Collaborative Mapping with Collector--Selfie contest during COVID19
Collector is a free app that allows you to collect or update your geospatial data with any iOS or Android device directly into your ArcGIS Online account. It allows you to log your current location and put the data you capture to work so you can make more informed and timely decisions. It allows you to use maps anywhere to ground-truth your data, make observations, and respond to events. It makes collecting data with a group of people very easy.
1. How to Install
iOS Devices:
Go to the App Store and search for "collector". Download the application to your iPhone or iOS tablet.
Android Devices: Go to the Play Store and search for "collector for ArcGIS." Download the application to your Android device.
2. Accessing ArcGIS Online in your device
Make sure Location services are enabled for your device.
On your mobile device, open the Collector application. Click on Sign in with ArcGIS Online.
Click on Your ArcGIS organization's URL. Type Clemson in the box. Click on Clemson University. Log into your Clemson University account.
You will see a list of web maps that have been shared with you. Tap once on Quarantine_web_map to open it.
The map should open showing a basemap and this dataset:
Quarantine_selfies - selfies or pictures of our lives during COVID19. This can be a picture of your yard, your dog, a tree, or any other thing you want to map.
3.1 Creating new features in a Collector Web Map: People, trees, dogs, our roommate, etc.
The Quarantine_selfies feature service has been published in ArcGIS Online as a service that can have its feature attributes updated. All collaborators can create, update, and delete new features. To create your first point, zoom into the location that you have selected.
Tap the + sign in the middle top (iOS) or bottom (Android) section of your screen. This will allow you to create a new feature. Since the only layer in our map that has that permission is the Tree layer, this is the only one available for editing in your screen.
If you are indoors, a new screen warning you of Poor Location Accuracy appears. Click Settings and move the required accuracy to 100m and click OK.
Update all the attributes for your example tree:
Select whether the tree is Deciduous or Evergreen. Once selected, another screen will appear with the other attribute data.
For Type, leave your initial selection (Deciduous or Evergreen) unless you made a mistake, in which case update it.
For Species, type the name of the species you think it is (does not need to be accurate, make your best guess!).
Enter the Diameter for your tree at chest height in cm. (Again, your best estimate).
Select a Condition describing the overall health of the tree: Good or Poor.
Enter any relevant Notes. For example, if the tree is in poor condition, describe what is wrong.
Under Mapped by, type your full name.
Once all these attributes have been filled, your screen should look similar to:
iOS
Android
The dataset has been set up so that attachments can be added. This can be a picture taken with your device's camera or other files.
Click the camera icon (iOS) or the paper clip (Android) icon at the top/bottom of the screen to take a photo of your tree. A new window appears:
If you have an iphone, tap Add under attachments and select Take Photo or Video.
If you have an Android device, select Camera in the Add attachment from window.
Click Use Photo or the Checkmark at the bottom right of your screen. This will attach the photo to the tree location and attributes. Click Done (iOS).
Now we need to place the tree on the map. It will be added where you tap on your screen.
Tap the Map Icon at the top of your screen to open the map again. Tap on the screen to drop the point. You can tap multiple times to move it. Use the aerial imagery, if needed, to help you place it in the field.
When you have placed the tree, click Submit (iOS) or Done or checkmark (Android). This will send updates and post the attachments to the collective map.
Updates can take a little bit of time to post, depending on your wireless connection. Make sure your edits are saved after each data point collected. To ensure that your latest update gets posted, close Collector and open it again. Navigate to your map and look for your edit. You should see something similar to the screens below:
iOS
Android
When you click on your added new tree, notice the pop-up window has the attachment, but the photo is not visible. You can change this later on the map view in ArcGIS.com, selecting Configure pop-up and making sure linked attributes are visible.
Now go out in the field to your claimed cell and map some trees!
4. Creating your own Collector Web Map: Animals
You will be creating your own features for data collection: animals at Clemson! In order to do this, you will go through the following steps.
4.1 Creating the datasets, fields, and domains in ArcGIS Pro
Open ArcGIS Pro and follow the steps below:
- Log in using your Clemson Enterprise login.
- Create a new ArcGIS Pro project on your User (U:) drive titled Field_Data_Collection using the Map template.
- In the Catalog panel, navigate to the project geodatabase (Field_Data_Collection.gdb). Create a point feature class:
- Animals. Add two fields: animal_type (text) and notes (text).
- Add the feature class to the map and open the attribute table.
Now we will restrict the data entry for these two fields by creating domains at the geodatabase level. Let's do this for the first field, animal_type.
- In the Table group at the top of the screen, click View. In the Field group, click Fields. The Fields view will open next to the Attribute Table.
- In the Domain column, double-click in the cell in the animal_type row to open a dropdown menu. Click on < Add New Domain >. The Domains view opens.
- Fill out the columns with the following:
Domain Name: animal type
Description: Type of animal observed
Field Type: Text
Domain Type: Coded Value Domain
Split Policy: Default
Merge Policy: Default
On the right-hand side of the Domains view, you will see two additional columns: Code and Description. You can type in these columns to populate the domain with values. The code is the actual attribute stored in the table. The description is text which can help interpret the code. Oftentimes, it is advantageous to have codes which may not be easily interpreted. In our case, the code and description will be the same.
- Click in the Code column and type squirrel. In the Description, type squirrel.
- Repeat this process for several other animal types you might find around Clemson.
- In the Changes group on the ribbon, click Save. Close the Domains view.
- In the Changes group on the ribbon, click Save once again. Close the Fields view and the attribute table.
Congratulations. You just finished creating the template for data collection on your feature class.
4.2 Publishing your feature classes as services in ArcGIS Online
Now that that the animal feature class is complete, you need to publish it to ArcGIS Online so Collector for ArcGIS can access it.
- Right-click on the Animals layer in the Contents pane and select Sharing > Share as Web Layer.
- Fill out the required information for the new feature service:
Name: Animals at Clemson by **Your Name**
Summary: Feature layer for mapping animals observed around Clemson's campus.
Tags: animals, Clemson, field data collection
Layer Type: Feature
Share with: Everyone
- Click Analyze to check for any errors which will prevent publishing, then click Publish.
5. Creating the Web Map for Data Collection in the Field
Now that your dataset has been published to ArcGIS Online, you need to enable editing on the feature service so that changes can be made. After that, you will create a web map that contains the layer which will be opened in Collector.
- Go to Arcgis.com and sign in with your Clemson account. At the top of the page, click Content.
- Click on the dataset you created: Animals at Clemson by **Your Name**. You should see the words Feature Layer (hosted) next to the dataset.
- In the upper-right corner, click on Settings. Scroll down the page and click to check the box next to Enable editing. Review the other options, then click Save.
- Click on Overview at the top of the screen to return to the previous tab. Under the word Layers, you should see the name of your dataset in blue text. Click Enable Attachments which will allow photos to be saved with each dataset.
- Click Open in Map Viewer. This creates a new web map with your layer already added. Change the basemap, if desired, and zoom in to Clemson.
- Click Save > Save. Enter the required information:
Title: Animals at Clemson Map by **Your Name**.
Tags: animals, Clemson, field data collection, Collector
Summary: Map for marking animal sightings using Collector.
- Click Save Map.
Congratulations. Your map is ready for use in Collector. Go to your mobile device and try opening your map to record a new feature!
