With no base station or setup required, it is cost effective, efficient and simple to use. VRS Now provides positioning professionals with instant access to Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) and Post-Processing (PP) corrections utilizing a network of permanent (fixed) continuously operating reference stations (CORS). Trimble VRS Now can deliver an initialization time of less than 1 minute, enabling work to begin quickly. Professional management and monitoring 24/7 by a global operations team provides peak performance and high reliability.

Availability

Trimble VRS Now New Mexico subscriptions are available now through Trimble’s Authorized Business Partners or Trimble’s online store at: tpsstore.trimble.com. To learn more, go to: www.trimble.com/positioning-services.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

For more information, visit: www.trimble.com.



Contact:

Trimble Navigation,
935 Stewart Drive,
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
United States

Source

Free Field Survey Tools

BY NOAM ROZENFELD




With the immense leaps of cheaper data storage, cellular availability, and awareness toward open source components, the options to create workflows that were traditionally commercial can now be accessed for free.

One of these great leaps is with field survey tools. Once upon a time (around five years ago) a field surveyor would use sheets of paper in which he would fill out pre-defined questionnaires and would use some expensive GPS device to geo-locate his location or write it down. These days, the same methodology would be used, but the hardware would be comprised of some kind of a tablet or a smartphone. But what about the survey itself? How to create a simple and geographical related survey?

Using the next methods I’ve collected more than 700 data points in a four month period using three different surveying tools:

Prerequisites

The matrix of options is endless between the surveyors’ capabilities, the back office tech-knowledge and technology, the equipment to be used etc. So here are (my) ground rules for the mobile form technology:
Free – No licensing required.
Digital – No paper and handwriting so less data loss.
Android based – Cheapest and more varied OS.
No coding and developing – So anyone can create a form.
Easy to deploy – easy to understand and implement.
GNSS integration – so the surveyor wouldn’t need to type his location.
Dashboard view – So it’ll be easy to navigate and browse results for the survey manager
Stable –Dependable and trustworthy.
Offline capabilities – In case we’re going out into the wilds…

As appealing as it might seem, I’ve discarded Google’s form option. The problem is that there are surveys that don’t have addresses to which they can relate, and therefore can’t reverse geocode its data. And as it is today there is no option to simply adding your coordinates automatically to a survey.

The Free Solution

So the option that I found was actually a combination between enketo (https://enketo.org/), Ona.io (https://ona.io/), and ODK (https://opendatakit.org/)

It’s not complex as it may seem.

Enketo is the form technology. If you’re not a programmer, the easiest way to implement it, is to choose the server side interface technology. That would be ona.io (ona.io is one of the free options available to use with enketo. Formhub for example is also a free to use option.)

So, let’s say you want to create a form with some basic functionality, the way to do it will be:
Open account at ona.io
Create a form. Here’s an example of one you can use: http://tinyurl.com/q9lmfcd
Upload it. Done!

You’ll see the web icon lit, and when you’ll press it you’re prompt to enketo – to fill out the details of the form you published. From the example form above, here’s the link: https://mzpli.enketo.org/webform and this is the form itself:

Pay attention – the web url, is the link to the form. You can create a barcode from it, email it, add it on your cellular or tablet main screen. It’s that easy. You can even create an apk from it and disguise it as an app (usingwww.appsgeyser.com for example)

The form above is an easy and simple one. You can create powerful varied surveys, with skip options, drop down lists etc. Check out enekto website for more data.

For us, GIS specialists, I would like address to two things. First, it’s real easy to just activate the GPS during filling a form. Second, the surveyor has the option to draw a polygon or a line. These two options, makes this platform a powerful tool for GIS professionals who needs to work with non-GIS field surveyors.

So why ODK?

The only problem with using enketo, is the location precision. ODK lets you get down to 3-5 few meters (depends on your device) If you want to be more accurate, than you’ll need to use another app – ODK (Play store link:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.odk.collect.android)

After downloading it, you’ll need to configure the source of your form. So for that you’ll need to navigate to “General Settings” and to “Configure platform settings” and fill in the url (https://ona.io/USERNAME) and your user name and password.

ODK works offline, and If you control the surveyors devices completely, like if they are designated tablets for work only, you can configure it so things will be lighter and simpler in the workflow.

ODK first screen when staring any survey:

Dashboard:

The manager needs to have the data secured, immediately, and downloadable. The dashboard in Formhub or Ona.io presents options to view the collected surveys – either as tabular data, on a map or browsing pictures collected. You can download the data to excel, csv and even as KML. You can make the form public, upload pictures to it (useful when there’s a need to distinguish between birds or flower species), and there’s even a sms option (in beta).

Here’s a sample from the downloadable formats available:

Conclusions

Using no code and not a dime, we can now create powerful field survey forms, that allow us collect demographic, and location awareness data. This data can be implemented through a designated app to improve location accuracy (ODK) or through an HTML5 web form (enketo).

Surveys are usually a cumbersome task. Requiring briefings, printing and delivering sheets of forms to fill, and then collect them and QA the data. Going mobile can save potentially 10-20 minutes per each form. Multiply it with the number of forms, and that’s a lot of time and money saving.
All of what I’ve written is based on my own experience as GIS manager. I have no affiliation towards any of the companies listed above.

Source

SuperSurv 3.3 Brings Whole New Experience to Field Tasks

SuperSurv 3.3 for Android, the mobile survey GIS App developed by Supergeo, is now upgraded and released, with new and improved functions. The new SuperSurv 3.3 not only enables users to flexibly apply raster data in MrSID/JPEG2000 formats as the basemap for a wide array of projects, but also supports online maps and OGC online layers, delivering a more comprehensive and sophisticated GIS experience and improving the reliability of data collection and field survey results.



SuperSurv is a mobile GIS App designed for field data collection on both iOS and Android platforms. Integrating GIS and GPS technologies, SuperSurv provides functions like Mapping, Query, Measurement, etc., and supports online and offline basemaps to fit different survey environments. To collect data, just add point, line or polygon features with attribute data in SuperSurv and you can save the data as SHP or GEO formats locally or even in cloud storage. The friendly user interface and easy-to-use workflow allows even a GIS learner to use SuperSurv,and get professional geographic-spatial data collecting tasks completed.



The latest SuperSurv for Android enhances the performance of MrSID and JPEG2000raster layers in projects; resulting in substantially reduced durations for data accessing and caching, as well as supporting the display of multiple files. Also, combining both OGC standard online maps and the ability of SuperSurv to access WMS services enables users to employ a wide variety of online spatial data conveniently and with greater functionality. In addition, the Supergeo developer team has increased language support in SuperSurv in response to global users’ requirements. As the forerunner of mobile GIS,field survey and data collection applications, SuperSurv keeps on improving efficiency, quality and user experience with each update!



Try the perfect mash-up effect of GIS and Field Survey Apps, download SuperSurv on the App Store or Google Play right away!

App Store：

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/supersurv/id734191604?mt=8

Google Play：

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.supergeo.asd.supersurvlite.SuperSurv



For more SuperSurv information, visit Supergeo website:
http://www.supergeotek.com/ProductPage_SuperSurv.aspx

Or contact us with e-mail:

staff@supergeo.com.tw

<img src=http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img661/8671/jwdEaR.png>


About Supergeo



Supergeo Technologies Inc. is a leading global provider of GIS software and solutions. Since the establishment, Supergeo has been dedicated to providing state-of-the-art geospatial technologies and comprehensive services for customers around the world. It is our vision to help users utilize geospatial technologies to create a better world.

Supergeo software and applications have been spread over the world to be the backbone of the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. Supergeo is the professional GIS vendor, providing GIS-related users with complete GIS solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms.



Marketing Contact:

Patty Chen

Supergeo Technologies Inc.

5F, No. 71, Sec. 1, Zhouzi St., Taipei, 114, TAIWAN

TEL：+886-2-2659 1899

Website: http://www.supergeotek.com

Source

TerraGo Launches Affiliate Referral Program to Support Increasing Market Demand for BYOD GPS Solutions

New partner program designed to improve collaboration with GPS solution providers that combine the power of TerraGo Edge on iOS® and Android® with industry’s high-accuracy GPS receivers

TerraGo, a leading geospatial and GPS collaboration company, has launched a new partner program that will benefit GPS manufacturers, partners and ultimately the shared customers that deploy TerraGo Edge® combined with the industry’s most accurate and dependable GPS receivers.

The TerraGo Affiliate Referral Program offers GPS dealers, GIS resellers and consultants the opportunity to partner with TerraGo, the industry’s leading mobile GPS data collection software provider, to gain a competitive edge, drive more product sales and implement more successful customer projects.

In today’s mobile world, more and more enterprises are switching from proprietary GPS handhelds to smartphone and tablets to realize massive cost savings and dramatic productivity improvements. Single-use, GPS devices are increasingly being challenged and replaced with the superior hardware performance and software capabilities of iOS® and Android® devices with TerraGo Edge. Paired with high-accuracy, Bluetooth GPS receivers provided by TerraGo Affiliate Partners, TerraGo Edge can meet or exceed the most demanding user requirements.

“The industry is undergoing a technology transformation, away from outdated GPS devices and towards BYOD solutions like TerraGo Edge which deliver superior performance at a fraction of the cost”, said Summer Benish, VP of Sales Operations and Customer Success at TerraGo. “This program makes it easy to join forces with our partners to give the customer exactly the GPS performance they need with the best receivers and the best GPS collection app available in the market.”

For more information on the TerraGo Affiliate program, click here. To learn more about the program and TerraGo Edge, register for the upcoming webinar, ‘Gaining the Competitive Edge: A TerraGo Affiliate Program Overview’, scheduled for Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 2 PM. Register here.

About TerraGo
TerraGo develops software applications and mobile apps that make it easy for our customers to collect data, share information and work together anywhere, any time. From sharing feature-rich maps and imagery to deploying on-demand apps for a mobile workforce, TerraGo builds intuitive products that enable collaboration from any place on the planet.

Founded in 2005, TerraGo invented the industry’s most widely adopted geospatial collaboration technology with its innovative GeoPDF products and is revolutionizing field data collection with its TerraGo Edge mobile platform.

TerraGo’s customers include the world’s leading defense and intelligence departments, government agencies, non-profits and commercial enterprises in every industry, with over 2,000 global customers based in over 70 countries and all 50 US states.

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