情報地質 第27巻 第2号 114-115頁 2016年
Geoinformatics, vol.27, no.2, pp.114-115, 2016

カスタマイズ可能なモバイルアプリケーションと Web マッピングツールを用いた 野外調査用データ管理プラットフォームの開発
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ニロシャンバンダラ*・ベンカテッシュ ラガワン*・大介吉田*・パビトラ ヤヤシンバ*

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Development of Field Data Monitoring and Evaluation Platformusing Customizable Mobile Application and Web-Mapping Tool空白
Niroshan BANDARA*, Venkatesh RAGHAVAN*, Daisuke YOSHIDA*
and Pavithra JAYASINGHE*
空白* 大阪市立大学大学院創造都市研究科, Graduate School for Creative Cities, Osaka City University,
3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-5858, Japan. E-mail: niroshansnj@gmail.com

キーワード：モバイルデータ収集, オープンデータキット ODK, Web マッピング, GeoServer
Key words: Mobile Data Collection, Open Data Kit (ODK), Web Mapping, GeoServer,

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1. Introduction
Over the past few decades, field data collection is an
expensive and time consuming task. Most of thetechniques were based on pen-and-paper. Geospatial andnon-geospatial data collection is one of the mostimportant tasks for many fields of study. The significant
changes have been occurred due to the development ofinformation technology. As a result of that Mobile datacollection has been introduced instead of conventional
methods of data collection. Mobile devices offer immediate
digitization of collected data at the point of survey.
Interest in mobile computing and data collection are
rapidly increasing. Due to this rapid growth, mobilebased applications for field data collection havepenetrated areas as diverse as public administration,
health, education, agriculture, and business development,etc. Usually field data has been collected by local
community volunteers, students, field officers andresearchers. They tend to suffer from frequent errors suchas double data entry etc. Therefor the data should bemonitored and evaluated. The harmonization betweenwireless networking and Web-GIS/Web services allow
mobile users to stream large amounts of geo-information
which helps to eliminate cost and data processing times
for field data collection. Programming skills and advanced
computer knowledge are required to develop/customize
such mobile applications. This study tries to integrate
Open Data kit (ODK) with web map services(WMS)
through conducting develop an integrated platform forfield data collection by using customizable mobile
application, monitoring and evaluation via web based tool.
The main objective of this project is to demonstrate realtime geospatial data collection and the providing a
reliable field data collection platform.

It should be able use by minimally-trained users. Open
Data Kit (ODK) is able to address these challenges(Hartung, Anokwa, Brunette, & Adam). It has beendeveloped with a modular, extensible, and open-source
suite of tools designed to empower users to build
information services. ODK currently consists of three
tools: Collect, Aggregate, and Build. ODK collect is theclient side application (mobile app) and ODK Aggregate isthe server side application. ODK build is to make forms
for ODK collect.
ODK collect can be downloaded for Android devices. Theforms can be downloaded to ODK collect from the server(ODK Aggregate). Apart from ODK Build, XLSforms canbe used to make forms for ODK Collect. XLSforms can be
simply developed by using Excel sheet and you should
follow the given guideline (http://xlsform.org). In theserver side, ODK Aggregate is setup with the integrationof PostgreSQL. After developing the XLSform, it should
be converted to xml format. Then XML file can beuploaded to the ODK Aggregate directly. After that theuploaded form can be downloaded to ODK collect as aform and it will be created the filed survey form.
Further, GeoServer has been integrated to the systemsince data are stored in the PostgreSQL. Web map tool
has been developed by integrating GeoServer.

2. Method
In order to address this issue truly, the system shouldbe able to deploy and customize by the non-programmers.

Figure 1: System architecture

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3. System and Data Collection
This system has been developed as a pilot project. It has
been used for the Osaka City university, Sugimoto-chocampus information collection. The form has beendeveloped as XLSform by using Excel. Basically, the form
contains fields to collect information such as open spaces,
gathering places, activities, building names and itsutilization. It has been uploaded to the ODK Aggregate,after convert the XLSform in to XML format. Form has
been downloaded to the ODK collect in the Android tablet
devices. The survey has been conducted by the student inthe Geo-Lab at Media Center. Students have to observe
the activities in the particular place, take pictures,
identify the building names and its uses etc. The location
information is automatically recorded from the GPS. The
given tablet has not connected to the wireless network
while conducting the survey. Student has to collect thedata in the field, finally the data are uploaded to the ODKaggregate server after they reached to the lab. In thissystem PostgreSQL has integrated with ODK aggregate
as a database. GeoServer has been connected to thedatabase. Therefore, uploaded data can be visualized on
the web based map with a base map of OSM.

Figure: 2 Developed system

4. Results
ODK aggregate has few capabilities to visualize thecollected data. That capabilities enable to generate piecharts, bar charts and point them on the google map. Piechart can be generated according to collected data. Thisdata has the type and use of places such as laboratories,
open spaces, parking areas and service areas according tothat, pie chart can be generated as shown in the figure.
As well as data can be visualized on the web map tool
which is developed by using GeoServer. Apart from thevisualization, the data can be compared with different
information layers such as road, building, water bodies,etc.

5. Conclusion
The use mobile communication devices, such as
smartphones, for field data collection is increasing due tothe emergence of embedded Global Positioning Systems(GPS) and wireless Internet access. Accurate, timely andefficient field data collection is required for many fields
such as disaster management and a quick response
during emergencies, etc. but available applications have
not reached to the user demand and it needs
programming skills for further modifications. Since
unavailability of customization according to the situationand needs. This study is demonstrated, the utilization ofdifferent available technologies, customization methods
according to the user demands for smartphones in fielddata collection is handy and timely manner. Moreover, thesystem enables to compare the data verses different
geospatial layers. The system itself is reusable andupdatable for various field data collection purposes.
6. Future development
This system allows for fast and automated data
aggregation and visualization. Further the system isgoing to be integrated with varies web services for analyze
the data within the platform. In order to do that, dataaggregation will be done inside the ZOO-Project.

Reference
Hartung, C., Anokwa, Y., Brunette, W., & Adam, A. (2010).
Open Data Kit: Tools to Build Information Services forDeveloping Regions. Retrieved 10 May, 2016, from OpenDataKit:https://opendatakit.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/
10/ODKPaper-ICTD-2010.pdf
Jeffrey‐Coker, F., Basinger, M., & Mod, V. (2013).
Open Data Kit: Implications for the Use of Smartphone
Software Technologyfor Questionnaire Studies in International Development. Retrieved 10 May, 2016, from The
EarthInstitute,ColombiaUniversity:http://sel.columbia.e
du/assets/uploads/blog/2013/06/Open-Data-Kit-ReviewArticle.pdf
Lwin, K., Hashimoto, M., & Murayama, Y. (2014). RealTime Geospatial Data Collection and Visualization withSmartphone. Journal of Geographic Information System,Vol 6,No2 pp 99-108.

(a)

(b)

Figure 4: Web mapping tool(c)

Figure 3: (a).Aggregate window, (b).Pie Chart and Bar Chart
generated by Aggregate, (c).Export data