Apple - MacGeospatial - GIS

GIS Kit, finally something good for the iPad

Finally I see a really attractive application for iPad Oriented to capture GIS data in the field.

Gis kit ipad

The tool has potential for many things, and leaves in Apps I've tried as GaiaGPS, GIS4Mobile, ArcGIS for iPad and GISRoam; The latter is powerful but unfriendly to work with and more focused on analysis than capture.

GIS Kit is a development of Garafa.com, the makers of GPS Kit. It comes in two versions: GIS Kit and GIS Pro; basically the difference for now is in the handling of .csv data, bluetooth transfer, sharing feature class datasets and export to shape files; in the rest of the functionalities they are similar. The price of the Kit version is at $ 99, the other is to be defined in the next 5 weeks according to its authors.

Let's have a look to see if it's worth it:

 

1. Deployment of data with GIS Kit

The organization structure is based on projects, which then include layers that with a simple drag of the fingers can be controlled with respect to priority, transparency or off / on. Very practical and simple, you can create, copy, move layers. You can also define as many attributes as necessary including photography type; that can be taken directly in case of using iPad2 or choose from the image directory; apart it supports list (combo box), boolean (check box), date, url, phone number, among others.

Gis kit

As for the appearance of the layers, it is quite intuitive, allows you to choose the width of the border, color, line type in a simple and good looking.

As background maps, it is far beyond what I was expecting:

  • Google maps, in Street, Satellite and Hybrid forms.
  • Bing maps, in street, satellite and Topo forms.
  • Open Street maps and Open Topo maps.
  • The Pro version will support WMS.
  • Also georeferenced orthophoto if carried Loaded in a kmz file.

Best of all, it can be cached to view it offline when going to the field without an Internet connection.

 

2. Data collection in the field

Gis kitIt is possible to measure distances between two points, or in a multipoint route. These can be displayed in meters, yards, feet, and nautical miles.

Supports coordinate systems with lat / long and UTM. It also has USNG and MGRS which are the widely used systems in the United States, almost identical to the WGS84.

In the place where you are positioned, it shows data such as heading, coordinates, speed, etc. But apart from that it can capture data with the GPS that it has inside, for this it does not require an internet connection, but a normal signal like any GPS. Remember that the capture of a GPS point is not an exact measurement, but an average of a series of measurements in the form of pulses. GIS Kit has options to capture data by filtering criteria. 

  • Filter by distance. It can be told not to capture data if there are no maximum offsets of a certain distance.
  • Filter by time. You could tell it to capture data every few seconds, no matter if there is scrolling no no.
  • Filter for precision. You may be prompted to only capture data when a precision range is exceeded.
  • Ultra precise filter. This is a functionality that Apple offers to application developers, in which the process forces the device to search only precise information and not simple keystrokes.

Capture can be points, lines, or polygons, depending on the layer settings in use. Once the object is captured, a panel is displayed to enter the data.

 

3. Data editing

Once the data has been collected, not only the alphanumeric ones but also the geometries (line, point, polygon and tracking) can be edited. Even a polygon can be partially surveyed with GPS and the rest can be pointed, very practical to combine GPS with photo interpretation when detailed conditions allow it.

 

4. Supported formats.

This has a good rhythm, although it must be clarified that it is a GIS capture application, so CAD, or analysis should be done from the desktop.

Import and export data of ESRI (.shp), Excel (.csv), Google Earth (kml / kmz) formats and also obtained with other GPS in exchange format (.gpx), I refer to these programs, although these can be generated almost with any current GIS application.

The case of kmz is interesting, which has become a much more attractive format than the old shp, since it supports data such as photographs associated with a field and even georeferenced orthophotos and more than one kml in the same file. This format is also recognized as an OGC standard and supports 32 bits, which surpasses the archaic native tables .dbf although in terms of attributes it requires some xml skill.

Layers can be transferred via email, iTunes, Bluetooth and iCloud.

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Conclusion

In short, the best I've seen so far to take advantage of an iPad in the field. It looks straightforward and potential for practical projects where printing is more important than precision, such as real estate, agricultural inventories, socio-economic survey or forestry projects ...

It occurs to me that it would not be very complex if you wanted to apply it to a rural cadastral survey, since in the office you can download the satellite image in cache, and then go to the field regardless of the Internet connection. In some places, the image that has been provided to Google meets acceptable precision conditions, however, if it has its own orthophoto, it can be uploaded to a WMS service or in kmz files to take to the field.

At the time the plot is measured, the cadastral file would be filled out, the associated photographs would be taken, it would be possible to draw a photo-interpreting parts that do not require a path, draw the buildings or pools, classify the permanent crop or edit an existing file. It is not very difficult to configure all the data included in a land register with a multipurpose approach, even with a simple 3G connection the data could be reaching a shared feature class server.

In the case of an urban survey, it could be used as a complement, raising all fronts with a total station and with this toy, photointerpret or measure the funds of the buildings, draw the building and complete the cadastral file or socioeconomic survey. If we add the times that the technicians take to write down in the notebook, consult the list of codes, take the photograph with another camera, then go to the office, complete the file, draw the sketch with a scale, calculate the built-up area, make the calculations enter data into a system… it could be that yes, this has potential.

Let's not say other perverse uses, because using me.com You could track where the technicians are, how much time they lose, where improper places get ... including where the thief who took the iPad.

For further information http://giskit.garafa.com/.

Golgi Alvarez

Writer, researcher, specialist in Land Management Models. He has participated in the conceptualization and implementation of models such as: National Property Administration System SINAP in Honduras, Management Model of Joint Municipalities in Honduras, Integrated Cadastre-Registry Management Model in Nicaragua, Territory Administration System SAT in Colombia . Editor of the Geofumadas knowledge blog since 2007 and creator of the AulaGEO Academy that includes more than 100 courses on GIS - CAD - BIM - Digital Twins topics.

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4 Comments

  1. Someone knows how I charge a points shp to the GIS Pro. Thanks

  2. It was made with the iOS SDK from Apple, in the interface known as Xcode.

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