ArcGIS Online (AGOL) applications have proven to be an effective means for multiple users, including our clients, to have real-time web access to GIS applications. We have developed numerous applications for desktop web browser use, as well as field data collection with the Collector for ArcGIS app. Last year, we deployed an in-house AGOL system integrated with a custom-built web app for our appraisers to store, access, and analyze comparable land sales. We have also built AGOL applications for our staff and clients for uses that include the following:
- Spatial and data analytics related to wood load origin locations and delivery points
- Land use monitoring including activity logs connected to property photos, maps, and documents
- Temporary web access for client review during GIS project development
- Property tours with ready access to GIS data
- Tree planting and seedling survival checks with real-time updates to office staff
- Field access to data and data collection for long-range harvest planning
- Field timber sale administration including features such as ticket box locations
- Field verification of individual tree storm damage using high resolution imagery
In this article’s photograph, a web map and Collector app were deployed for field inspections and data collection for a harvest modeling project on property with a large acreage of aspen. Aspen site productivity, classified based on numerous variables, needed to be field verified prior to the development of strata for model input.
In addition to being an efficient tool, AGOL applications have the added benefit of clients being able to control user access to GIS data, along with the advantages of secure cloud-based data storage.
If you are interested in moving your GIS off your desktop, or developing a GIS application that is more mobile with all of the benefits noted here, please contact Tom Hittle.
