Another Mapping iPad App to List - GIS Kit

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm looking into mapping solutions for an iPad 2. I listed apps I had tried and got lots of retweets from the post. I think there's a lot of interest in the geospatial community in finding an app that can meet the needs that I stated yesterday: create new data; accurate location; import maps; export map data; and use a pen.

An app not on the list is GIS Kit by Garafa. When I heard about it last summer or fall, I had already been well into the project and I ran out of funding for apps. Plus, the cost is high. GIS Kit is $99.99 (for iPad and iPhone) and the higher-end version, GIS Pro, is $299.99 (also for iPad and iPhone). There is an educator's discount, however (50% discount for purchases of 20 or more copies). But thanks to the kindness of Garafa (and from a little Twitter outreach), I was sent a promotional copy to test out. There. Full disclosure.

The iTunes page for GIS Kit is accurate (click on More...). You really don't, in my opinion, need previous GIS experience to use GIS Kit. Check out the match up between GIS Kit and GIS Pro (scroll down) to see the featured left out of GIS Kit.

From their site: "The ‘Kit’ version of this software is intended to allow individuals to collect accurate & sophisticated field data without being tied to an expensive server or IT unit. Anyone can easily create their own feature classes & datasets and use them to gather & interpret useful data in the field."

If you want to import rasters and export shapefiles and CSVs, you'll need the 'Pro' version. If you're good with exporting KMZ and GPX, then the 'Kit' version may be for you.

I uploaded GIS Kit to an iPad (with 3G turned back on) and figured out how to use it relatively quickly. Here's some of what I observed in a pretty short test run.

Adding your own data points, as above, is quite simple. There's a lot of templates, many natural sciencees-related, already within the GIS Kit app that makes data collection easier. You can also, through iTunes interface, add shapefiles and KML/KMZ files. Above is a hydrography shapefile for the state New York, colored blue. It loaded somewhat slowly but loaded nontheless.

This is a simple line file showing the Bing Image basemap...

...and Google Satellite basemap, same location. There are many other basemap options. I still like to import my own USGS topo quads for the area I'm mapping (I tried last night and it didn't work), but that will require the 'Pro' version. For Poughkeepsie aficionados: Notice the Bing image above shows the Arlington District prior to the roundabouts going in and the Google image for the same intersection, but with the (awesome and totally safe) traffic circle, corner of College View and Raymond. I digress.

Exporting: The point file and the line file shown in these images easily exported as KMZ and opened in Google Earth. It will also open in ArcGIS or other geospatial programs. I could email the files to myself or copy them over from iTunes on my computer.

The above and below images are screen shots from my Grenadines KMZ work. I tried with other apps (listed yesterday)  to upload my project KMZ and couldn't get it to work. This Grenadines project, which has multiple layers and sublayers, opened rather easily and looked great, if I do say so myself.

This shot is of shallow water habitat, dive sites, and shipping lanes near Mayreau.

GIS Kit never crashed. I still need to really get out in the field and kick it around a bit, but it looks like GIS Kit is the closest thing to a smooth and easy mapping application that I've come across. It's just not free. But 'free' wasn't on my list, right?

More to come.

iPad Investigation - Field Mapping on an iPad 2

In June 2011 I had access to an iPad 2 with 3G connectivity. I used it on a summer project with a student to  investigate whether the iPad 2 could be used to collect geographic and geologic field data.  The student was making a geologic map of a summer camp and the idea was to do a head-to-head test using the new iPad 2 and a tablet PC while he mapped. Prior to the project, in January 2011, I put out a call on a GIS list and on Twitter to see what was being done with iPads and mapping. Not all that much. “But keep us posted.” Long overdue, here is some of what I found out.

To make a long story short, the student and I decided to forgo the match-up investigation and just map using the tried-and-true tablet PC. It just works and there was limited time to do the mapping.

First, let me state that the goal of using an iPad 2 for field mapping is to 1) create new data on the device,  those data can be points, lines or polygons; 2) locate ourselves fairly accurately from within the app (using the 3G); 3) load maps (shapefiles, KML/KMZ and/or raster maps) that we want to use as a basemap; 4) export our points, lines or polygons as shapefiles or KML/KMZ; and 5) use a pen (aftermarket purchase) to tap and draw points, line and polygons.

Now, for what we did find out about using an iPad for field mapping. The work is on-going, by the way. But we are giving a poster at the northeast GSA on what we did find out, geologically if not technologically.

Purchased (or free) apps that have GIS/geospatial capabilities or potentially so:
ArcGIS - A visual aid, nothing more. This make no sense to me. I cannot make or create any new data on this app. Why, ESRI? Or is that Esri? If I’m wrond, please let me know. (free)
Avenza PDF Map - Has potential to allow for data creation. “Dropbox integration. Easily export and import maps and waypoints to and from Dropbox.” I would like this to work. (free)

EarthObserver - Good for educational purposes. ($0.99)

Google Earth - A visual aid, nothing more. Can there be a Google Earth Pro app some day? Please? (free)
GISRoam - A GIS that I couldn’t get to work. This app is free, but to make your GIS data available you need to purchase a subscription on their server (free app - subscription is about $20, I think)
GPSNote - Add a note in geospace. Not all that useful. (free)
KMZ Loader - Loads Google Earth KMZ files for use in other apps. Couldn’t figure out the usefulness of this one. (free)
QuakeWatch - Good for educational purposes. Real-time EQ information. ($0.99)
Terrapad Lite - Free, but has ads. “Terrapad gives you the flexibility to enter, query, modify and export your geographic data” This app has potential but kept crashing. (free)
Terrapad Pro - “The pro version is also more feature-packed allowing Shapefile import and export, GPS tracking, raster map imagery, spatial queries, detailed information about geometries and a host of other features. All extensions are free in Terrapad Pro.” Sounds good, right? This was very crashy. Please send information on how to use it! ($49.99)

 

Geology NY - It was recommended that I get this one because I live in New York and the mapping was to be done in NY. It was not all that informative but might be useful for educational purposes. (iPhone app only $9.99)
Star walk - Love this! But it’s not a mapping app. Never mind that, if you’ve got 3G on your iPad, take it out in the evening and look to the sky! Very fun and certainly educational. ($4.99)
Strike and Dip - Works great. Forget your Brunton Compass and take your iPad (or iPhone (this is an iPhone app) Save outcrop fieldnotes to the app and send them to yourself or to someone else on the mapping team. ($4.99)
Strike Line - Also works great for getting a strike and dip, or trend and plunge, minus the note-taking feature. (free)

Compass HD - This is a compass. (free)

Emerald Observer - I’m not recalling why I bought this app. I don’t see it listed on the iTunes store anymore but I paid $0.99. It may have been replaced by the Emerald Chronometer HD. A watch on your iPad. ($4.99)

Coordinates - “Coordinates makes it a snap to convert between the three formats for latitude and longitude: decimal degrees, degrees and decimal minutes, and degrees-minutes-seconds.” So useful! ($0.99)
iCMTGIS - This is a real GIS. And it really worked. It was not elegant to use but it did do mapping. And the cost cannot be beat. Here was a nice tutorial showing how to iCMTGIS provided by John Van Hoesen, a professor at Green Mtn College. (free)
iGIS for iPad - “iGIS represents a new era in mobile GIS solutions by enabling users to load, view, investigate, create and export their own data over a background of Google maps satellite imagery.” I couldn’t get this to work. Would love to have some help on this. (free for a limited time(?))
MotionX GPS Drive - Useful for replacing your in-car navigation system. ($2.99)
MotionX GPS HD -  Same as above? Not sure the difference. Sorry about that. ($1.99)
MapBox - This is a GIS. “MapBox has a suite of open source map-making tools. Use this app to take your maps offline and on the go.” I want this to work. Can’t figure out how to do that. (free)
iSeismograph - An educational tool for showing students how earthquakes are measured “using the internal G-Force Sensor.” ($0.99)
Theodolite HD - This app allows you to take photos that encode the direction that you are viewing, levels out the shot, which is really useful for field work. “Theodolite is a multi-function augmented reality app that serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer.” Their words, not mine. I like using this app. Example below. ($3.99)

Keep in mind that, if you’re using an iPad for field work, you should buy a case, ideally a rugged one. Check out this one. I saw these for sale at Best Buy. Also, you need a 3G data plan and the minimum cost per month for that is $20.

One very unfortunate aspect of using an iPad for field mapping is the tie you must have to a desktop (or laptop) machine. The apps are housed on your office Mac or Windows PC and so are your data. If you want to upload more data (or download them) you have to go back to that computer. If I’m wrong about that, please let me know because I found that to be a total hassle. I did not have my home computer (where I downloaded the apps to) out in the field with me.

I will continue to hone in on how to use the iPad for mapping, but for now, this is the update.

Geospatial Data Collection on an iPad 2

I picked up the latest ESRI ArcUser magazine and saw that there's an article called "Developing a Custom ArcGIS Application for the iPad 2." This is a great new development and something that I've been anticipating for a few months now. I just want someone else to develop that app. The writer explains how to develop your own mobile app but I think I'll just wait until it's available on iTunes, thank you very much. Readers of this blog have expressed an interest in mapping on an iPad so everyone should go check out the article. It's free.

I did notice one early comment that the writer made and should be mentioned. He talks about how the rise of iPads and mobile internet and geolocation all in one, may spell the demise of the PC (I guess he means Windows machines). He says: "Using ArcGIS on a mobile device in the field, in combination with geolocation (GPS), provides the context missing from existing GIS interaction." Missing? Not when you're using the original Windows-based tablet PCs in the field. GIS interaction in the field has been available on a mobile device since the early 00s. But perhaps the writer means missing from the "I-hold-the-internet-in-my-hands" iPad tablet PC.

But anyway, this is promising for those who wish to map using their iPad 2s.

Geospace: Parking Lots

Reading David Tulloch's blog I was reminded of the New York Time's piece on parking lots that was pretty interesting for its geographic component and its environmental analysis. The photos are from the article's slideshow. 

Parking lots seem to be a necessary evil. The necessity is that all of us have, like, 1and 1/4 cars each and we have to drive the dang things and put them somewhere...while we...shop and eat!  The evil is that the massive expanses of concrete cover up the soil making rain water infiltration impossible; flowing water on concrete creates the real problem of urban flooding; the edges of parking lots are encrusted with petroleum (and salt in the northeast) run-off; and in my neck of the woods (Dutchess Co, NY (featured in the Times article)), snow removal maintenance is nightmarish as mammoth mounds of gray ice take months to melt. The article discusses "dead" malls, like the one a few miles down the road from where I live (picture of the Hot Dog van above), which dot the landscape. Not only is the empty mall building part of the impermeable footprint, but the unused parking lot is as well. It's hard to see anything beautiful in a parking lot.

Below is the other, better, bigger, more lasting mall near to where I live...The Galleria.  Fringing this mall, you can see what the Dutchess County landscape once looked like. 

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Marine Turtle Migration Game

I like to point out geography-infused games on this page. Here's one I heard about on the Google Lat Long blog that crosses two of my interests: marine turtles and the Caribbean. The wonderful organization WIDECAST and Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire have developed a game (thanks to Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant) for middle and high school students. They can choose a sea turtle and predict where it will end up after the nesting season for the chance to win prizes. It seems like the game might (currently) be only available to students on Bonaire) but here's the link to get more information about the Sea Turtle Game. Contact them. Maybe they'll see the demand and want to open the game up to more people.

This is from the Previously tracked Turtles page:

"Since our satellite-tracking program started in 2003, we have tracked 21 adult turtles as they returned to their resident foraging grounds.

It is likely that these turtles were born on Bonaire many years ago, yet now live all around the Caribbean.

From our tracking program, we know that our adult turtles can live as far as 2200 kilometers away and as close as Los Roques, only 175 kilometers to the east."

I heard about this thanks to a tweet from ikiMap.