|
Introduction
What's New?
Presentations and Publications
Use Cases
Hardware
Software
Data
FAQ
Participants
Contacts
Acknowledgements
|
Software
Below are some examples of software packages of
interest to the GeoPad community. They are arranged into the
following general categories:
ESRI offers a broad suite of Geographic Information
System (GIS) applications. (Many universities and government labs
already have site licenses for the software and, therefore, you may find
you already have "free" access to it.) While we have experimented with many of ESRI's
GIS products, including
ArcView, ArcPad, and
ArcGIS, our efforts have focused on the
stand-alone versions of ArcGIS/View (8.x and later) for the GeoPad and ArcPad
(6.0.x and later)
for the GeoPocket.
MapIt
is another option which focuses specifically on combining the power of
GIS and TabletPC digital ink. We haven't had a chance to try it
out extenstively yet, however, it looks very powerful and promising.
It integrates a number of desirable features all in one page, such as,
GIS, digital ink, and linked notes.
For an off-the-shelf solution with commercial
support ArcGIS and MapIT are excellent solutions;
however, there are also free GIS applications that are worth
considering, particularly if cost is a critical issue.
MicroDEM is one great example. Well-integrated TabletPC or
PocketPC pen-based mapping capabilities, however, are generally still on to-do lists
for open-source GIS software.
In early versions of ArcGIS we had to
create our own custom TabletPC mapping capabilities using
ArcObjects; however, with the
release of ArcGIS 8.2, integrated support for TabletPC "Digital Ink" and
real-time GPS became available through the TabletPC and ArcGPS Extensions for ArcMap.
As of ArcGIS 9, the functionality of these two extensions has been
directly integrated into the core
capabilities of ArcMap.
This significantly reduces the "computer-savviness" threshold required
for adoption, as it effectively eliminates the need for programming
skills, while at the same time resulting in an easy-to-use, intuitive tool for both
novice and advanced geoscientists with widely varying computing
backgrounds.
 We have
also evaluated ArcPad for use
with PocketPCs, a.k.a., the GeoPocket. ArcPad provides a
significantly reduced set of mapping functionality, commensurate with
its reduced hardware capabilities. The main difficulty with integrating
the GeoPocket in education settings is the reduction in screen
real-estate, which generally proves too significant to support useful
educational mapping activities. In such settings the necessity of
viewing observations within the framework of a sufficient level of
contextual information is very important. For advanced users, as in
research settings where the user already possesses strong spatial
reasoning skills and is intimately familiar with the subject matter,
then a GeoPocket platform offers an suitable highly portable,
inexpensive solution. For novice users, when the focus is on data
collection and interpretation in a spatially-simplified context (e.g., a
magnetic or gravity survey along a transect, orienteering exercise),
then the limited capabilities of the GeoPocket are sufficient for the
task.
 In
our pilot study of teaching geologic mapping using the GeoPad, the primary ArcGIS component students encountered was ArcMap.
We customized the ArcMap interface to provide a single toolbar
containing the necessary functionality to support our geologic mapping
exercises (e.g., tools for outcrop, strike-dip, fault, fold,
observation, foliation). We also relied on the Tablet PC
Extension's support for digital ink to provide intuitive, free-hand data
entry for objects like outcrops, contacts and fault lines. And, to integrate
real-time GPS data, to aid students in determining their location on the
maps, we used the ArcGPS Extension. [As of ArcGIS 9, the
functionality of the Tablet PC digital ink and ArcGPS extensions have been directly incorporated
into ArcMap; if you
are still using ArcGIS 8.x, then the extensions can be obtained free-of-charge
from ESRI.]
 Customized
ArcMap project files, with pre-configured symbologies and appropriately
clipped contextual data layers (i.e., DRG - topographic map, DOQQ -
aerial photography, and DEM - digital elevation model) were supplied to
the students as the starting point for each mapping exercise.
(In courses where teaching GIS skills is part of the curriculum,
students can learn to assemble the projects themselves.) Data collection was also simplified by creating custom personal geodatabase
files, using ArcCatalog, for each project, which use database domains to pre-defined the
suite of formations and features anticipated in a particular mapping
area, therefore, enabling intuitive data entry via drop-down menus.
 Students were also introduced to ArcScene,
which enabled them to explore their observations, in the context
of topographic maps, aerial photographs, etc., within a 3-D
framework. This allowed students to directly view and work with their
observations and supporting data in a 3-D environment while still in the
field area. The most recent versions of ArcScene (in ArcGIS 9) supports
both the traditional "2.5-D" as well as true, stereoscopic 3-D
visualization environments. The figure at the left shows a 2.5-D
view of a scanned USGS Geology Quadrangle, while the image to the right
is a screen shot of a
student's outcrop observations overlain on an aerial photo, both draped
over a 10-meter DEM. (Note that this mode of 3-D viewing is
directly compatible with the Geowall; therefore, enabling you to
incorporate your GIS data directly into the classroom without any
conversion or modification.) By using ArcScene in stereoscopic-mode and
providing students with easy-to-use
Pokescopes or
"Red-Green/Red-Blue" glasses, they have access to true
stereoscopic 3-D visualization and
manipulation capabilities directly in the field.
In the summer 2003 geologic mapping case study, we
used ArcGIS 8.3 Service Pack 2, with the TabletPC and ArcGPS ArcMap extensions.
For our summer 2004 work, we upgraded to ArcGIS 9 Service Pack 1, which
incorporates the functionality of these extensions directly into ArcMap
and adds stereoscopic 3-D to ArcScene. In Summer 2005 we moved on to
ArcGIS 9 Service Pack 2, and most recently this Fall we have migrated to
ArcGIS 9.1.
Our initial efforts during 2003 used Windows Journal as the digital
field notebook. Subsequently, with the release of OneNote, as part of
the Microsoft Office suite, we have switched to that application, which
offers significant advancements in functionality.
Some of the key
features of OneNote as a field notebook include:
- very easy, simple, and intuitive to use all around
- intelligent recognition of text/image "blocks" for
easy reorganization of notes by dragging-and-dropping
- ability to
insert white-space anywhere on-the-fly so you don't have to cram
missed information in between or out of order
- typical suite of digital drawing tools
- simple screen-clipping support for annotation of information from other sources, such as
documents, figures, digital camera images
- linking of notes to locations in ArcMap
- hand-writing recognition works quite well; however, there is
generally little desire or need for this capability in our uses
cases, students and researchers should be able to read their own
hand-writing [Note: you should install
Windows XP Tablet PC Service Pack 2 to access significant improvements
in hand-writing recognition
capabilities.]
Examples of OneNote use as a field notebook by 2004 student's :
  
A wealth of GPS utilities exist for various GPS-related tasks.
One of the more important tasks is to share data from the GPS
simultaneously with multiple applications.
- Xport
- We've been using Xport3 to share our Xplore's xGPS with
ArcGIS/ArcMap 9.1, DeLorme Topo USA 5.0, DeLorme Street Atlas
2005, and Microsoft MapPoint North America 2004.
There are a variety of easy-to-use, commercially available GPS
mapping applications that generally include a digital data base layer of
some kind:
There is a wide variety of stereonet software out there, from fully
featured commercial packages to some really nice freeware and shareware
products. We generally use one of the following packages:
-
Stereonet by Rick Allmendinger (free for academic use)
SpheriStat 2.2 supports stereoscopic viewing of stereonets, however,
it has not been updated recently and the demo does not appear to run
under Windows XP.
Visit the
Geowall website for links to
a variety of interesting -- and generally free -- advanced software
packages for data
analysis, visualization, and exploration.
Also, note that
ArcScene, as of ArcGIS 9, has integrated support for stereoscopic viewing
on a GeoWall, which enables you to work directly with your
GIS data in stereo without requiring any additional software or data conversion.
Miscellaneous software of interest:
- MathJournal -
"math and equation" hand-writing recognition software from Xthink.
A great way to introduce advanced modeling exercises into the field
setting; simply using Excel in the field also works well for that.
|
