I presented this at GIS for Transportation Symposium, Nashville, TN in 2007. This presentation is about Custom ArcPad (GPS) Forms that cuts the time to collect data to half or even less. I developed this custom ArcPad forms in VBA and ArcPad Studio and can be used to collect any type of environmental/transportation data

1. Custom Forms in ArcPad for
Wetland Data Collection and
Report Creation
Time and money saving tool to
collect data and create reports
Pallab Ghosh Choudhuri
Email: pallabgc@balke.com

2. Environmental Services
• NEPA Documentation
• Waterway Permits
• Ecological Survey
• Air Quality and Noise
• Wetland and Stream Mitigation
• Environmental Site Assessment

3. Custom Forms in ArcPad for
Wetland Data Collection and
Report Creation
Time and money saving tool to
collect data and create reports
Pallab Ghosh Choudhuri
Email: pallabgc@balke.com

4. Overview
• Conventional Old Ways to delineate wetland
boundaries & fill out forms
• ArcPad way to Data Collection
• ArcPad Application Builder
• Custom forms for Wetland Delineation and Data
Collection
• Generate and Print filled out forms
• Advantages of Custom Forms
• Room for Improvements

5. Traditional Field data
Collection
Collection
Problems:
• Cumbersome paper field maps
• Exact location of study area boundary
• No reference layers available
• Fill the forms in office from handwritten notes
• Error prone process of filling out data forms
• Time Consuming process of filling out forms

6. ORAM Form v5.0
ORAM Form v5.0

7. Wetland Size
Buffer and Surrounding
Land Use
Hydrology
Habitat Alteration and
Development

8. Special Wetland
Plant Communities,
Interspersion &
Microtopography
Grand Total

9. Routine Wetland Determination
Data Forms
Data Forms

10. Enter Species Name:
Scientific Name,
Common Name,
Indicator Status,
Percent Aerial Cover
and Ranking of
Percent Aerial Cover

11. Dominant Plant Species
Hydrology
Soils
Wetland Determination

12. GPS Handheld: Trimble GeoXT
• A high performance & reliable GPS
receiver with submeter accuracy
• Microsoft Windows Mobile v5.0
software, allowing flexibility in
software choice
• 512 MB memory plus removable
SD memory
• Bluetooth and wireless LAN
connectivity options
• Rugged handheld w/all­day battery
Source: www.trimble.com

13. Role of ArcPad
Source: www.esri.com

14. ArcPad Application Builder
ArcPad Application Builder
• Design custom forms to streamline data
collection and ensure data integrity in the
field.
• Create new toolbars that contain built­in
and custom tools.
• Build applets for field specific applications
and tasks.
• Write scripts that interact with ArcPad
software's internal objects.

15. Custom Forms in ArcPad for
Wetland Data Collection
Wetland Data Collection
• Developed in ArcPad
Application Builder
• ArcPad Layer File (APL)
saves the basic form layout,
any scale dependencies,
labelling option and layer
display
• VB Script file saves how the
form would interact with the
user

19. Report Generation in MS
Access
Access
• ORAM and Wetland Determination Forms
created in MS Access and made to look
like the original form
• Report linked to Shapefile database
• Print out the database

20. Advantages of Custom built forms
rd
• Data Collection to Form printing takes 1/3
time now
• No More
– dealing with cumbersome paper field maps
– eyeballing features study area boundary in
the field
– Inaccurate data collection
– Typos and wrong calculations
– Data input back in office
– Lost field notes or reading other’s handwriting

21. Room for Improvements
• Interface to show arcpad and Access in
the same format
• Use contour files to determine stream
slopes in HHEI forms
• More control over printing selected
wetlands