ArcGIS Online Training for Program Work Teams

- Part 3: Using ArcGIS Collector for

Smartphones and Tablets -

Steve Smith, Cornell University

Neil Curri, Cornell Cooperative Ext. Dutchess County

Sean Carroll, Cornell Cooperative Ext. Dutchess County

Introduction

Hello all, and welcome back to another step-by-step document from CCE Geospatial

Mapping’s ArcgGIS Online Training for PWT’s!

This third document will consist of a follow up to the June 18th training up at Cornell

University regarding using ESRI’s ArcGIS Collector application for your smartphone or

tablet. It will go over the basics of how download the application; access maps and data

from your smartphone/tablet; and add points, lines, and polygons to a map in the field.

ArcGIS Collector is a mobile app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets that

allows you to use your mobile device to collect and update information in the field.

Some possible examples include a tree inventory on a college campus, damage reports

and service requests, or mapping places of historical interest

This guide will instruct you on how to use the following features in Collector:

The ability to take your maps and data offline, and sync your collected

information once reconnected

Improve your data quality with map-driven forms

Share captured photos and videos

Configure the app to fit your organization’s workflow

Display data in the Operations Dashboard.

In order to use Collector for ArcGIS, the user needs to have an ArcGIS Online account,

whether it be a personal or organizational account. If you wish to join our Cornell

Cooperative Extension Geospatial Mapping organization, contact one of our team

members (Steve, Neil, or Sean - http://blogs.cornell.edu/onlinegis/contact/) and we will

help to set you up with an account and get you started using ArcGIS Online and

Collector.

Collector works by allowing the user to add, remove, or edit features on a map using

your mobile device. In order to do this, the map must be shared with the user in ArcGIS

Online and contain an editable feature service. Once the user is a member of the

organization and the particular group in which the map is shared, and the feature

service is enabled for editing, one can access the map in Collector and begin to add,

edit, or remove features.

To create an editable feature service, map, and user groups that may be needed for a

particular data collection project, users must work with members of the CCE Geospatial

Mapping team to communicate the unique needs of the project. What information needs

to be collected? Who will be collecting the data? With whom will the data need to be

shared? CCE Geospatial Mapping team members can work with individual users or

project teams to answer these questions, help develop the project and data needed,

and guide users through the data collection process. Developing a data set for a

particular project takes a little behind the scenes work; first with users to document all

the info that will need to be collected for the project, then on the part of another entity

with access to the desktop ArcGIS software (CCE Geospatial Mapping) to develop the

data structure and publish the feature service.

For the purpose of this guide, we will just run through an already created data set. If

you have a particular project in which you wish to use Collector, contact any one of the

CCE Geospatial Mapping team (Steve, Neil, or Sean) and we can start helping you

develop a data set.

Assuming you have a data set already created and a map ready to add and edit

features on, follow these steps to use ArcGIS Collector:

Step 1: Download ‘Collector for ArcGIS’ app from Google Play or iTunes.

Android phone:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.esri.arcgis.collector&hl=en

iOS Phone:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/collector-for-arcgis/id589674237?mt=8

The app will install a shortcut/icon on your phone

Open Collector and view ‘All Maps’ to see all of the maps that are being shared

with groups you belong to. If you do not see any maps, request to join the

“Training-June 2014” group, or contact Sean, Neil, or Steve for help on how to

join the group. One of the maps shared with this group is the Campus Features

Map

For the rest of guide we will be looking at the map ‘Campus Features Map’,

circled in red above.

**Disclaimer** - This demonstration is being performed on an Android-based phone.

Phones or tablets with iOS (iPhones, iPads, etc.) may have different layouts and

features.

If you don’t have your Location/GPS turned on on your mobile device, you will

receive this warning to Improve Your Location.

Here you can either turn on your Location/GPS by going to ‘Settings’, or you can

‘Skip’ and enter your data points manually later.

The ‘Campus Features Map’ zooms the user into part of the Cornell University

campus.

**This data set was used for an exercise and is not complete or accurate.

You can zoom in on your phone by pinching two fingers together on the screen,

or zoom out by doing the opposite.

Here we can see that the data set consists of point features (the tree and flag

icons), line features (the red lines), and polygons (the green shape over Fernow

Hall).

If you wish to change the basemap, hit the ‘options’ button (the 3 little squares,

circled in red above).

Here the user can select from a number of different basemaps: topographic,

satellite imagery, roads, etc. The basemap we will continue to use is

topographic.

To add a new feature (point, line, or polygon) select the ‘+’ symbol on your

screen

Once you have selected which type of feature you wish to add from the ‘Collect a

new feature’ drop-down menu (in this instance, the point feature ‘Tree’ was

selected), you can begin to edit the feature’s attributes, as shown above and in

the next steps.

At this point, it may again prompt you about your location; it definitely will if you

have your Location/GPS still turned off, and it might if you are under a tree and

don’t have a clear view of the sky (i.e., the GPS satellites).

You can either fix your settings, retry if you have moved, or cancel and add your

location manually later.

Your first editable attribute (after selecting your feature type) is the ‘Date

Observed’.

Here you can either enter the date manually or select ‘Use current’, as shown in

the red box above. The latter enters today’s date.

Second, you can type in a description for the feature.

Let’s pretend that we are entering in a new sugar maple being planted near

Fernow Hall. In description, we can enter “Sugar maple by Fernow Hall”

Third, under ‘Type’, we can choose whether the tree is deciduous or coniferous.

The hypothetical tree is a sugar maple so we will choose ‘Deciduous’.

*** These attributes are specific to this data set and feature service. For a

different project, we can help the user to create a data set with its own specific

attributes applicable to those features.

Finally, you may wish to add a photo of the feature for future reference. Here

you can: 1) Name the photo (under PHOTO), and 2) Enter the URL link for the

photo (under PHOTOURL)

In order to attach a photo, you must have a URL for it – In other words, it must be

hosted somewhere on the internet.

When you’re done entering your attribute information press the checkmark

(Save) button in the upper left.

In this case, I chose to enter my data point manually, and didn’t turn on my

Location/GPS, so I will choose to ‘Go to map’ in order to drop the point manually

on the map.

When you go to place your point feature, it will be highlighted in a light blue

‘halo’. Here you can see I placed the ‘tree’ just south of Fernow Hall on the

corner of a sidewalk (thin red box).

In order to save my placement and enter my data point to map, I need to press

the ‘Save’ (checkmark) button one last time (upper left – thick red box).

If I wish to edit my new feature (or any of the features for that matter), I simply

press down on the feature I want to edit, and then select the feature in the pop-

up box below (circled in red).

Once I select the feature from the pop-up box, it gives me the list of details

(attributes) associated with that feature.

To edit them, I select the pencil icon in the bottom left (circled in red), which

brings me back to the same editing menu we saw earlier on page 13

We will cover adding and editing line and polygon features in another how-to

guide.