The aim of this master’s thesis ist to investigate the practicability and usability of mobile GIS applications in a selected real-world scenario in the field. Therefore the important questions are how to provide correct geospatial positioning values and how to support the gathering of useful data in extreme field situations by implementing a mobile GIS prototype. The whole project discussed in this thesis was initiated by the “Institute of Distributed and Multimedia Systems” (Faculty of Computer Sciences) through the “Austrian GRID” initiative in a close collaboration with the Umweltbundesamt, the “Federal Environment Agency of Austria”. An environmental observation area in the national park “Northern Calcareous Alps” in Upper Austria, called „Zöbelboden“ was chosen to test the accuracy of GPS signals and according positioning data in forested or mountainous areas as well as to study the advantages
and benefits of using mobile devices in outdoor situations and free nature. This area, a part of the UN ECE’s Integrated Monitoring Programme, is used for long-term environmental data in selected observation areas. Exactly this project is a multidisciplinary International Cooperative Programme (ICP) on Integrated Monitoring (IM) of Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystems, which covers regions of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE).
In this master thesis a prototype will be introduced which allows capturing the desired ecological data digitally using a personal digital assistant (PDA). An easy-to-use application based on ESRI’s ArcPad Application Developer has been developed for use on Windows Mobile PocketPCs which integrates the Umweltbundesamt’s own ESRI data layers. Thus, the mobile device is prepared for data integration into a data GRID infrastructure of the Umweltbundesamt. This new prototype is a GPS-assisted client, which enables location-awareness and further allows mobile users to augment the collected data with comments, digital photos, digital audio, or even small movies
of artifacts, like trees and other plants. All digitally collected data by the mobile workers can be easily transferred to the Umweltbundesamt’s currently used ecological information system MORIS (a relational database).
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Location Aware Environmental Monitoring and GIS Application
1.2 Aspects of “Mobile Human Computer Interaction”
1.3 Implementation Supporting Mobile Work
1.4 Structure of the Thesis
2 Positioning Technologies and Applications
2.1 Overview Positioning Techniques
2.2 Cell of Origin (COO)
2.3 Time of Arrival (TOA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA)
2.4 Angle of Arrival (AOA)
2.5 Satellite Based Positioning Techniques
2.6 Global Positioning System
2.7 Technical Background
2.8 Measurement of Pseudo Ranges
2.9 Differential GPS (DGPS)
2.10 Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS)
2.11 Global Navigation Satellite System
2.12 Combination of GPS and GLONASS
2.13 NMEA0183 Standard
2.14 Geographic Information System Overview
2.15 GRASS
2.16 ESRI GIS
3 Related Work: GIS Projects and Location-Aware Implementations
3.1 Accuracy in Real-World Positioning
3.2 GISPAD Implementation Overview
3.3 FOGEPOS Implementation Overview
3.4 Comparison and Relation to Our Approach
4 Project Background: Ecological Field Studies
4.1 Institutional Background
4.2 Umweltbundesamt’s Integrated Monitoring Observation Work
4.3 Monitored Processes and Recorded Parameters
4.4 Data Collection Process and Data Architecture
4.5 MORIS Database
5 Prototype Concept and Overview
5.1 View and Purpose of the Location-Aware Prototype
5.2 Challenges and Functions of the Location-Aware Prototype
5.3 ESRI ArcPad Design Decisions
5.4 ESRI Map and Layer Definitions
5.5 Analysis of Requirements for Implementation
5.6 Final Prototype GIS Functionalities
5.7 Capturing Tree Monitoring Data
5.8 Capturing Permanent Plot Data
5.9 GIS Logging Functionality
6 ESRI ArcPad Object Model Prototyping
6.1 Introduction of ESRI ArcPad Prototyping
6.2 ArcPad Customization Overview
6.3 Development Environment for ArcPad
6.4 Customizing ArcPad - ESRI XML Files (ArcXML)
6.5 Own Prototyping Work and Prototype’s Customization
6.6 Configuration Files and Involved Code
6.7 Selected Prototype’s Functions and Code Fragments
6.8 Prototype Installation Details
7 Evaluation and Field Test
7.1 Field Test’s Area Overview
7.2 Equipment Used for the Field Test
7.3 Qualitative GPS Results
7.4 GPS Track Log Data and Projection Transformation
7.5 Statistical Analysis of Gathered Positioning Values
7.6 Evaluating Usability and Interface Design
8 Conclusion and Outlook
9 Bibliography
10 Appendix
10.1 UN-ECE Integrated Monitoring Zöbelboden [www.umweltbundesamt.at]
10.2 ESRI Shapefile Specifications (Shortened Version) [www.esri.com]
10.3 SiRFstarII GSC2x Technical Documentation [www.sirf.com]
10.4 Gauss-Krüger Projection for Austria [www.statistik.at]
Research Objectives and Core Themes
The primary objective of this thesis is to investigate the practicality and usability of mobile GIS applications for researchers in extreme environmental field settings. The study explores how to provide accurate geospatial positioning data and support efficient data collection by implementing a mobile GIS prototype, specifically designed for use by the Austrian Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt).
- Mobile GIS application development and customization using ESRI ArcPad.
- Evaluation of GPS positioning accuracy in forested and mountainous terrain.
- Integration of mobile data collection with existing ecological information systems (MORIS).
- Optimization of field data workflows to reduce time and resource consumption.
Excerpt from the Book
1 INTRODUCTION
The motivation of this master’s thesis is to investigate the usefulness of mobile computing for researchers in the field. Especially we focused on two main aspects, positioning accuracy and the overall usability in a field environment. The project was initiated as a part of the “Austrian GRID” (AGRID, www.austriangrid.at) initiative within a dedicated mobility work package (WP M-7b: Performance Engineering for Mobility in the GRID). The AGRID initiative is based on a national consortium in Austria to set up and to support grid computing in general and to provide coordination and collaboration between computer scientists for GRID technologies and developers of scientific computing applications. The aim of the consortium is to support and enhance advanced computing technologies in cooperation with well-recognized partners in grid-dependant application areas.
In the context of this AGRID project, this thesis is related to a close cooperation between the University of Vienna “Institute of Distributed and Multimedia Systems” and the “Federal Environment Agency of Austria” (Umweltbundesamt) with focus on a long term ecosystem monitoring program. The involved area of the monitoring activity shown in Figure is called Zöbelboden, which is an environmental observation area in the national park “Northern Calcareous Alps” situated in Upper Austria. This area is part of the UN ECE’s “Integrated Monitoring Program” and was set up to provide long-term data collection of pollution and ecological data.
The main objective of the joint AGRID subproject (from now on simply referred to as project) is to support and assist mobile workers in the case of collecting ecological data in extreme natural environments. Sarah Nusser [Nuss+03], [Nuss+04] conducts that especially mobile systems may be too complex and circumstantial during scientific field usage when researchers are interacting with objects or processing different tasks. In our current project we want to investigate if it is possible to provide a usable mobile client for this specific need, thereby deriving a scientific user’s requirements, performing field tests, and investigating GPS accuracy in the field.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Provides an overview of the thesis, the motivation for mobile GIS in field environments, and the objectives of the joint AGRID subproject.
2 Positioning Technologies and Applications: Explains fundamental positioning techniques including GPS, DGPS, and SBAS, and provides an overview of GIS software like GRASS and ESRI.
3 Related Work: GIS Projects and Location-Aware Implementations: Reviews existing GIS projects and location-aware implementations, discussing their accuracy in real-world scenarios compared to the proposed approach.
4 Project Background: Ecological Field Studies: Details the institutional context, the Zöbelboden monitoring area, and the architecture of the MORIS database system.
5 Prototype Concept and Overview: Discusses the conceptual design, requirements, and GIS functionalities of the developed mobile prototype.
6 ESRI ArcPad Object Model Prototyping: Describes the technical customization process, development environment, and specific code fragments used to build the prototype.
7 Evaluation and Field Test: Presents the results of field tests conducted at Zöbelboden, including statistical analysis of GPS accuracy and qualitative usability assessments.
8 Conclusion and Outlook: Summarizes the findings regarding prototype robustness and offers perspectives for future developments in mobile GIS and automated field data collection.
Keywords
Mobile GIS, Environmental Monitoring, GPS Positioning, Field Data Collection, ESRI ArcPad, Zöbelboden, Location-Awareness, Ecological Research, Mobile Human Computer Interaction, MORIS, Grid Computing, Geospatial Data, Prototypes, Field Test, Usability
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core purpose of this master thesis?
The thesis investigates the practicability and usability of mobile GIS applications for researchers in extreme field environments to improve the collection of ecological data.
Which core topics are addressed in the work?
Key themes include GPS positioning accuracy, the development of customized mobile GIS clients, human-computer interaction in field environments, and the integration of collected data into existing institutional databases.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to determine if a usable mobile client can be provided to support scientific ecological monitoring, specifically addressing positioning interference in remote mountainous areas.
Which scientific method was applied?
The research follows a rapid prototyping software development process combined with empirical field testing to evaluate the performance and usability of the mobile prototype.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main sections cover the technical foundations of GPS, detailed information about the ecological field studies at the Zöbelboden site, the design of the location-aware prototype, and a statistical analysis of gathered positioning data.
Which keywords characterize this thesis?
The most important keywords are Mobile GIS, Environmental Monitoring, GPS Positioning, Field Data Collection, ESRI ArcPad, and Location-Awareness.
How does the prototype handle GPS signal interference?
The prototype evaluates GPS accuracy by using data classification (e.g., number of satellites received) and outlier filtering to provide more reliable position data in forested and mountainous terrain.
What role does the MORIS database play in this project?
MORIS acts as the central ecological information system of the Umweltbundesamt. The prototype is specifically designed to allow seamless transfer and integration of collected field data into this database.
What is the benefit of the custom toolbar developed for the prototype?
The custom toolbar simplifies the user interface, ensuring that essential monitoring functions are reachable in only a few interaction steps, which is crucial for mobile workers with limited attention capacity in the field.
- Quote paper
- Mag. rer. soc. oek. Martin Christl (Author), 2008, Location-Aware Environmental Monitoring For Mobile Workers, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/121322
