101/10/14, Andrew Tokmakoff

Collecting DataMobile field data collection with prescribed methodologies

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Objectives of this talk

✤ Gain an overview of what (mobile) field data collection means and what it can offer.

✤ Understand why you would collect your field data using mobile technologies.

✤ Benefits and Challenges of mobile field data collection.

✤ Familiarise with the AusPlots solution (Field Data collection App).

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What do we mean by “mobile field data

collection”?

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‘Traditional’ field data collection

✤ Out in the field, pen and paper.

✤ Data entry back in the office

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Mobile field data collection

✤ On-site electronic recording of collected data.

✤ Data curation (if necessary) back in the office

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Mobile field data collection: Benefits

✤ Less data-entry drudgery back at the office (but more in the field?)

✤ Less chance of transcription errors (handwriting legibility)

✤ Collecting highly consistent data (which is easier to curate and to analyse)

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Mobile field data collection: Costs

✤ Potential for slower collection of data (slow and unintuitive User Interfaces, bugs).

✤ Screen visibility in high sun and robustness of hardware in harsh conditions (consumer vs ruggedised).

✤ Time and effort required to select a solution and to customise it to own needs.

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The ‘R’ word…

✤ So, what are your “requirements”? Scoping is key.

✤ Cost-benefit trade-off

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Considerations

✤ Complexity of collected data

✤ availability of “commercial” off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions vs custom

✤ relations between data items and associated integrity of data

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Considerations

✤ Data collection turnaround times

✤ are there data consumers waiting on you?

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Considerations

✤ Importance of data ”cleanliness”

✤ i.e. costs of “clean” data collection vs subsequent curation and cleansing.

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Considerations

✤ Do you have external tools or other software systems that expect your data in a certain format?

✤ i.e. analysis tools, data warehouses, archives

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Considerations

✤ Where is your data going to go? Will it be shared/published/backed up?

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Typical scenarios

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✤ Pen and Paper with laptop (spreadsheet or database)

✤ Off-the shelf App on mobile device

✤ Custom App on mobile device

Decision time..!

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The AusPlots Approach

SystemArchitecture

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cronInternet

DataUpload

Apache/PHP

Field App

Web-based Admin Interface

(Cloud) SWARM Server

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Field App: what is it, and who is it for?

✤ It’s an (Android) mobile application that electronically collects field data according to the AusPlots data collection specification.

✤ Who wants it? Anyone (i.e. ecological scientists and assistants) who:

✤ collects, manages and shares AusPlots field data

✤ wants to minimise data entry errors and transcription effort

✤ wants the data to be automatically archived for easy use later on.

Field App: Plot Creation

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Field App: Site Description

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Field App: Veg. Vouchering

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Field App: Point Intercept

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Field App: Basal Wedge

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Field App: Structural Summary

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Field App: Plot Upload

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Data Management: Curation

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Field App

Web-based Admin Interface

cronREST/JSON

Apache/PHP

(Cloud) SWARM Server

✤ Apache/PHP web “site”provides a User Interfacefor data curation.

✤ Allows “cleaning” of data and entry of new items such as herbarium determinations.

✤ Soils 2 Satellites offers visualisation

✤ (e.g. for land managers, consultants)

✤ Aekos offers raw data access, data enrichment and search

✤ (e.g. for ecological scientists)

Publishing: 3rd parties

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Field App

cronREST/JSON

(Cloud) SWARM Server

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A demo of the App

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Benefits and Challenges

✤ Benefits:

✤ Speed of data availability

✤ Integrity of data

✤ Challenges:

✤ getting the UI right; resistance when it is slower than “recording audio with subsequent data entry”.

✤ dealing with legacy data at the same time as introducing new tools.

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Looking ahead…

✤ New Woodlands and Forests modules w/ protocols

✤ veg condition and Fauna likely to be first

✤ iOS support

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General Recommendations

✤ Try to think ahead, but avoid gold-plating and over-engineering.

✤ Take some time to design your schema / tables.

✤ Add some mechanisms to “enforce” your data cleanliness.

✤ Assume you will need to iterate.

Summary

✤ Have a good think about your genuine requirements and your budget…!!

✤ The AusPlots Field Data Collection App has been used to collect field data from over 250 (of 450) plots.

✤ It has been developed iteratively, based upon experience from field use.

✤ It produces “cleaner” data than existing techniques.

✤ Data is uploaded to a server and is curated there.

✤ A “demo version” of the App is being developed forgeneral availability

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Any Questions?

andrew.tokmakoff@adelaide.edu.auAusPlots and ATN Technical Lead

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Andrew Tokmakoff