Mobile GIS in Salem

Trafton B.

November 19, 2010 - 6:42 PM

It's the end of week eight, which generally means it's the beginning of the end of the term. Students get a much-needed morale boost as we catch our first glimpse of the finish line. It also means that time is running out for term projects and details need to be ironed out sooner rather than later.

My only final project - albeit an important one - is for my Applied GIS course focusing on the Salem Sustainable Cities Initiative, and today was certainly a big day for the project as my partner, Emma, and I spent our morning and afternoon collecting data about the city streets surrounding Willamette University.

Our project idea stemmed from the idea that Willamette University - students, faculty, staff, etc. - has the potential to enliven it's surrounding community. By ensuring that the surrounding streets and intersections are conducive to different modes of transportation, such as bicycle and pedestrian use, we can maximize that potential community enriching power. In short, Willamette University has a lot to offer and we want to make sure that everyone has safe and simple access to it.

Our actual project required us to create our own digital data entry form using ArcPad, a mobile field mapping and data collection software designed for use with GIS and GPS systems. For the past two weeks Emma and I have been devising a series of questions to assess mobility and accessibility an individual street sections. It includes a few objective questions, such as "How many auto lanes?" or "What is the posted speed limit?" or "Is there a bicycle lane present?" and a few subjective questions, such as "Would a casual bicyclist feel safe and comfortable riding on this street segment?"

The genius behind our system is that points are awarded for each response based on varying levels of "walkability" and "bikeability." The more walkable a street is, the higher it will score on our rating system. Our final product will be a choropleth map of all streets within a one-mile radius of Willamette University; the best streets will be shown in green, average streets in yellow, and the poorest streets red.

Wrestling with ArcPad and GIS to create a proper, functional data collection form was a heavyweight battle in itself. I had no idea what to expect when we actually went into field. There were myriad variables that could have stymied our entire project. I had nightmares thinking about what could have gone wrong. Our PDA devices could run out of batteries. The digital forms wouldn't save our data. I was nervous to say the least, but for the most part everything went off without a hitch.

Emma and I split up for the morning to cover more ground. Starting at 9:00 AM, Emma covered as much of the north section of our survey area while I walked around the area to the south of campus. We met our fellow classmate, Daniel, and his friend, Anthony, for lunch at The Ram around 1:00 PM. Daniel had also been working on a mobile GIS project in Salem. We discussed our respective projects and our mutual struggles with ArcPad whilst thawing out from being out in the cold all morning.

After lunch Emma and I walked surveyed the remaining streets on the eastern side of the study area together. It was a long, arduous day of data, but the experience was well worth our time. I'm beginning to understand that GIS is more than just creating a map. The process is just as important as the final product. I've also discovered that I likely won't have a future as a GIS specialist. I'm glad I decided to take this course and I feel much more confident writing "ArcGIS" on my resumé, but there is so much more to GIS than I ever imagined. I figure that if I do any more work with GIS, it will probably happen if/when I'm in grad school. Until then, I'll leave it to the experts.