Geospatial Solutions magazine newsletter had a short piece on this topic
recently:
"Field Work Requires Hardy GIS Hardware
The increasing use of geospatial technology in hazardous
environments has spawned a range of computers that shrug off water,
dust, and vibration.
Wind and rain, dust and dirt, saltwater spray, gas fumes, rocky
ground, extreme temperatures - these aren't ideal conditions in which to
use sensitive electronic devices, but they are often the very conditions
that field workers find themselves in. We're talking about people who
don't spend much time behind a desk, after all. These conditions may not
pose a problem if you're using a backhoe to dig a hole; the backhoe is
built to withstand punishing outdoor environments. But if you're using
GIS technology to locate a power line before you dig that hole, your
run-of-the-mill handheld or laptop computer may fail in the field.
Fortunately, rugged electronics are more common than they once
were, thanks to the spread of GIS technology in general, and in
particular the spread of GPS technology for civilian uses. Geodetic
surveying has been driving consumer uses of GPS and related field
equipment since the early 1980s, even before the satellite constellation
was fully available for navigation. Today, of course, with the
application of GIS technology to everything from land management and
agriculture to location-based services and transportation networks, the
need for electronics that can withstand the sometimes harsh conditions
of field work is much greater, and the industry has responded.
Today's field workers don't have to get by with a basic handheld
device for simple data collection. They can choose from a whole range of
rugged devices available for field use, ranging from simple handheld
PDAs to full-fledged laptops, notebooks, and tablet PCs which will
crunch numbers right there in the woods, on a farm, in a warehouse, or
on an oil derrick. The type of device you need, and its degree of
ruggedness, depend on your GIS and data management needs, as well as the
environmental conditions in which it will be used. More>
<http://tech.questexmediagroup.com/t/558592/805454/10829/0/> "
Ann Schenk
Natural Resource Biologist III
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
580 Taylor Ave., C-2
Annapolis, MD 21401
phone: 410-260-8609
''Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you
please.'' - Mark Twain
-----Original Message-----
From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Adam T. Ford
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 1:09 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] data collection program PDA
we use Visual CE, and find it fairly easy (and inexpensive).
Adam T. Ford
Wildlife Research Associate
Banff Wildlife Crossings Project
Western Transportation Institute-MSU Bozeman
Banff National Park
PO Box 900
Banff, AB
T1L 1K2
Canada
403-760-1371
[email protected]
On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 8:17 AM, David Jansen
<[email protected]>wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I am looking for a program in the style of Cybertracker or Pendragon
> forms, but that incl. the option of using keypad. Are any such
> programs around and if so what are your experiences? I am planning to
> use the program for data collection in the form of focal and ad lib
> of animal behaviour.
>
> Thanks for your input
>
> David Jansen
> PhD animal behaviour
> Zurich University
>
