Cloud GIS: Mobile Data Collection & Web App Development

We have been interested for some time in using our offline mobile editing app in combination with Esri’s Mobile Collector App to build a storymap. This years Esri UC gave us the perfect opportunity to do just that. More than that our intrepid CEO – who was planning to be in San Diego – was up for the challenge. So we packed him off with instructions to visit two towns in the San Diego area and collect data.

Our goal was to build two storymaps which were focused on the military banners campaign that a number of cities have put in place. These campaigns involve hanging banners in key streets in the city honoring veterans of foreign wars. We chose Escondido and Chino Hills for this work; giving our CEO careful instructions.

We adapted one of the Esri storymaps for this task, following carefully the instructions for the data schema. Once ready we published two hosted feature services to ArcGIS Online; and created web maps for each. In the field our CEO logged into the respective web map with the collector app, and edited away. He moved from one banner to the next, taking photos and recording information about each honoree; notably the name and service. In a number of cases he found Wi-Fi connectivity spotty. In these cases he switched to using our offline mobile ArcGIS Online data editing app. And uploaded the results when back in Wi-Fi range.

In the end he managed to collect nearly 50 banner data points. And while he was busy at the Esri UC we prepared the storymaps. The Esri storymap templates are easy to work with we found. They use responsive design, so work and look good across devices: PC, laptop, tablet and smartphones.

The story map template we used also allows family members to add more detail about the honoree (in the ‘more details’ pop up). Link to the applications by selecting the image above.

Overall this proved to be an easy and quick exercise in data collection – in connected and disconnected modes – and application development. Our next goal for the apps, is to provide additional information to veterans on local resources particularly relating to jobs and housing, as they return to civilian lives.

Tags: Android, Apple, ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS.com, Connected, disconnected, editing, ESRI, IOS, military banners, storymap

Categories: ArcGIS Online, cloud GIS

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