Dear all
I've enjoyed following this discussion and would like to comment on some of what's been said. First, though I should declare my interest: I'm the project leader for the BGS-SIGMA digital data collection project here at the British Geological Survey, so I'm very definitely of the pro-digital mapping view. I am also a field geologist who learnt to do field mapping with pencil and paper, triangulation and pacing.
As I've said on this list before, we do our mapping and field data collection using the BGS-SIGMAmobile system on ruggedized tablet PCs with integrated GPS. The software is a modified version of ArcGIS with Access running in the background to collect the data. You can download the BGS-SIGMAmobilesoftware for free from http://www.bgs.ac.uk/science/3dmodelling/SigmaDownload.html but you will need ArcGIS 9.3.1 and Access 2003 or 2007 licences in order to be able to use it.
Many people have pointed out the importance of being able to use a range of remotely sensed data, satellite images, geophysical data - and to know where you are relative to all of these datasets in the field. One of the major advantages of an ArcGIS based mapping tool is that you can have any digital layers that you want georeferenced in your project - you can switch them on and off, and always know where you are on them because of the integrated GPS. Working in some rather featureless desert in the United Arab Emirates at the end of last year, I found that this made a huge difference to the rate at which we could cover the ground.
Another point that has come up in these discussions is the importance of being able to sketch in the field. BGS-SIGMAmobile contains a dedicated sketch tool which allows you to draw sketches with a stylus, much as you would in a field notebook. One particular advantage is that you can take a photo at the outcrop, download it immediately, bring it into your sketch, and then annotate it. Thus I have to disagree with the earlier statement that "drawings can be annotated while you are at the outcrop, photographs cannot."
Perhaps a real strong point of BGS-SIGMAmobile is that much of the data collection is very similar to the analogue methods we all know so well. Lines are drawn on the map using a stylus on the screen; structural data are entered and immediately displayed on the map in their correct position; free text is entered using a handwriting recognition tool; sketches are drawn freehand. All field data are saved (immediately) in an Access database, and are associated with a particular locality on the map - and can be exported into a 'field notebook' in Word. What's more, if you want to back up your data at any time, all you do is copy them to a memory stick. A bit easier than trying to find a photocopier....
I accept that there are still some issues with digital mapping, mostly to do with cost of hardware, software licences, and battery life (we used BGS-SIGMAmobile when camping in the desert, charging batteries from the vehicles; we haven't yet had to deal with charging from solar panels). And the compass clinometer is still an absolutely vital piece of equipment. But I would certainly never go back to paper.
If anyone has any questions about BGS-SIGMAmobile, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Best wishes
Kathryn
Dr Kathryn Goodenough
SIGMA Implementation Project Leader
British Geological Survey
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