Real-Time Geospatial Data Collection and Visualization with Smartphone

Abstract

The development of the Global Navigation System and wireless networking technologies have changed the way we live, communicate, share information and even the collection of geospatial data in the field. Along with wireless networking technologies, the improvement in computational power of handheld devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs) and netbook computers allow field users to connect, store and stream large amounts of geospatial data from the web-server. Nowadays, geospatial data collection is more flexible and timely manner. In this paper we discuss field data collection using a smartphone and web-based GIS system, which collects, integrates, visualizes and analyzes the collected data in real-time. We built a web-GIS system for creating a user account, acquiring coordinates from GPS embedded devices or wireless access points, and providing a user-friendly survey form. The collected data can be visualized and analyzed by performing thematic mapping, labeling, symbolizing, querying and generating a summary report. We tested this system on a university campus management system, in which we collected information on illegal disposal sites and parking events within the university campus.