Presentation given as part of the EDINA Digimap GeoForum 2013 on Thursday 20th June 2013 at the Congress Centre, London.

1. Fieldtrip GB – a bespoke data
capture app to support field
trips
EDINA – University of Edinburgh
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

2. What does it do?
 All the key features:
 Capture information
 Images
 Audio
 Text
 Location
 High quality background maps
 Saved maps for use “offline”
 Custom data collection forms
 Manual location correction
 It’s Free!
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

3. The Basics
Download: maps and
view captured records.
Login: to a Dropbox
account
Maps: view online maps
or saved ones offline
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/
Capture Data: basic
capture forms and GPS
tracking
Sync: Uploads and
downloads captured
data from Dropbox

4. Why does Fieldtrip GB need
its own map?
Fieldtrip GB
OpenStreetMap
Google Maps
OS OpenData
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

5. The Mapping
 Strategi
 Vector Map District
 Natural England
 OS Street View
 Land-Form PANORAMA
 OpenStreetMap
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

6. Urban vs. Rural
Quality Mapping in all
locations:
 One mapping stack for both
urban and rural environments
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/
 Mapserver 6.2 Masking

7. Why save maps to the
phone?
 No need to be online to
view maps
 Streaming maps uses data
allowance
 Maps load faster from
memory
Offline Mapping
Preview Map:
Shows the detail
of the mapping
for your location.
Zoom Levels:
Set the number of zoom
levels you want to download
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

8. Authoring tool
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/
Drag and drop:
 Easy to use form
builder

9. Custom Forms
Easy data management:
 Consistent terms
 Single data structure
 Set increments aid estimates
 Reduced errors
 consistent errors at least!
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

10. Capture Data
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/
Update the location:
 Urban canyons can confuse
the GPS
 Remote data entry from
hilltops can be carried out
Fill in the form:
 Drop down menus are quicker
than typing
 Sliders can also speed data
entry

11. Edit & Share
Easy Data Sharing:
 Sync to upload data
 Filter data by form name
 Visualise your data on a
basemap
 Edit collected data
 Export to kml, GeoJson,
csv, wms*
 Share maps through
Dropbox
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

12. Workflow
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/
•Get a new Dropbox account to share with your team
•Download Fieldtrip GB to your devices1.Before you start
•Log into the Authoring Tool
•Create a custom form and save it2. Design your form
•Get the team to log into the Dropbox account
•Use Sync to get the form on their devices3. Share the form
•Collect data using the form
•Manually correct remote points or in urban canyons4. In the field
•Connect to WiFi
•Get the team Sync to upload the data5. Back indoors
•Log into Authoring Tool
•Filter by form name and edit points if needed6. Manage your data
•Export to a KML file, GeoJSON, CSV or WMS
•Map the points in Google Earth, OpenLayers or a GIS7. View the results

13. How it all works
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/
PCAPI
Personal Cloud API
Drop
Box
Flickr
Google
Drive?
Secure
HE/FE?
Your Cloud Space
EDINA Services
Custom
Forms
Record
Viewer
Publish
Records
AuthoringTool
FieldTripGB

14. Architecture
Service Architecture:
• Apache web server
• MapCache (Tile cache)
• Python WSGI (PC API)
• Citrix Netscaler load balancer
• VSphere VMWare (SUN X4150
cluster)
Map Generation Architecture:
• OpenStack private cloud
• Apache Web Server
• MapServer 6.2
• MapCache seeder
• PostGIS
App Architecture:
• Data storage outsourced
• PhoneGap
• OpenLayers
Why PhoneGap?
• OpenLayers library more versatile
• Easier to implement custom forms
• Lower costs
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

15. Future Directions:
We are planning…
 Capture map and annotate
 Photo sketch capture
 Augmented Reality captures
 Strike and dip measurements
 Ambient noise capture
 3D point cloud capture
 Dichotomous Keys
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/
but you decide…

16. Questions?
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

17. The Fieldtrip GB Team
 Ben Butchart ( Project manager)
 Addy Pope ( Product design)
 Murray King ( Engineer)
 George Hamilton (Engineer)
 Panos Terzis (Engineer)
 Michael Koutroumpas (Engineer)
 Tim Urwin (GIS / Cartography)
 Fiona Hemsley-Flint (GIS / Cartography)
 Jackie Clark (Graphic Design)
http://fieldtripgb.blogs.edina.ac.uk/